|
|
|
|
Who says that being diabetic means leading a
restricted life? Even your diet has minimum restrictions in
comparison to the days gone by. This is because there is so much
more variety available for diabetics today. Gone are the days
when high-calorie desserts were a complete ban for diabetics. In
fact, the sugar substitutes and diabetic dessert recipes are so
much tastier than the high-calories regular desserts. Life is
getting better for diabetics. |
However, that does not mean that one can go on binging
on the health foods and desserts. There has to be some cut off point
there. This is because even the sugar-substituted food converts in body
glucose that needs to be burnt down. This is why the diet routine
maintained by one suffering from diabetes needs to be checked and kept
under control.
But there is nothing to get disappointed or feel out of place about. In
fact, the diabetic diets are the healthiest. Even if a normal person
were to follow the eating routine, their life would be healthier than it
probably is at present. Like most dieticians and nutritionists would
claim, diabetic diets are the ideal way of living healthily.
The best part of the diet routine is that one is not required to starve,
but is in fact, to keep the stomach sufficiently satisfied. This means
that the stomach should never be heard growling for food as this can
cause acidity. At the same time one should not fill them up to such an
extent that they cannot budge and inch from the dining table. After a
main meal one should feel light enough to take a ten-minute stroll. And
should be hungry enough in two-three hours to have a snack, which could
be a fruit, salad or any of the roasted healthy-snacks easily available.
Here is a diabetic diet list that one should ideally pin up on the
drawing board, so they are reminded of the do’s and don’ts to enable a
healthy plan, there by putting away all possibilities of suffering from
the typical and common complications that develop through the later
stages amongst diabetics. Another thing to keep in mind is that by
following the guidelines, as laid down by the experts will help keep the
sugar levels under control, and could also reduce the insulin dosage, as
well as other medication over a period of time.
Here is a diabetic diet list that can be followed:
· Plan your meals: Just as you prepare your daily time-table
where work and leisure is concerned, so also you should plan the meals
of the day. This is important, as whatever you eat should have calorie
averages calculated to ensure that through the day you do not cross the
calorie count provided by your dietician or Diabetologist.
Maintain a daily routine for your meals: The body gets
habituated to a routine, which is important for a diabetic. This way the
body will let you know when it is time to eat, rather than you needing
the alarm clock doing so. It is recommended to follow a disciplined
lifestyle. This will avoid problems such as hypoglycemia, acidity, etc.
Consult with a qualified dietician/nutritionist regularly: This is
important because following the same identical dietary plan could bring
in monotony and boredom, because of which most people then break out of
the routine and start binging on the wrong foods. Instead the dietician
would bring changes every fortnightly, or monthly. They would not change
the routine, but the type of food, or rather the menu.
Maintain a count of carbohydrates consumed: This is especially required
by the Type I diabetics – Insulin dependent diabetics. This is because
maintaining uniformity in carbohydrate in take will prevent the glucose
levels from swinging from one extreme to another, and instead maintain
consistency.
Maintain a food-nutritional value list: This will help you determine the
proper meal for the day, as based on that you can determine the
portioning of food, as well as the food combination.
Ideal nutritional in take:
o Daily 45% to 65% carbohydrates of total calories consumed
o Daily 15% to 20% proteins of total calories consumed
o Daily 20% to 35% fats of total calories consumed
And the other important pointers in the diabetic diet list are:
· Restrict foods that have high sugar/starch count
· Eat more of high-fiber foods
· Include whole grain starches
· Fruits and salads should be a part of the daily diet
· Maintain the ideal weight as prescribed by your Diabetologist
· Consume low-fat foods
· Consume low-cholesterol foods
· Avoid soda drinks and canned juices, unless they are sugar-free
· Use artificial sweeteners moderately. These include aspartame
(NutraSweet or Equal), saccharine (Sweet 'n Low) or Sucralose (Splenda);
as excessive use of these can create health complications in the long
run.
· Do not skip meals, come what may
|
|
