A healthy diet is an essential part of managing diabetes. Meals and snacks play a big role in determining an individual's glucose (blood sugar) levels. The meal choices patient
are crucial to keeping blood glucose from spiking too high or falling too low. Patients can work with physicians and dieticians to create a meal plan that is well-balanced and that offers a variety of food choices. The right meal plan can help patients:
The treatment regimens needed to achieve and maintain near-normal, or "tight," blood sugar control differ for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 treatment centers on replacing insulin to offset the body's inability to produce it Type 2 treatment typically relies on exercise, weight loss, and one or more medications to overcome insulin resistance and compensate for the insulin shortfall Insulin injections, though, often become necessary. Most people with type 2 diabetes also have the added burden of managing one or more other conditions, such as obesity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
Your treatment goal, regardless of which type of diabetes you have, is to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible to prevent damage to your eyes, kidneys, heart, nerves, and blood vessels.
You are the most important person involved in your treatment. But the attention and advice of a skilled physician, and often a team of health professionals, is vital to helping you develop the daily practices and lifelong habits necessary for effective diabetes management.
Diet: The Foundation of Diabetes Treatment
Diet therapy is crucial to treating diabetes, but the approaches are quite different for type 1 and type 2. In type 1 diabetes, your diet must be coordinated with your insulin regimen. Because the goal is to match insulin delivery to insulin requirements, which are largely dictated by meal size and content, understanding the impact of specific foods on your blood sugar levels is key. On the other hand, type 2 diabetes is largely a consequence of overeating, so cutting calories is vital. In both forms of diabetes, it is important to consume the right mixture of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats every day to keep blood sugar levels as normal as possible throughout the day.
One dietary recommendation applies universally: Aim for a diet low in saturated fats and high in fiber, fruit, and vegetables. Why? Because both types of diabetes are associated with cardiovascular disease. The American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association recommend that people with diabetes get most of their daily protein requirement from beans, grains, and vegetables, not meat. By cutting down on animal proteins, ( Herbalife products have no animal protein in them) your diet will have less fat and cholesterol. And high-fiber foods may help lower both your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. A 2000 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a diet rich in fiber (about 50 grams per day) lowered blood sugar levels by 10%.
In many instances, particularly for type 2 diabetes, your primary care physician may be able to provide all that's needed to ensure good care. But if extensive monitoring and adjustment of your diet, medications, and exercise regimen become necessary, you'll probably best be served by a multidisciplinary team of professionals.
Monitoring Carbohydrates
People with diabetes should try to get about 45%-55% of their daily calories from complex carbohydrates - that is, from vegetables, whole-grain breads and cereals, and simple sugars that exist naturally in fruit and low-fat milk.
Watching your carbohydrate intake is particularly important because most of the glucose flooding your bloodstream after you eat comes from the breakdown of carbohydrates. But not all carbohydrates are equal. The amount of glucose and the speed with which it's released into your bloodstream varies, depending on the food's manner of preparation, its fiber content, and other foods it's combined with. For example, raw vegetables are digested more slowly than cooked ones; eating fats with carbohydrates retards digestion; and drinking a glass of apple juice raises blood sugar more rapidly than eating an apple.
Targeting Fats
Recently there has been a keen interest in high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets as a means to lose weight. Although short-term studies have shown that these eating plans can be an effective way to drop pounds, no long-term studies have verified that they are more effective than other low-calorie diets. In addition, some of these diets fail to distinguish between unhealthy saturated and trans fats (which increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other forms of cardiovascular disease) and healthier unsaturated fats (which may lower cardiovascular risk when consumed in moderation). As a result, experts question the safety of the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets in the long run, especially in regard to cardiovascular risk. That's why no more than 20%-35% of your total daily calories should come from fat, and less than 7% from saturated fat.
Saturated fat is notorious for raising unhealthy LDL cholesterol levels. And it speeds the artery-clogging process called atherosclerosis, raising your risk for heart disease. It's found in meat, dairy products, and certain vegetable oils, such as palm oil and coconut oil, and it's generally solid at room temperature.
Trans fats, partially saturated vegetable oils produced through a chemical process called hydrogenation, also pose health dangers. These fats - commonly found in margarine, deep-fried foods, commercial baked goods, and many other products -- are identified on the label as "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated." They raise the harmful blood lipids LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a), all of which have been linked to heart disease. And they depress the healthy HDL cholesterol. Herbalife has been shown to be useful in reducing cholesterol in people with high cholesterol.
Instead, opt for polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats (such as corn, safflower, and soybean oils) and monounsaturated fats (such as olive, peanut, and canola oils) don't raise cholesterol levels. Indeed, research indicates that monounsaturated oils reduce LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol.
The best way to reduce the saturated fat in your diet is by limiting your consumption of red meat, fatty dairy foods, and poultry skin. Choose skim or 1% milk, and buy light or low-fat cheeses and yogurt. To keep trans fats to a minimum, avoid margarine, shortening, and commercial baked goods. When eating dessert, stick with ice milk, low-fat or nonfat frozen yogurt, or fat-free ice cream.
Limiting sugar
Although sugar and so-called concentrated sweets that contain a lot of sugar were once considered dangerous for people with diabetes, small amounts won't necessarily thwart your effort to control your blood glucose. Most people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes can consume some sugar as long as they count it as a carbohydrate and don't add it to their diet indiscriminately. Of course, they must adjust their insulin dosage accordingly. Nevertheless, experts still advise limiting simple sugars because they raise blood glucose levels quickly. Artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin or aspartame (NutraSweet), don't raise blood glucose levels. Herbalife used regularly takes away the craving for sweet foods as it levels out the bodies chemistry, this helps with keeping your diet and sugar levels on track.