Dieticians advise everyone to get foods from a variety of sources, including starches, vegetables, fruit, meat, and dairy. The same goes for people with diabetes. A diabetic diet doesn’t really vary from the regular healthy diet, except that when people with diabetes don’t eat healthy foods, they can face worse consequences. Diabetic people need to watch their glucose levels, and they also need to carefully monitor what foods they ingest throughout the day, because food will directly affect the body’s blood sugar levels.
Eating the right foods will not only keep glucose levels stable, but a healthy diet also will decrease your health risks in the long run. For example, many people have high blood pressure, which translates to greater potential for cardiovascular problems. Many times, high blood pressure results from obesity, which you can improve if you eat a balanced, nutritional diet. If you call the 1 800 diabetic diet phone number of the American Dietetic Association (1-800-366-1655), then you can ask for more information about improving your blood pressure, among other health tips. Eating healthy can also help control your lipids, or blood fats, and in turn you can reduce your risk for cardiovascular problems. A low-fat, low-cholesterol diet with regular exercise can help to control your lipid count.
Even though everyone can benefit from an overall healthy diet, people with diabetes have to pay extra attention to when they eat throughout the day. In order to maintain stable glucose levels, you have to eat meals and snacks at the same times each day, because your body gets used to this regularity and responds accordingly. You should also eat the same amount of food at the same times, as well as take medicines and exercise at close to the same times each day. For more information about diets, you can call the 1 800 diabetic diet phone number of the American Diabetes Association (1-800-232-6733).
You may have heard of good carbs and bad carbs, but you may not know that they refer to something other than the moral consciences of food. You should try to avoid bad carbs (or simple carbs) because your body rapidly absorbs and digests them, producing a sudden surge of sugar in the blood stream. Simple carbs occur in foods containing sucrose, glucose and fructose, such as cakes, candies, sweet drinks and jams. Good carbs (or complex carbs), on the other hand, will help your system because your body absorbs them much slower, and so your blood sugar levels remain more stable. Complex carbs include fiber, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, oats, beans, brown rice, fruits and vegetables. For more information on cooking with these healthy foods, you can call the 1 800 diabetic diet number of the Joslin Diabetes Center (1-800-344-4501).
Even though with diabetes you have to maintain strict control over your body’s sugar regulation, you don’t have to specifically restrict sugars in your diet, but just focus on a healthy overall diet. If you do enjoy sweets from time to time, you can have a minimal amount, but just remember to eat them along with complex carbs (eg. jam on bread, small amounts of alcohol with good carbs.) For more information on diabetic health, you can also try the 1 800 diabetic diet number of the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (1-800-860-8747), and you can find out more about the benefits of a balanced diet.
By Lisa Zyga