The Diabetes Lifestyle - Maintaining the Quality of Life
Addressing food intake and type of foods eaten is essential for the diabetic to control blood sugar levels.
Because of the Diabetic's inability to cope with carbohydrates it is necessary to control the amounts of carbohydrates eaten and the overall food intake. All carbohydrates are turned to glucose before they can pass through the bloodstream and in a diabetic it takes a long time for the levels to be reduced. For diabetics on insulin the quantity of insulin taken needs to be matched to the carbohydrate intake – an excess of insulin is just as bad as an excessive blood glucose level.
Carbohydrates with a high Glycemic index (G.I.) are much better for diabetics than ones with a low G.I. Glycemic Index is a measure of the length of time it takes for the body to digest the food and the glucose to hit the bloodstream. Carbohydrates with a high G.I. are generally also high in fiber and include foods such as rolled oats and brown rice. Highly processed foods usually have had the fiber removed and have a low G.I.
Limiting carbohydrates on their own is not enough. If the body has lots of fat or protein it will burn these instead of some of the carbohydrates sometimes leaving the blood sugar level as high as with a normal carbohydrate intake.
It is therefore necessary to look at overall calories as well as the carbohydrate in choosing foods to make up a diet which will help in the blood sugar control.