Added: 11/16/2006 |
Dealing with the Facts on the Diabetic DietPatients that suffer from Type 2 Diabetes must often rely on medication to control their blood sugar level. Yet even with the availability of such medication, a person with Type 2 Diabetes needs to adhere closely to the diabetic diet. What is the diabetic diet, and why do doctors encourage their diabetic patients to adhere to that diet? The answers are found in the following paragraphs.
Fats interfere with the body’s ability to use insulin. Therefore, fatty foods should not be on the plate of a patient with Type 2 Diabetes. At the same time, the diabetic patient should seek to limit the amount of ingested fat that might be absorbed by the cells in the small intestines. A diet for diabetic patients should thus prescribe the eating of lots of high fiber foods.
High fiber foods absorb much of the fat in the intestine. The high fiber foods, which have become laden with ingested fat, are then expelled in the feces. That is why a diabetic is encouraged to eat plenty of high fiber foods. That is why the diabetic diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables.
As a diabetic increases his or her intake of high fiber foods, he or she should also decrease the consumption of simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates flood the bloodstream with sugar. Simple carbohydrates increase the amount of blood sugar that’s circulating through the body. Simple carbohydrates increase the demand for an efficient utilization of insulin. It is a demand that the diabetic patient can never fully satisfy.
The above information on the diabetic diet highlights the need for an awareness by diabetics of everything that is eaten over any 24 hour period. In the past the diabetic had no good way to maintain a record how diet had affected the daily monitor readings. In the past, the diabetic would need to record those readings in some type of log, in order to watch carefully how changes in diet might have altered the blood sugar level. By maintaining such a log, the diabetic could better ascertain the need for any beneficial dietary changes.
A new monitoring device, one called a Glucometer, promises to do away with the need for keeping such a log. Yet that fact does not mean the end to words of advice and encouragement concerning the diabetic diet. Diabetic patients must still refrain from eating fatty foods and foods with lots of simple carbohydrates. Those patients should also supplement diet restrictions with adequate exercise.
The role of exercise in the control of the blood sugar level relates to the behavior of two different body cells—the muscle cells and the fat cells. Muscle cells have more insulin receptors than fat cells. Muscle cells therefore have a greater ability to utilize the insulin produced by the body. That utilization of insulin becomes even greater, when the muscles are called upon to perform at an increased capacity. The body expects muscles to perform at a maximum capacity during periods of exercise.
That explains why exercise, in addition to diet, plays an important role in the maintenance of an acceptable blood sugar level.
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