Diabetes can lead to incredible complications if a diabetic does not tend to their blood sugar levels carefully. In fact, maintaining a healthy diabetic diet is the most important aspect of having the disease. In order to know to maintain a healthy diabetic diet properly it is best to visit with your physician, a dietitian, and/or a nutritionist on the subject. However, there are some general guidelines that a person can follow which help them ensure their diabetic health.
First and foremost, a healthy diet for a diabetic is one in which a person’s blood sugar levels are well controlled. This does not only involve what you eat, but how much you eat and when you eat, according the National Institutes of Health. Being physically active every day is also part of a diabetic healthy diet. This can not only help you to control your blood sugar levels, but help you to keep a healthy weight; diabetics who are overweight are at far greater risk of developing health problems in diabetes.
Unlike other types of diets, the main goal of a healthy diabetic diet is not to resist foods but to develop habits that will help you maintain a healthy weight while deriving the right amount of nutrition from the foods. The Mayo Clinic offers the following advice for maintaining a healthy diabetic diet:
Enjoy healthy carbohydrates – Both simple and complex carbohydrates break down into blood sugar (blood glucose) during digestion. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, and low fat dairy products, take longer to digest and therefore give you the energy that you need without causing your blood sugar to spike quickly.
Eat fiber-rich foods – Fiber-rich foods help you to maintain your blood sugar levels and help you to feel fuller for longer periods of time. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, and wheat products are great choices for your healthy diabetic diet.
Diabetic Heart Healthy Diet
One of the greatest risks a diabetic must face is heart diseases. People with diabetes are not only at a higher risk of developing heart disease, but have additional causes for heart disease, develop it at a younger age, and heart disease is often far more severe for diabetics. In fact, diabetics have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than non-diabetes. In addition, the National Institutes of Health notes cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death among diabetics.
If you want to maintain a heart healthy diabetic diet, the very best thing that you can do for your body is to avoid foods which contain trans fats completely. The best way to do this is to read food levels as you grocery shop. Saturated fats, like those found in high-fat dairy products, beef, sausage, and hot dogs can be eaten, and are needed to a certain degree. However, they should be kept to a minimum and should only make up about 7% of your daily caloric intake. Instead opt for poultry, fish, and beans for a healthier source of protein.
There are a number of ways that you can include heart-healthy fats into your diet. Foods such as avocados, almonds, pecans, olives, peanuts, and oils such as sunflower oil, peanut oil, olive oil, and canola oil can help to lower your cholesterol levels. It is best to consume these at low levels though, as they are all high in calories. Many health organizations, such as the American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health, encourage diabetics to eat fish several times a week as they help lower triglyceride levels and promote heart health. Fried fish and those with high levels of mercury should be avoided, however.
