Diabetes Diet: The Low Glycemic Index Diet is Much More Than Just a Fad Diet

A diabetes diet is crucial when a person suffers from diabetes. The low glycemic index diet is not a special food package but is just a little more than a diet plan for healthy living for people in general. A low gi diet is not a special food that is packaged by a pharmaceutical company, and can be purchased off the shelf.

DIETARY CONTROL AND WEIGHT CONTROL

Dietary control in type 1 diabetes is very important. This diabetes diet focuses on balancing insulin intake with food intake and energy expenditure from physical activity. Diet counseling and teaching is a must for the diabetic to know what works out best for them. Weight control is an especially important part of the management of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss, in any case, should not be the only or even the primary goal for people concerned about their health. Nevertheless, weight loss should be a big concern since overweight conditions will typically aggravate the diabetic condition. Weight loss through diet and exercise is especially important for overweight people with pre-diabetes as well.

CHOLESTEROL

Diabetics should stick with unsaturated fats, since animal fats and trans fatty acids are a major source of cholesterol and have a variety of negative effects on the health of the heart, especially for the diabetics. For many years, soy was promoted as a food that could help lower cholesterol and improve heart disease risk factors. But an important 2006 American Heart Association (AHA) review of studies found that soy protein and isoflavone supplement pills do not really have any decisive effects on cholesterol or heart disease prevention. Reducing consumption of saturated fats and trans-fatty acids is the first essential step in managing cholesterol levels through a diabetes diet. Low-fat diets that are high in whole grains, fiber, legumes, and fresh produce offer health advantages for cholesterol control.

In diabetes diets fats should make up about 30%-35% of the caloric intake, but that does not mean just any type will do. Low carb diets generally restrict the amount of carbohydrates but do not restrict protein sources. The American Diabetes Association states that low-fat diets can help reduce weight in the short term (up to 1 year). Research indicates that chromium, zinc and magnesium-rich diets may help lower type 2 diabetes risk.

THE GLYCEMIC INDEX

People who have diabetes should use the glycemic index to select foods, especially among carbohydrates. The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates, certain foods or food groups, according to the effects they have on your glycemia, which can help you decide the best things to include in your diabetes diet plan. The glycemic index helps determine which carbohydrate-containing foods raise blood glucose levels more or less quickly after a meal. That is the basement of the low glycemic index diet. A major analysis suggested that choosing foods with low glycemic index scores may have a significant effect on controlling the surge in blood sugar after meals. Substituting low for high-glycemic index foods may also help prevent weight gain.

One easy way to improve the glycemic index of a meal is to simply replace sugar and starches with legumes (dried peas, beans, and lentils) and whole grains. Adding foods with organic acids (pickles, yogurt) to meals may reduce the impact of foods with high glycemic scores on blood sugar. A study on children with type 1 diabetes suggested that the glycemic index offered as many choices as other diets, i.g. the exchange diet, and they did not report feeling any greater limitations. Foods high on the glycemic index include bread, white potatoes, and pasta while low-glycemic foods include whole grains, fruit, lentils, and soybeans.

A healthy diabetes diet is basically a balanced diet. In general, a low glycemic index diet is not very different from the healthy, balanced diet doctors recommend for everyone. For people who have diabetes, the treatment goal for a diabetes diet is to achieve near normal blood sugar levels.

There is no such thing as a single diabetes diet, though. There is no longer a single diabetes diet that will suit everyone. Furthermore, if you are suffering from diabetes, then enhancing your knowledge level with more of diabetes diet information is a must. Though the administration of insulin and medication is necessary, a healthy diet based on the low glycemic diet information will go a long way in seeing you living a healthy life. The best way to control your blood sugar starts with the most up-to-date diabetes diet information available.

Go ahead, learn more about the low glycemic index diet. There are plenty of sites in the Internet to take this first step. And then, start your own healthy diet as soon as possible!

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