Diabetics must have a healthy diet such as green vegetables, whole grains, fruits, non-fat dairy products, beans, lean meats, poultry and fish, etc. Healthy food improves on overall health but also reduces the risk for complications such as heart disease and stroke by carefully managing the blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol. However, every person benefits with healthy eating, so the whole family can eat the same food and enjoys a lot on Dinning Table. The balanced includes a variety of foods but extra care must be taken to decide how must be taken to decide how much and of what type of food, an individual may include in his/her diet nutritious food that is the food rich in vitamins, minerals and fibres in his diet. The right kind of food also keep the weight of a person normal. The doctor/dietician can help to create a meal plan for the patients suffering from diabetes. The healthy and balanced diet is the key to attain good health of diabetics.
THE DIABETES FOOD PYRAMID
The diabetes food pyramid serves as a guide to decide as which can be decreased in the diet. By looking at the diabetes food pyramid, one can easily remember what to eat.
The Diabetes Food Pyramid divides the food into six sections or groups. These groups are not similar, they vary in size. The largest group includes beans, grains, starchy vegetables, pastas and lies at the bottom of the diabetes food pyramid. It means one can include more amounts of grains, beans, starchy vegetables, etc. in their daily diet than any other type of food. The smallest group including fats, sweets, alcohol lies at the top of the Diabetes Food Pyramid. It means that such food should be eaten in very less amount by diabetics. Meanwhile, come fruits, Milk, which can be incorporated in diet depending upon the person’s nutritional requirement, calories needs and their lifestyle.
The Diabetes Food Pyramid was given by American Dental Association. But recently, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) created a new food guidance system, thus replacing the former food guide pyramid. This latest system known as “My Pyramid” provides a collection of tools based to maintain requirements, which helps to maintain healthy diet of diabetic individuals.
In a Diabetics food pyramid, each of the food groups provide some, but not all, of the nutrients a person need. In order to maintain good health, the person should eat a variety of foods from all food groups. Food is the fuel that keeps our body working, so a best meal plan will work wonderfully for diabetic patients.
There is a description regarding each group of Diabetes food pyramid.
GRAINS AND STARCHES:
The food we eat provides energy. Carbohydrate containing foods are the best source of energy. Whole grains, Beans and Starchy Vegetables are the best food rich in carbohydrates. The message of today-is the carbohydrates are good for diabetic persons. It is because they have very little fat, saturated fat or cholesterol. They are packed with vitamins, Minerals and fibres. But the food with Carbohydrates likes bread, cereal, rice, and pasta and starchy, vegetables like potatoes, peas, corn, etc. raise the blood sugar level more quickly than meats and fats but they are healthiest food for a person. Thing is needed to adjust the medicines and the increase the activity level in a person who intake more amount of carbohydrates. Counting carbohydrates is an important tool in planning, What a person can eat. By knowing the amount of carbohydrates present in various foods, person can keep a track of how many servings of that food he/she can eat and this helps to maintain proper blood glucose level. A method to see how a carbohydrate affects the blood sugar level is by checking the blood glucose about 1 and ½ to 2 hours after meals. Checking of blood glucose at this points helps the person to know, how much his blood glucose rises form the carbohydrates he ate. In order to attain food glucose control, after meal blood glucose level should be maintained at 180 or below. Diabetics should no longer give up their favourite foods. They should just learn how much to eat and after how much time lapse they can eat. For eg: if today is patient’s birthday and he wants to eat a piece of cake. Then he should count the carbohydrates and make substitutions. Like the small potato usually contains 15 gram sof carbohydrates and small piece of cake generally contains 30 grams of carbohydrates. So the person should give up potato and one slice of bread for the day and eat the cake.
Generally, the person needs six servings of Grains/beans groups. Each serving includes slice of bread ½ Cup of cooked rice, beans or paste, ½ cup of cooked cereal, 1 small potato and ¾ cup of cooked cereal.