Many new type 2 diabetes patients find the prospect of adjusting their diet to manage the new disease to be daunting and a type 2 diabetes food list would be an extremely helpful guide. Sadly managing diet with diabetes is not that simple but with proper management of carbohydrates, fibers, fats, salts, and exercise controlling diabetes can be tasty and easy.
Carbohydrates and fibers are two of the most important aspects of diet to consider when making a type 2 diabetes food list. Carbohydrates are one of the major parts of diet to consider with diabetes, and they can be broken down into two groups, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are sugars like glucose, sucrose, fructose, and lactose and can be found in refined sugars and fruits. Complex carbohydrates are the starches, which are simply chemically bound sugars and are considered healthier because the body digests them slowly providing the body with a steady source of energy; they can be found in beans, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains. Carbohydrates are the most important part of diet to consider with diabetes because they have the most immediate effect on blood sugar levels since they are broken down into sugars as they are digested, thus it is important to get the suggested amount of carbohydrates with every meal. Fibers are also an important part of diet to consider with diabetes. Fibers are the indigestible parts of plants and provide an important part of the digestive process by helping food to pass through the body. In addition to aiding digestion, fibers delay the digestion of sugars helping to regulate blood sugar levels as well as binding to cholesterol possibly reducing levels of LDL cholesterol or “bad cholesterol”. High fiber diets are also associated with lower risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke which diabetics are more at risk for than those without the disease
Conversely a type 2 diabetes food list benefits highly from the reduction of fat and salt intake. Diabetes increases the risk of developing heart disease thus reducing the amount of fats, particularly saturated fats in your diet is an important part of reducing your risk for heart disease. Diabetes also increases the risk of high blood pressure and thus taking precautions to lower this risk are necessary. Salts are an ingredient in food that also elevate the risk of high blood pressure, so reducing the amount of salt in your diet is a necessary part of reducing this risk Talking with a dietician is an important part of creating a healthy diet for a diabetes patient, and they can give you insight into counting carbohydrates to maintain a healthy blood sugar level as well as ways of reducing fat and salts in your diet.