Dieting Tips for Type 2 Diabetes

Dieting Tips for Type 2 Diabetes 

 

Let's talk about why certain foods are good for type 2 diabetes and others aren’t. In general, you want to avoid foods that increase your blood sugar rapidly. You only have to eat a small portion of them to spike your blood sugar to a dangerous level. These foods usually contain lots of carbohydrates. The three types of carbs are sugar, starches and fiber. 

Fiber is the best of the three carbs for diabetes. It actually slows the digestion of carbs. Peppers, spinach, mushrooms and peas are good sources of fiber. Quinoa is a type of seed that's rich in fiber and can be added to a salad.

Diabetes-Friendly Foods

·         Vegetables

·         Beans

·         Fish

·         Cereal

·         Nuts

·         Yogurt

Bread, rice and potatoes are foods containing carbohydrates that people with diabetes should avoid. These foods are full of starches and sugars that will push blood sugar through the roof. It doesn’t take a very large portion of these carbs to make someone with diabetes have an episode of hyperglycemia (extremely high blood pressure). 

The tricky thing about food is that anything can push blood sugar into the danger zone. You only have to eat too much of it. Portion control is the key to creating a safe diabetes diet. When you eat the right amounts, it's easier to control your blood sugar. And make sure you fulfill your nutritional needs.

When a person has diabetes, their weight and how much they exercise affects how many carbs they can eat safely. On average, their blood sugar should be 130 mg/dL before a meal.  Two hours after a meal, it should be less than 180 mg/dL. Figuring out how many carbs you can safely handle is not a trial-and-error experience. Talk to your doctor to understand how certain carbs can affect your blood sugar.

Your doctor can tell you the average grams of carbs you can safely eat during each meal. You can then portion your breakfast, lunch and dinner to safe carbohydrate limits. By keeping a careful record of how many carbs you eat each time, you should stay well within the blood sugar safety limit. But you have to do your homework. It’s only possible to eat the right amount if you know how many grams of carbs are in the foods you’re eating.

Foods labels are required to have nutritional facts. Carbohydrates for each serving size are listed on that label. When you’d like to eat a food that doesn’t have a label on it, it’s a good idea to look it up so you can understand how many grams of carbs it contains. There are plenty of websites for quickly finding this information. 

Your doctor will also talk to you about insulin and oral medication. Some medications can have life threatening side effects. When choosing your anti-diabetes drug, make sure you do research on its safety. For instance, the type 2 diabetes drug Actos has been shown to increase the risk of bladder cancer by 83 percent, which has led users to file lawsuits for compensation.

William Richards researches and writes about prescription drugs and medical devices for Drugwatch.com.