Choosing The Best Diabetic Diet

By Karl Graus

When you have diabetes, you have more glucose in your blood stream than the normal human bring. Glucose levels can rise when the body is resistant to insulin, the hormone that helps cells metabolize glucose into energy, or when the pancreas fails to make enough insulin to support the body's needs. In either situation, it is very important for diabetics to maintain control of their blood sugar levels so that that can avoid serious health problems, including the risk of falling into a diabetic coma. Beliefs on what constitutes the proper diet for diabetics vary widely.

For a very long time, it was held that diabetics needed to avoid sugar and other carbohydrates, period. Sugar was considered to be the worst offender because it is more easily broken down into glucose, therefore it gets into the bloodstream faster than other carbohydrates. Now, many diabetics replace sugar in their diet with the various artificial sweeteners that have been developed.

And doctors are now more accepting of the fact that most diabetics will come into contact with sugar and other carbs, no matter how carefully they try to monitor their diets. Artificial sweeteners do exist that add no carbohydrates or calories to foods, but just because a food is sugar free does not mean that it is especially safe for diabetics.

Basically, a diet for diabetics benefits the most from a more relaxed approach to sugar and carboydrate regulation. It's a fact that the diagnosis of diabetes shouldn't prevent people from eating all of the foods they enjoy most. The main things that diabetics need to focus on is monitoring the amount of carbs that they eat every day. Carbohydrates consist of both sugars and starches, so foods like pasta and potatoes need to be limited just as much as sweet, sugary foods.

Basically, your best bet is to eat more veggies and fruits as a diabetic. Fruit and veggies contain natural sugars that can be used by the body but are just enough unlike glucose to stop them from raising the blood glucose level. The fiber that you'll get from the fruits and vegetables are sufficient to let their body more efficiently eliminate waste, leaving the person feeling more full.

It used to be said that diabetic meals should be prepared separately from non-diabetic meals; this is not true and has been debunked. The fact is that the best diet for diabetics is the same as the best diet for the rest of the family. It should be a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables that includes some proteins and starches in moderation with few fats. - 30249

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