Diet for Diabetes

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Diabetic diet is extremely important in all diabetes types and it must be respected regardless the medical treatment followed.

In order to be efficient, diet for diabetes must be personalized according to age, sex, physical activity, alimentary preferences, and according to other complementary diseases as well (obesity, high blood pressure, kidney problems etc.).

Here are, for the beginning, some general recommendations concerning a diet for diabetes:

- calories: a diabetic person having normal weight needs the same caloric values as a healthy person, but calories come from different proportions of lipids, sugars, proteins. Overweight people will follow a diet for diabetes with low number of calories, whereas underweight people will follow a diet based on high number of calories.

- sugars: 50-55% of the calories content (about 300g/day) avoiding simple sugars, with rapid absorption and refined products like sugar and sugar based food;

- Proteins: 12-15% of calories (about 1g/kg/day); in the case of kidney problems, you won't exceed 0.8g/kg/day;

- Lipids: 30-35% of calories (about 125g/day);

- Alimentary fibers: 30-35 g. /day taken from vegetables, fruit, cereals;

- Salt amount: less than 7 g/day and people who suffer from high blood pressure won't exceed 3 g.

A diabetic person must eat less, but more often than a healthy person (5-6 meals per day); to respect meal time and dinner must be taken at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Food permitted to a diabetic patient:

- Tomatoes, green pepper, mushrooms, cucumbers, cabbage, egg plants, leek, lettuce, carrots, celery, beetroot, onion, garlic;

- Watermelon, lemons, strawberries, cherries, black currants, nuts;

- Meat, fish and food based on them;

- Milk and dairy products (cheese, cream, butter);

- Eggs;

- Soft drinks sugar free.

Food containing much sugar, prohibited to diabetic people:

- Sugar, honey;

- Biscuits, cakes made with sugar, candies, chocolate;

- Figs, raisins, dates, dried plums, grapes, jams, marmalade;

Food which has to be weighed before consumption:

- White bread;

- Graham bread;

- Potatoes, beans, peas;

- Rice.

For a young adult 170 cm tall, having a weight of 70 kg, who performs average physical activity (energy consumption 40cal/kg/day) an example of diet for diabetes can be the following:

Morning: white coffee (250 gr.), bread (60 gr.) light cheese (100 gr.) and green pepper

Snack: bread (40 gr.) and butter (20 gr.) and some sausage, low in fats (100 gr.), fruit (100 gr.)

Lunch: vegetable soup with croutons (bread 100 gr.), vegetables and mashed potatoes (150 gr.)
lettuce, bread (60 gr.), compote (100 gr. fruit)

Snack: salty cheese (50 gr.) tomatoes and bread (40 gr.), fruit (100 gr.)

Dinner: salad, bread (40 gr.), rice and meat pudding, custard (a cup)

Supper: milk (250 ml.) and bread (20 gr.)

Total calories: 2800/day

You can alternate these foods, with yogurt, tomatoes soup, cabbage salad, fruit jelly, fish, carrots, apples or semolina pudding.

Actually any individual can personalize his or her diet for diabetes as long as they know the list of foods which are permitted and the rules they have to respect.