Diabetes Information
Every person with diabetes is different and every one of them will require a meal plan for daily living. But there are other factors that affect our eating habits:
travel, illness, age, exercise.
Click Here to Review a simple
Prepared Diabetic Meal Plan
The following diabetes information are common questions about how to adapt the main principles of healthy eating for different circumstances.
Q&A
I have a small child with type 1
diabetes. Do these guidelines apply to his diet?
The primary goal of management of diabetes in infants and children is avoiding hypoglycaemia. All children with diabetes should be seen at least once a year by a registered dietitian who specializes in nutrition for children. Getting a small child to eat exactly what you ask, when you ask is a challenge for any parent, but it takes on a special significance with a child with diabetes. Your health care team will have a lot of excellent suggestions and advice from other parents to help your child eat well.
My teenage daughter was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She has gained weight since starting insulin and complains about being fat (which she is not). I am afraid she is not eating properly.
It is not unusual to gain weight after starting insulin. It is also common for teenagers (both boys and girls) to worry about their physical appearance. What is worrisome, however, is the increasing number of young women who obsess about their weight to the point of harming their health. It is important to be on the lookout for any signs that your daughter is developing an eating disorder. These signs would include poor control of diabetes, obsession with her weight, drastic changes in eating habits, excessive physical activity or signs that she is altering or not taking her insulin. Her health care team can help with these issues, but only if they know about them. Be sure your daughter attends all her appointments.
I have diabetes and I am pregnant. I know the importance of healthy eating for all pregnant women, but are my nutritional needs different because I have diabetes?
Pregnancy and diabetes is a challenging combination for the mother-to-be. Whether you had diabetes before you got pregnant or you developed it during pregnancy
(gestational
diabetes), the goals are the same: to achieve normal blood glucose levels and adequate weight gain while eating a diet that provides all the necessary nutrients for you and your baby. To achieve this you must be followed by a health care team with experience in prenatal care for women with diabetes. Your team can help you with issues such as meal planning, meal spacing, glucose monitoring and ketone testing, and can help prepare you with the nutritional requirements of breast feeding and being a new mother. The guidelines also recommend that pregnant women with diabetes take a multivitamin containing 0.4 to 1.0 mg of folic acid during the first trimester to reduce the risk of birth defects. ( Editor's note: Other studies have suggested that all women of childbearing age should take a folic acid supplement regardless of whether she is planning a pregnancy or not).
Women who develop gestational diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. These women need to talk to their health care team about how to prevent diabetes through a healthy lifestyle, and should be screened for diabetes six months after delivery, and then regularly after that.
I am an elderly person living alone. I sometimes wonder if I am eating well enough.
Although older people can have a harder time telling when their blood glucose is getting low, the main goal for elderly people with diabetes is the same as everyone else's: to aim for the best blood glucose control possible. Like everyone else, you should also make sure that you are drinking enough fluids to prevent constipation and to avoid becoming dehydrated. You should see your health care team to make sure you are meeting all your nutrition needs and getting the most out of life. Your team can also help tailor you meal plan to accommodate other medical problems you might have.
Is it better to eat many small meals over the day rather than three large meals?
There has been a lot of research on this question, but there is no simple answer. Determine the best way to space your meals with your health care team. Factors to consider are your lifestyle, whether you work shifts, cultural factors and personal preferences.
I would like to become a vegetarian. Can I do this if I have diabetes?
A well-balanced vegetarian diet can be a healthy choice for people with diabetes. However, there is a lot more involved in becoming vegetarian than simply cutting out meat. Consult a Registered Dietitian to help you plan nutritionally adequate meals. This is especially important for children, older adults, pregnant or breast-feeding women, and ill people with diabetes.
Click Here to Review a simple
Vegetarian Diabetic Meal Plan
I'd like to travel more, but worry about controlling my diabetes away from home.
Many people with diabetes have difficulty managing their diabetes when
travelling. Discuss your travel plans with your healthcare team before you go. In terms of food, make sure you always carry a good supply of carbohydrate with you all the time (don't check it with your baggage). Most airlines offer 'diabetic' meals, but these meals may not provide enough carbohydrate. Try regular meals, but be careful about what and how much you eat. You can enjoy wonderful adventures so long as you do a little preplanning!
Will I be able to include all the foods from my culture in a meal plan?
Yes. Whether you are an Aboriginal Canadian or a Canadian from a different culture, a Registered Dietitian will work with you to find out the kinds of foods and traditions that are important to you. Follow-up visits are important as they are the time to discuss what's working and what's not. If something in your meal plan doesn't work, tell your dietitian and he or she will work with you to fix it. Many centres also have multicultural programs in which the team speaks several different languages.
My doctor told me my blood glucose control would improve if I lost some weight. Can weight loss really make a difference?
Losing even five to 10 percent of your weight could improve your blood glucose control. In other words, if you are overweight at 160 pounds, losing eight to 16 pounds could make a real difference in your blood glucose control, and that could make a real difference in preventing the complications of diabetes. There is no magic bullet for weight loss, but by reducing the energy (calories) you consume and increasing the energy you expend (by physical activity) you can slowly lose those few extra pounds. For people who just can't lose weight, they need to focus on not gaining any more. Set realistic goals based on improving your health, not your reflection in the mirror. Don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself to look a certain way. Losing five to 10 percent of your weight may make the body you have healthier.
I have high blood pressure. Could changing something in my diet help bring it down?
This is an excellent question. We now have very clear evidence that controlling blood pressure is as important as controlling blood glucose in preventing or delaying the complications of diabetes. According to the 2003 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada, people with diabetes should aim to maintain a target blood pressure of 130/85 through balanced eating, regular activity, weight management, by quitting smoking and restricting sodium and alcohol. If these lifestyle changes don't lower your blood pressure enough, your physician may prescribe medication.
Final Thoughts
A diagnosis of diabetes is no longer a life sentence of eating bland foods. You can enjoy the foods you love if you understand how to fit them into a healthy meal plan. Make an appointment with a Registered Dietitian and make this the year to learn more about healthy eating, increased physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices. Your diabetes will change as you get older and go through different life stages, and you may need to adjust your eating habits from time to time, so stay in touch with your dietitian and keep those follow-up appointments. Look at it this way - you could be eating your way to better health!
|
