EAT WELL: Diabetes: What to eat and how much to eat

Life & Times

October 22, 2013     


Diabetes is a condition you cannot reverse, but you can manage it.

By : Indra Balaratnam

IF you’re a diabetic or caring for one, you may be unsure of what foods are suitable for the management of the condition. Below are some common food queries and their answers.

As a diabetic, do I have to buy special health foods?

 A diabetic’s diet is similar to a well-balanced diet recommended by the Malaysian Food Guide Pyramid under the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010 (visit www.myhealth.gov.my for details).

Diabetics are encouraged to include healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, lean protein, vegetables, fruits and dairy into their diet.

Excessive use of sugar, salts and fats are discouraged. Too much of these can cause blood glucose levels to increase and cause other underlying health problems such as hypertension, obesity and high cholesterol levels.

However, for a proper interpretation of the Malaysian Food Guide Pyramid, diabetics should see a dietitian who will recommend the proper portions of food to consume in a day.

Many diabetics consume too much carbohydrate — a plateful of rice, a large bowl of noodles, chapati and thosai — throughout the day can add up to an overload. Carbohydrates turn into glucose when digested, and when there’s too much of it, blood glucose levels can rise and remain high.

Monitoring the consumption ofcarbohydrates at each meal will help regulate blood glucose levels so you don’t have extreme spikes of highs and lows which can cause you to feel unwell.

Can I eat sugary or sweetened foods?



Refined sugar should account for no more than 10 per cent
 of the total carbohydrates a diabetic consumes.

A better understanding of how food affects blood glucose means that the diabetic diet is now more liberal where sugar and sweeteners are concerned.
Those days, you would often hear “no sugar at all”. So the poor diabetic would have to go from tasty to tasteless overnight. How would anyone be able to under such drastic circumstances?

Account for the amount you consume when it comes to sugar and sweetened foods. Refined sugar should account for no more than 10 per cent of the total carbohydrates a diabetic consumes. Sugar is a form of refined carbohydrates, and it is converted to glucose more rapidly than a wholegrain carbohydrate.

A little sugar in a drink or a dish, or a small portion of a sugary treat (for example a dash of sugar syrup in tau foo fah) can be part of a well-balanced diabetic diet. But herein lies the catch. The onus is on a diabetic to ensure that he makes good food choices to keep his blood glucose stable. If it is out of control, than sugary or sweetened foods will only compound the existing problem.

Is the glycaemic index diet useful for diabetics?

 You may not necessarily follow the glycaemic index diet to a tee, but it does help to select more of carbohydrate choices of moderate or low glycaemic value. Foods with moderate to low glycaemic index result in a lower raise in blood glucose levels when consumed. But don’t let the glycaemic index value fool you into thinking you can eat as much of it as you want. The crux to controlling blood glucose levels is appropriate portions. So in short, multigrain rice may be of low glycaemic value, but if you eat a large portion of it, it can your blood glucose levels shoot up.

Can you share some tips for a diabetic who’s eating out or travelling?

When eating out, take note of the portion served. The portions here may be too large for a diabetic when it comes to fried rice, pasta etc. If so, don’t order one-dish meals such as fried rice and noodles or pasta. You may think they are “lighter” than a plateful of rice and dishes, but it is not so.

When eating out, you are better off ordering nasi campur (the “economy meal” of rice and your selection of dishes) where you can serve yourself more sensible portions. Have a small serving of rice, with extra servings of vegetables and a moderate palm-sized serving of lean meat. Go for cooking styles that are not drenched in oil as this should be an instant red flag that it is high in fat.

When dining in a restaurant, don’t hesitate to make special requests such as substituting side dishes with a high fat content for healthier choices, for example, French fries for a small baked potato or an extra serving of vegetables.
When at home, use measuring tools to be more accurate in estimating portions. This will make you more of an expert when you eat out.

When travelling, pack sufficient medication. Always keep a buffer supply in case your trip is extended. Buying prescription drugs may not be easy overseas.

Enjoying good food is part and parcel of any trip. Diabetics tend to get complacent with their diet. But sometimes over-indulging while on vacation can end it in a disastrous manner. A client of mine, who so enjoyed the tasty food in India, tucked into plenty of chapati, thosai, desserts and sweet masala tea. He didn’t want to worry about his diabetic diet. By day five he had to check out of his luxury hotel and into hospital because his blood sugar level went haywire.

You can never ever overlook your situation. Diabetes is a condition you cannot reverse, but can manage.

http://www.nst.com.my/mobile/life-times/health/eat-well-diabetes-what-to-eat-and-how-much-to-eat-1.381596