Managing Your Diabetes Controlling diabetes is all about keeping control of our blood glucose levels. The problems of diabetes are caused when your control slips.

Controlling diabetes with diet

Diet is the cornerstone of managing both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It is important to emphasise that everyone, and not just people with diabetes, should eat a healthy, balanced diet. The traditional notion of the 'diabetic diet' is no longer recognised. Good nutrition which contains the essential vitamins and minerals as well as foods from the main food groups constitutes a healthy, balanced diet. The main principles of a health diet include reduced saturated fat, complex carbohydrates or starchy food at each meal, protein at each meal, limited intake of refined sugars, reduced salt, limited alcohol and 6 - 8 glasses of water.

The importance of controlling diabetes with food

Good nutrition is vital to the well-being of everybody but it is the essential basis of controlling diabetes with food intake on a day to day basis. It is integral to the adequate care of people with diabetes with respect to the balance of energy intake and managing blood glucose levels. The 2 types of foods which impact on blood glucose levels are the complex carbohydrates and refined sugars; complex carbohydrates have less effect on blood glucose than refined sugars. Complex carbohydrates have a lower glycaemic index which means that they have a slower effect on blood glucose levels whereas refined sugars have an immediate effect. An awareness of this fact can help people control their diabetes with diet more effectively by having the knowledge to choose the types and quantities of food more carefully.

Dietary requirements change as the person ages, activity levels are altered, overall health status, in pregnancy, lactation and in the presence of any specific disease processes. However, these factors must be taken into account when advising people with diabetes about controlling their glucose level with food. The success of controlling diabetes with diet is measured by its effect on symptoms, weight and blood glucose control.

Controlling diabetes with diet in type 2 diabetes

Obesity is a common feature of type 2 diabetes and occurs due to an imbalance between energy intake in the diet and energy expended in activity levels. Type 2 diabetes is typically associated with truncal or central obesity which promotes insulin resistance. It is for this reason avoiding excess weight is crucial in controlling diabetes. Dietary modification is the mainstay and often the first line treatment in controlling type 2 diabetes. Controlling diabetes with food can be achieved by use of an individualised diet plan and a target weight set within a realistic timeframe.

Controlling diabetes with diet in type 1 diabetes

In type 1 diabetes, controlling blood glucose levels is equally important but the emphasis is more on matching food intake and insulin rather than weight management. Controlling diabetes with food should not be underestimated as an intervention and matching diet with insulin has formed the basis of many educational programmes for people with type 1 diabetes eg, BERTIE, DAFNE. This allows people to control type 1 diabetes with diet and corresponding insulin dose adjustments more appropriately. Patients are taught the carbohydrate content of food in order to better gauge the dose of insulin required to match the expected rise in blood glucose.

Written by a Diabetes Specialist Nurse