Diet taboos for diabetics

The core dietary taboo for diabetic patients has never been "no sweets at all"; Resolutely avoid all eating behaviors that will cause blood sugar to rise and fall suddenly in a short period of time ——Whether you eat foods that raise blood sugar too quickly, or your eating rhythm is so disordered that your pancreatic islets are repeatedly stimulated, these are major taboos on the road to sugar control.

Don’t believe it, I have seen too many people with diabetes who were diagnosed not long ago. They first threw away all the sweet things, turned around and showed off with "sugar-free cookies" and "sugar-free cereals", but after half a month of follow-up, their blood sugar levels rose several points. Let’s take Aunt Zhang from the community downstairs. Last year, her physical examination showed that her fasting blood sugar was 8.2. She was so scared that she gave away all the honey and pastries at home to her neighbors. She only bought snacks marked “sugar-free” in the supermarket. When she was hungry, she ate two pieces of soda crackers and sugar-free Sachima. However, less than two months later, when she went for a follow-up examination, her fasting blood sugar soared to 10.3. She was stunned for a long time with the test sheet, not knowing what was wrong.

In fact, this is the first misunderstanding that many people easily fall into: mistaking "no added sucrose" for "does not raise sugar levels." You must know that the main ingredient of most sugar-free processed foods is refined rice noodles, which are high in carbohydrates. After being broken down by the body, they are all glucose. Even if sucrose is not added, the rate of raising sugar is no slower than that of ordinary snacks. Regarding how to judge the glycemic ability of food, there are now different opinions in the academic circles: the older generation of nutritionists pay more attention to GI (glycemic index) and feel that as long as the GI is higher than 70, they should be eaten as little as possible. ； Nowadays, more young doctors will recommend referring to GL (glycemic load). Even if it is watermelon with a high GI, as long as you only eat 1-2 teeth at a time, the GL value is actually less than 10, and the impact on blood sugar is minimal. There is no need to dare to touch it with a bite.

In addition to these obviously processed foods, there are many "hidden sugars" hidden in home-cooked dishes that are hard to guard against. Last time, a young man who had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes came for consultation. He said that he ate multi-grain rice and boiled vegetables every meal, but his blood sugar still fluctuated high and low. After careful questioning, he found out that he thought vegetables were tasteless and had to squeeze out half a bottle of tomato sauce every time he ate. He had never noticed that commercially available tomato sauce contains nearly 25 grams of added sugar per 100 kilograms. In addition, when elders in the family cook braised pork and sweet and sour pork ribs, they add rock sugar to enhance the color, and when frying vegetables, they add half a spoonful of white sugar to enhance the freshness. The cumulative effect of these invisible sugars on raising blood sugar is much greater than eating two bites of fruit.

Having said this, someone must ask, is it okay as long as we avoid sugar and eat more light foods? Not necessarily. I have seen many people with diabetes cook white porridge with pickles after hearing others say that they drink porridge to nourish their stomach. As a result, their blood sugar level after meals is ridiculously high. This is because the more rotten the refined rice is, the higher the degree of starch gelatinization. Once it enters the intestines and stomach, it will be absorbed with little need for digestion, and blood sugar can rise in 15 minutes. However, experts in different fields have different opinions on whether porridge can be drunk: Most Western medicine nutrition departments recommend avoiding eating gruel as much as possible, especially if it is cooked with pure rice. ； However, many schools of traditional Chinese medicine and dietary therapy recommend that if mixed beans, oats, and yams are used to cook porridge, the cooking time should be controlled within 40 minutes, and only half a bowl should be consumed each time, along with an egg and a small plate of green leafy vegetables. In fact, it will not cause too much blood sugar fluctuations, but can replenish water and dietary fiber.

In fact, many people have overlooked that dietary taboos are not just "what to eat", but "how to eat" is equally important. My uncle was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago. When he started taking medicine and controlling his diet, his blood sugar level after meals was always around 9. When he went for a follow-up visit, the doctor asked him how fast he was eating. He said that he ate every meal in 10 minutes and wolfed it down. The insulin in his body could not keep up with the increase in blood sugar. He was asked to try to chew each mouthful of food 20 times and eat for at least 25 minutes. With this small change, his meal 2 blood sugar dropped to 7.4 during the second month's review, which was even more effective than adding more medication. Some people with diabetes are afraid of high blood sugar and deliberately only eat less than half a bowl of rice at a meal. They are so hungry that they feel dizzy and suffer from hypoglycemia. They quickly stuff in two pieces of candy and two biscuits to rescue them. This kind of roller coaster-like blood sugar fluctuation causes more damage to blood vessels and nerves than if the blood sugar fluctuates at a slightly higher level for a long time.

Almost none of the old sugar friends I have come into contact with who control their sugar very well regard themselves as complete ascetics. For example, the 78-year-old Uncle Wang in our community has been suffering from diabetes for more than 20 years. He has no complications at all and his physical examination indicators are normal every year. He also eats 1/4 of a lotus seed mooncake every Mid-Autumn Festival. After eating, he carries the birdcage downstairs and walks for 40 minutes. His meals have been measured several times and are within the normal range. The current concept of sugar control is no longer the strict fasting of "you can't eat this or touch that" a few decades ago. In fact, there are no absolute dietary taboos at all. The key is to control the total calories, match the proportion of staple food, protein, and vegetables, and then adjust according to your body's reaction. After all, everyone's pancreatic islet function is different. If someone else eats something that raises blood sugar, you may be fine after eating it. The most reliable way is to measure the pre-prandial blood sugar after eating suspicious food. The pattern you can figure out by yourself is better than all popular science guides.