What are the dietary taboos for diabetes?

First of all, it must be clear that there are no foods that must not be touched by people with diabetes. There is only one so-called dietary taboo - long-term excessive intake of foods with high glycemic load, high fat and sodium. Those statements of "definitely not eating rice and not touching fruits" are all misunderstandings.

Two years ago, I met Uncle Zhang who was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. As soon as he received the report, he gave away all the rice and flour bags at home. He ate cucumbers and boiled vegetables every day, not even taking a bite of an apple. As a result, he fainted twice in half a month. He was sent to the hospital to find out that he was not only hypoglycemic but also lacking several trace elements. The doctor said that if he continued to be hungry like this, his blood sugar would not be stable and his body would collapse first.

Speaking of this, some people may be confused, so the many "no food lists" posted on the Internet are not groundless, right? It is true that there are many foods that have a high probability of being cheated, but they are not completely untouchable. Take the most controversial porridge. Many people say that drinking porridge is equivalent to drinking sugar water for people with diabetes. In fact, it depends on the situation: if it is white porridge made from pure rice, the degree of gelatinization is extremely high. If you drink it, it will be digested quickly, and it will indeed make your blood sugar spike. Yes, but if the porridge is mixed with more than half of mixed beans, oats, and quinoa, and is not so mushy. When drinking it, just drink half a bowl with a plate of stir-fried vegetables and a boiled egg, and your blood sugar will basically not fluctuate much after the meal. Many old people with diabetes I know like to drink this way in winter, and their blood sugar is very stable.

When friends gather for dinner, many people with diabetes sit there and dare not move their chopsticks. In fact, the most important thing to avoid is not the two pieces of braised pork, but the dishes with hidden sugar, such as sweet and sour pork ribs coated with thick sugar shells, Kung Pao chicken seasoned with a lot of sugar, and bottled milk tea and carbonated drinks that are readily available to relieve fatigue. These are the real sugar-raising consumers. A while ago, a young sugar lover in his 20s told me that he did not dare to eat vegetables at dinner parties, so he drank three cans of sugar-free Coke. As a result, his blood sugar level still exceeded after the meal. In fact, although sugar substitutes will not directly increase blood sugar, drinking too much at one time will also interfere with the body's insulin sensitivity. Long-term drinking is not conducive to sugar control.

In fact, controlling sugar is like putting a burden on our metabolic system. If you are greedy and eat a small piece of cream cake today, it is equivalent to putting an extra small weight on it. If you walk for half an hour after eating, this weight will be removed, and it will not have any big impact.； But if you eat high sugar and oil every day, it is equivalent to being full of burdens every day. Over time, your metabolic system cannot handle it, and your blood sugar will naturally become unstable.

The old sugar lovers I have come into contact with who have been controlling their sugar for more than ten years will basically not force themselves to eat anything. Instead, they have understood their body's reaction and know how many extra steps they have to take to eat half a mooncake and how many mouthfuls of rice they need to eat to drink less than half a bowl of porridge. Flexible adjustment is much more comfortable than sticking to the taboo list. What we really want to avoid is the two extremes of "either you dare not eat anything to cause problems, or you don't care about eating and drinking." What is more important than taboos is always controlling the total amount and being able to match.