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The Diabetes diet plan is really nothing more than a truly healthy diet for any individual.
While recent studies have shown that there may be more effective diets to treat Diabetes as a disease, the plan set forth at this point is perfectly manageable and reduces risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. |
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Why the Diabetes Diet Plan Works for Everyone
The Diabetes diet is built from a basic food pyramid, just like you learned in school, with a couple of minor modifications. The base of the pyramid is carbohydrates. This is the main source of energy for an individual and is therefore considered the most important part of the diet. However, for a Diabetic, all carbs should be complex, and no simple sugar should be ingested at any time, if it can be avoided. In other words, whole grain breads and pastas are good, while cakes and cookies are off limits. Somewhere around 40 percent of the Type 2 Diabetes diet should be carbohydrates.
The next rung on the ladder is protein. This category includes meats, beans, some cheeses, and eggs. Protein helps to build muscle, especially lean muscle, which helps the body burn more calories and maintain a higher energy level and faster metabolism. Proteins should rate in at about 25 percent of the Diabetes diet plan. However, it is never a bad thing to eat a little more protein; the body will always break this down easily and make good use of it. Excess protein is rarely stored as fat and is therefore healthier to eat in excess than carbohydrates.
As you move up the Diabetes diet pyramid, your next level will be fruits and vegetables, equaling about 15-20 percent of the diet. Vegetables contain a number of healthy vitamins and minerals that are essential to keeping your body regulated and functioning properly. Because a diabetic body tends to be inefficient in the absorption of some of these, it is important to eat the proper amount and perhaps even supplement with vitamin pills. While fruits provide many health properties, like vitamin C, these should be eaten with care, as fructose, the natural sugar found in most fruits, is a simple sugar and can affect the blood glucose level negatively.
Dairy products should be ingested as about 10-15 percent of the diet. Lactose is another simple sugar, found in milk and milk products, and can also cause inconsistencies in blood glucose levels. However, the calcium and vitamin D derived from dairy products is important to overall health as well.
The tip of the pyramid is fats. Fat should not make up more than 5-10 percent of the Diabetes diet plan, since fat is the leading cause of several health problems that are common among Diabetics, as listed above. Any fat that is ingested should be unsaturated fat, especially good fats like omega 3 oils found in fish.
The real problem with the Diabetes diet is that it addresses the issues caused by Diabetes rather than treating the disease itself as the cause of these issues. However, for a normal healthy diet, based on 1800-2000 calories, this is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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