diabetes diet

 

What is Diabetes?

  • Diabetes is a disorder where the body does not produce enough insulin or the type of insulin is not effective to transport sugar in blood into our muscles
  • Each day in Australia, approximately 280 people are diagnosed with diabetes (that is one person every 5 minutes)
  • People with diabetes are almost three times more likely to have high blood pressure, obesity and two times more likely to have cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart disease and stroke).
  • High blood glucose levels cause damage to the kidneys, nerves and eyes
  • Australian one of the highest incidence in world

Why is it becoming more prevalent?

  • carrying too much weight: Waist circumference – men 94 and 102; women 80 and 88
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Increasing use of refined sugars
  • Not as active
  • Smoking
  • Genetics – island/aboriginal

Five diet changes to be aware of – 4 T’s and a coffee

  1. Limit the amount of total carbohydrates in diet
    • Bread, rice, pasta, cereals
    • Limit fruit to 2/day
    • Aim for 50% of energy each days as carbs
  2. Limit the types of carbohydrates
    1. Low Glycaemic foods
    2. Some examples of low GI foods
      1. Sweet potato instead of potato
      2. Whole grain breads instead of white bread
      3. Apples instead of watermelon
      4. High fibre cereals
      5. Yoghurt as a snack
  3. Be aware of the timing of the carbohydrates
    1. Smaller regular meals and snacks
    2. Eat within 2hr of wake and avoid for 2 hrs before bed
  4. Do some training – exercise
    1. Increase muscle need for carbohydrates
    2. Increases muscle receptiveness to insulin
  5. Increase your coffee intake. Aim for 3 cups/day
    1. 122,000 from Nurses’ Health Study, NHS II (1991–2007) -documented 7,269 cases type 2 diabetes
    2. Diet was assessed every 4 years using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Self-reported cases of incident type 2 diabetes were validated by supplementary questionnaires.
    3. RESULTS:
      1. 1 extra cup/day (average: 1.69) – 11% reduced risk 4 years later compared to those who did not change
      2. 1 less cup/day (average: 2) – 17% increased risk 4 years later compared to those who did not change
      3. Not seen in decaffeinated coffee or in tea consumption had no impact
    4. Best result in those who consumed 3 cups/day – 37% lower than those who consumed 1/day