14.4 Diet and Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes was previously discussed in chapter 5, so this chapter will focus on health risks associated with diabetes and how to prevent and manage diabetes.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects how your body turns food into energy.

Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (glucose) and released into your bloodstream. Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin, which acts like a key to let the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy.

If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin, or the cells stop responding to insulin, too much sugar stays in your bloodstream, which over time can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and loss of vision.

Diabetes by the Numbers

• Over 30 million US adults have diabetes, and 1 in 4 of them don’t know they have it.
• Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US.
• Diabetes is the No. 1 cause of kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and adult-onset blindness.
• In the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than tripled as the American population has aged and become more overweight or obese.

Types of Diabetes:

There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant).

Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction that stops your body from making insulin. About 5% of the people who have diabetes have this type. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes often develop quickly. It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day.

With Type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and is unable to keep blood sugar at normal levels. Most people with diabetes have this type. It usually develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (though increasingly in children, teens, and young adults due to the high rates of overweight and obesity in children). Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, delayed, and reversed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight if you’re overweight, healthy eating, and getting regular physical activity.

Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. If you have gestational diabetes, your baby could be at higher risk for health complications. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born but increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. Your baby is more likely to become obese as a child or teen, and more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life too.

Prediabetes

In the United States, 84.1 million adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes, and 90% of them don’t know they have it. Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Diet for Diabetes

Avoid foods high in saturated fats or trans fats, sugar, and artificial additives such as:

• Fatty cuts of meat
• Fried foods
• Whole milk and dairy products made from whole milk.
• Sweets such as cakes, candy, cookies, pastries and cakes/pies
• Salad dressings
• Lard, shortening, stick margarine, and nondairy creamers
• Processed and refined foods
• Fruit-flavored drinks
• Sodas
• Tea or coffee sweetened with sugar

Eat more fiber found in all plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, legumes, and whole-grains.

Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Choose fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit and 100% fruit juices most of the time. Eat plenty of veggies like these:

• Dark green veggies (e.g., broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts)
• Orange veggies (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash)
• Beans and peas (e.g., black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils)

Physical Activity

Physical activity can help you control your blood glucose, weight, and blood pressure, as well as raise your “good” cholesterol and lower your “bad” cholesterol. It can also help prevent heart and blood flow problems, reducing your risk of heart disease and nerve damage, which are often problems for people with diabetes.

Experts recommend moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes on five or more days of the week. Some examples of moderate-intensity physical activity are walking briskly, mowing the lawn, dancing, swimming, or bicycling.