If a person has diabetes, it is very important that the person’s diet is closely monitored in order to properly maintain the blood sugar levels. There are a lot of differing philosophies regarding what is the most ideal diet for diabetic patients. Here are a few guidelines that will help a patient have an idea of what type of diet he or she should be eating.
People who have Type 1 diabetes will be needing an estimated daily intake of 35 calories per kilogram of body weight or if you prefer to look at the pounds unit, 16 calories per pound of body weight per day.
On the other hand, people who have Type 2 diabetes are approximately put on a strict caloric range of 1500-1800 calories per day in order to have them lose weight as well as maintain their current body weight and body style.
People who might seem to be more obese will have to take in more than 1600 calories because although maintaining a 1800-calories-a-day diet will undoubtedly make them lose weight, doing so will make them lose weight at such a rapid rate that it will not be healthy at all.
Therefore, obese people will need to have more calories than the ideal 1500-1800 range for normal people. This is even more true for men because men essentially require more calories because of their muscle mass. With this is mind, it is important to note that by the hour, muscle burns more calories compared to fat. This is one good reason why someone should exercise.
On average, the diets that diabetics need to be eating should be characterized by a carbohydrate-based diet. Fifty percent of their daily calorie needs should be composed of 50 carbohydrates. Generally, if one take in less amounts of carbohydrate, it naturally translates to lower blood glucose levels.
Nevertheless, the advantages of this diet may be negated by the dilemma of a higher fat diet which is used to offset the lower amount of carbohydrates in the diet. It essentially is a good idea if a person lowers his or her carbohydrate intake but it will also be a terrible thing for them to concentrate on a diet with high fat content. A workaround for this problem is by replacing the saturated fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
One of the most effective ways to come up with a good, solid diabetic diet is to actually sit down with a dietician or a professional nutritionist to consult about the most ideal types of foods that one can eat as well as the serving sizes that they require.
Because of their condition, it is essential for diabetics to be able to religiously count the calories that they take everyday in order to help balance their blood sugar levels accordingly. The diabetic should elicit the help of professional experts in order to strike a balance between what they want to eat and what they can eat.
Bottom line is, there should be a conscious effort on the part of the diabetic to consult professionals, stick to a specified diet and hope for the best.