Healthy diets for diabetics

Health experts say food components that can affect your blood sugar carbohydrate, protein, fibre, fat. Carbohydrates raise blood sugar faster and have the greatest effect on blood glucose compared to foods that contain proteins or fats. Fiber, protein, and fat can blunt the rise in blood sugar after a meal. Mrs. Serah Abagai, Head of […]

Health experts say food components that can affect your blood sugar carbohydrate, protein, fibre, fat. Carbohydrates raise blood sugar faster and have the greatest effect on blood glucose compared to foods that contain proteins or fats. Fiber, protein, and fat can blunt the rise in blood sugar after a meal.
Mrs. Serah Abagai, Head of Dietetics Department at the National Hospital, Abuja says  there is no single diet for people with diabetes. “When a person has diabetes, all he or she needs is a healthy diet. When we talk of a healthy diet, we are talking of a diet with low salt, low fat and that fat most be healthy oils like vegetable oil or soy oil (poly and monounsaturated oil) instead of any fat that contains trans fat like margarine, pea nut butter or all the salad dressings we have. The person should leave all the unhealthy fats out of the diets, because these fats will accelerate the development of coronary heart disease,” Abagai explains.
Just like any other person, high fibre in the diet is needed for a person with diabetes. Abagai says “It is an erroneous impression that once a person is diabetic, he should not take fruits. You can still take fruits because you need a healthy and balanced diet. The person requires fruits, but in moderate amount, but   should not take snack on the fruits. He should not eat the fruits in-between meals as snacks. There are other things that can be eaten as snacks, like any low glycemic substance. It could be moi moi and a bottle of water. It could be cracker biscuits with a cup of tea, it could be garden eggs eaten as snacks. It could cucumber eaten as snack before the next meal.”
Also, Abagai says it is a wrong impression that as soon as a person is diagnosed diabetic, it should go on high protein, their protein requirement should be normal like any other person. Except in cases when the person is having complications, like hypertension and high cholesterol level, then you will tell them to stay away from red meat but eat only fish and chicken. Then, if the kidneys are not functioning well, then you cannot over task the kidneys with lots of protein. The integrity of the internal organs will determine how much protein the person can eat. Your carbohydrate should be sufficient to give you the energy that you require.
She says any one who has diabetes will need a lifestyle modification. This includes modifying activity level. “If the person is sedentary, he or she must improve activity level-exercise. There are behaviours he/she has to jettison, such as eating fried food. Trans-fats are generated from frying. Trans-fats are implicated in the instances of diabetes,” Abagai explains.  
But there are two basics a diabetic person most note. If you have diabetes, leave sugar alone and eat foods low in carbohydrate.  
To get it right, you must consult a dietitian. The dietitian has the responsibility of assessing your condition,  planning your diets appropriately and calculating your carbohydrate requirement and factoring it into your menu.
Diabetes is a condition where the body fails to utilize the ingested glucose/sugar properly. This could be due to lack of the hormone insulin or because the insulin that is available is not working effectively.
Recommended diet
Eat healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes (beans, peas ) and low-fat dairy products.
Eat fibre-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole-wheat flour and acha.
Eat heart-healthy fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which promote heart health by lowering blood fats called triglycerides.
Foods to avoid
Saturated fats. High-fat dairy products and animal proteins such as beef. 
Trans fats. These types of fats are found in processed snacks, baked foods, margarines and should be avoided completely.
Cholesterol. Sources of cholesterol include high-fat dairy products and high-fat animal proteins, egg yolks, liver and other organ meats.