Trying to decide how many
carbohydrates to ingest is one of the main problems that diabetics
face.
While some agencies such as the American Diabetes
Association say that 45% of daily calories can be consumed through
carbohydrates (135-230 grams of carbohydrates), other medical sources have
opined, through various studies, that This figure is still high, not to say
erroneous.
It is a confusing picture, because not everyone
processes carbohydrates in the same way.
However, analyzing the various studies that have been
done about low-carbohydrate diets for diabetics,
you can draw a few useful considerations that everyone can apply. Glucoberry
What
are the differences between diabetics and prediabetics?
As has been said, not all people process carbohydrates
in the same way and this applies especially in the case of diabetics.
The first thing to keep in mind is that there are
different types of people that face diabetes: prediabetics
and diabetics, and the latter
are divided in turn between those with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Although both prediabetics and diabetics have in
common their difficulty in producing or storing the hormone insulin and thus
processing glucose (a type of blood sugar essential in many functions), the
differences between them are notorious.
Diabetes
type 1
The pancreas lacks beta cells, which are responsible
for producing insulin, which must be injected into the patient. It is usually
diagnosed when the patient is still a child, but can appear at any age.
Type
2 diabetes
It is the most common type of diabetes and is linked
to obesity. It occurs when the cells of the body are resistant to insulin or
the pancreas does not create enough insulin.
Prediabetes
A patient is prediabetic when his blood sugar
concentration is 100-125 mg / dL or HbA1c (monthly glycosylated hemoglobin
control) between 5.7-6.4%. 70% of them progress to type 2 diabetes, and suffer
the same health risks as heart disease, obesity, kidney failure or high blood
sugar.
How
do carbohydrates affect sugar levels?
The levels of sugar, of diabetic patients or not,
affect by diverse factors like stress, illnesses or lack of exercise, but
mainly by the bad feeding.
Of the three macronutrients (fats, proteins and
carbohydrates), carbohydrates are the ones that raise
blood sugar the most, because during digestion the body turns them
into sugar and this happens with all of them: from fruits, rice or vegetables ,
even cookies and refined sugars. Glucoberry
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Now, for people who do not suffer from diabetes, some
carbohydrates are not harmful, especially fruits because they contain fiber.
For diabetics, this does not apply, because even healthy carbohydrates can
cause their blood sugar levels to rise dramatically, especially in the case of
those with type 1 diabetes: they must inject insulin several times a day,
regardless of the type of carbohydrate they consume.
It is because of these complexities of nutrition that carbohydrate restriction diets are so
popular among diabetics.
What
does science say about the restriction of carbohydrates for diabetics?
Due to the importance that the adequate consumption of
carbohydrates poses for diabetics, there are many investigations that have been
done in this regard.
Encompassing the results of different investigations,
according to the level of carbohydrate restriction, these are some of the
conclusions that can be drawn.
1.
Ketogenic diets for diabetics
(20-25 g of carbohydrates a day): used to cause
ketosis (condition in which the body uses acetone and fat instead of sugar).
These diets have been shown to be effective in weight loss and to reduce HbA1c by up to 0.6% in a short-term study. Glucoberry
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2.
Low carbohydrate diets
(100-150 grams of carbohydrates per day): in a
12-month study, the participants' HbA1c went from 8.3% to 6.3%.
How
many carbohydrates should diabetics ingest?
Although studies have shown the effectiveness
of low-carbohydrate diets for diabetics, this is not the only factor
that should be addressed.
A strict and restrictive diet such as ketogenic, for
example, despite giving good results in a short time on the control of blood
sugar, may be difficult to follow long term, and the truth is that not all
diabetics can get to need it, as there are some who process carbohydrates
better than others.
A good method so that each person with diabetes can
decide how many carbohydrates to eat, is to use a glucose meter: measuring our
levels one hour before and two hours after each meal, we can keep track,
remembering that the highest level of sugar in the blood should reach 139 mg /
dL.
By making constant measurements of this type, one can
better notice how each one processes the carbohydrates and make necessary
corrections, eliminating certain foods. Glucoberry
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What
carbohydrates should a diabetic not eat?
Regardless of the ability of each diabetic to process
carbohydrates, there are certain harmful foods that everyone should avoid to
the extent possible, such as the following:
·
Breads, puddings or donuts.
·
Pasta, rice and corn
·
Potatoes, sweet potatoes and taro.
·
Legumes such as peas or lentils (except
green peas and peanuts).
·
Sweet dairy
·
Most fruits, except for berries.
·
Cookies, feet and ice cream.
·
Fruit juices, sodas, soft drinks or teas
with sugar.
·
Beer.
Although some of these products, such as fruits or
legumes, are not harm in general, for a diabetic they can be harmful, so one
option would be to opt for other products such as low carb vegetables, nuts,
seeds, avocados, meat, fish, eggs, natural dairy and others, is an option to
make changes without the body feeling restricted.
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