As a diabetic patient, you must be aware of the foods you are not allowed to eat. While you are still allowed to eat certain foods, you must also abide by certain foods you are not allowed to eat if you want to be able to control your diabetes. With this, here are some of the foods that diabetic patients can and should include in their diet:
Fruits and vegetables: To control diabetes, your diet must be rich in fruits and vegetables like beans, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, berries, melon, apple and spices like red onions. These fruits and vegetables have all the antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and other nutrients your body needs to be healthy and help turn glucose into energy instead of making it stay in the bloodstream to cause damage.
meat: Fish meat like salmon is most recommended when you have diabetes. While you are not altogether restricted to eat red meat if they are consumed in moderation, fish meat is highly recommended than other types of meat.
Nuts, seeds and grains: A diet with nuts, seed, and grain is also perfect for controlling diabetes. Seeds like flax seeds, grains like oats, and nuts like walnuts and almonds are also good for diabetic sufferers. Oats also contain antioxidants, potassium, etc. that help control blood pressure, thereby helping control diabetes as well.
Soy: Soy products like tofu are rich in protein and this can substitute your consumption of red meat for your protein needs because unlike red meat, they are not that high in cholesterol.
Beverage: Water is greatly recommended for diabetic patients. Water can help lessen the concentration of glucose present in your bloodstream. Tea is also recommended but with moderation. It is rich in antioxidants that can help your body eliminate wastes like excess sugar in your blood.
Dairy: Diabetic patients can also consume dairy products like yogurt and non-fat milk and cheese. They have lesser sugar so they won’t add up to the glucose present in your bloodstream.
On the other hand, here are some of the foods you need to avoid if you have diabetes. These foods won’t help you control the illness but they actually trigger the disease which is why they should not be included in your diet.
Fast food meals: These meals are the primary enemy of diabetes. Fast-food meals can either be fried chicken, French fries, sandwiches and pizzas as long as they are whipped up by a certain restaurant. They are very high in calories that could be dangerous for your diabetic condition. While these meals are very quick, they are also very quick in triggering diabetes instead of controlling it. While you are not restricted to eat fried chicken, French fries, pizzas and sandwiches as long as they are prepared with your diabetic condition in mind, these restaurant meals are mostly prepared to be tasty regardless of whether they are healthy for the people or not.
Store-bought cookies, cakes and pastries: Obviously, cookies, cakes and pastries are sweet foods. And when they are bought in stores, they are created to be sweeter in order to be made tastier. They are truly loaded with sugar and consumption of these foods can only make your diabetes worse. You are simply giving your body a hard time absorbing all the glucose from these foods.
Processed foods: Processed foods like luncheon meat are not only bad for diabetics but bad for all people in general. They are no longer loaded with nutrients like what you would find in natural meals. Instead they are already loaded with preservatives and calories that is a danger to diabetes.
Ice cream, milk shakes, and smoothies: These desserts are delicious but they are loaded with lots of sugar as well and they can also add to the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. Unless you whip up these desserts at home with the right ingredients for your diabetic condition, you are advised to stay away from consuming these desserts.
Soft drinks: Soft drinks and sodas like Coke, etc. are also not recommended for diabetic patients. These drinks are loaded with sugar. In fact, a glass of soft drinks can be loaded with one tablespoon sugar already and that is a lot. Now if you are diabetic, you cannot afford to entertain that much sugar to your body because you are trying to control diabetes. Soft drinks are only going to worsen your condition.