Diet for Diabetes

Overview & Description

Diabetes mellitus, often called diabetes, makes it hard for the body to control the level of glucose in the blood. Glucose is the main form of sugar in the body.

There are three main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 Diabetes. This type used to be known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM, or juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus. A person who has this type of diabetes makes little or no insulin. Most will need to take insulin shots one or more times a day.
  
• Type 2 diabetes. This type used to be known as noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM, or adult-onset diabetes. This is by far the most common type of diabetes. The person who has type 2 diabetes might make healthy or even high levels of insulin. But obesity often makes his or her body resistant to its effect.
  
• Gestational diabetes. This type is brought on by pregnancy. In most cases, this type of diabetes goes away after the child is born.
  

There are other types of diabetes that are less common. This group includes diabetes caused by:

• a genetic defect or pancreatic diseases
  
• hormonal problems
  
• being exposed to certain drugs or chemicals
  

What is the information for this topic?

A healthy diet for a person with diabetes is based on a nutritional assessment. This information is then used to prescribe the diet. This diet:

• is based on treatment goals
  
• takes into account what the person is able and willing to do
  
• is sensitive to cultural, ethnic, and financial factors
  

A proper diet for a person who has diabetes focuses on these overall goals:

1. It helps to maintain blood glucose levels as near to a healthy range as possible.

2. It helps keep blood lipids such as cholesterol at healthy levels to help reduce the risk of complications. This includes:

• HDL or so-called good cholesterol
  
• LDL or so-called bad cholesterol
  
• triglycerides
  
• VLDL, also called very-low-density lipoproteins
  

3. It provides enough calories to help keep a person healthy.