Diabetic Diets

We review diabetic diets and provide information on controlling your blood sugar along with free diabetic recipes.

Diabetic Diets: Can I Still Have Sugar?

Many people think that they can no longer eat foods with sugar in them when they find out they have diabetes. This is a misconception as your body still needs the sugar to provide you and your cells energy. The main difference is how your body now processes the sugar. Understanding how your body now processes the sugar you consume, will help you develop the diabetic diet that is perfect for you.

Normally, when you consume sugar in your regular diet, the sugar is absorbed into your cells and muscle tissue where it becomes a fuel to be burned to give you energy. You see, glucose must have insulin in order to get into your cells and muscles. The insulin basically opens the cells up so the sugar can enter and then be turned into energy. Shortly after eating, your pancreas kicks in and starts producing enough insulin to process the sugar you are consuming.

In diabetics though, the sugar or glucose does not get into the cells or muscles as it should. This is why diabetics often find themselves very tired. A diabetic person’s body will handle the sugar differently depending on which type of diabetes they have, type 1 and type 2. We’ll examine both types and see just how their bodies process the glucose.

In type 1 diabetics, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to get the sugar into the cells. The sugar then builds up in the blood stream, having no other place to go, and can build up to dangerous levels ultimately harming the other organs. This is why they need to take insulin shots. The insulin shot performs the job that the pancreas can not and helps the individual maintain a healthy sugar balance.

In type 2 diabetics, their pancreas produces enough insulin to process the sugar they are consuming, but the problem lies in the fact that the insulin can not open the cells so the sugar can get in to become energy. To compensate, the pancreas will keep producing more and more insulin to help get the sugar into the cells, eventually burning it out. Once this happens, the individual will become a type 1 diabetic.

Both types, type 1 and type 2 diabetics need to manage the sugar that they are putting into the body. The only difference is the type 2 individual can actually improve their body’s intake of sugar because their pancreas is still in good condition, whereas the type 1 individual cannot because their pancreas is damaged beyond repair.

So, it is essential for type 2 diabetics to start managing their sugar intake so they can maintain a healthy lifestyle and pancreas. One way to do this is to lose weight, thus the term ‘diabetic diet’ is coined. But the word ‘diet’ does not mean just eating less, going on a rigid eating routine and having yucky tasting food. It basically means that you have to manage the sugar you consume when you eat. You can still eat what you usually eat; you just have to find foods that have less sugar. One example is jelly. Regular jelly has around 13 grams of carbohydrates and a reduced sugar jelly has around 6 grams of carbohydrates. It still maintains the same taste but it contains fewer carbohydrates, which turn into sugar, and makes less work for your pancreas.

Yes, you need sugar in your daily eating lifestyle because that sugar provides the energy that your cells need in order to function. However, in a diabetic diet, you need to watch how much sugar you consume. One easy way to do this is read labels and choose a reduced sugar item that will still provide that same great taste but with less carbohydrates. So, you can still enjoy eating your toast and jam in the morning with the same great taste only with fewer carbohydrates, which turns into sugar, and make less work for your pancreas.