What is diabetes?

- Diabetes is a disease that results from an excessive amount of sugar (glucose) in blood. The body doesn’t have enough insulin to convert food into energy and high sugar level starts to hurt, slowly, eyes, heart, kidneys and legs.

- If you have diabetes, it is best to consult a dietitian, who you recommend a personalized menu for you. Thus, your menu will be based on several factors, such as your ideal weight, height, age and physical activity.
You can learn how to eat and live healthy to keep diabetes under control. If you decide to eat healthy you should include more grains, fruits and vegetables in your diet and fewer sweets, meats and fats every day. You must have a varied diet, as is recommended in the food pyramid for diabetics.
Diabetic food pyramid is a guide that explains you how much you should eat every day. The pyramid is divided into six groups. To eat more of the products found in the largest group, at the bottom, and less from the top of the pyramid group. Number of daily servings is the same for everyone.
It’s recommended that you eat: cereals, beans and vegetables rich in carbohydrates – 6 or more servings per day, fruits – 3,4 servings per day, vegetables – 3,5 servings per day, milk (source of calcium, protein, vitamins A and D) – 2,3 servings per day, meat and other (good source of iron, zinc, B vitamins and protein) – 2,3 servings per day.

Fats, sweets and alcohol are products found at the bottom of the pyramid and they should be consumed only in small amounts. Fats and oils should be limited, because they have many calories.

You have to provide all the nutrients your body needs – carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Reduce fat foods that you eat by choosing less fatty products and low-fat cooking. Eat more fiber, eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. You should also avoid eating sugary products such as fruit juices, fizzy juices, sweetened tea or coffee. Use less salt when cooking because this will help you a lot. Eat less salt-rich products such as canned, pickles and processed meat. It’s very important that you eat smaller portions and not skip meals. And try to avoid drinking.
Do not forget!

Having a healthy lifestyle, eating and doing what needs to be much movement, you can keep diabetes under control. It’s also best to consult your doctor frequently and, possibly, a dietician who can advise you about your lifestyle.