Many weight loss plans and programs for diabetes offer good ideas about what should work to help control diabetes. But do you really need to follow a specific diabetes diet plan? A recent survey performed by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine may prove otherwise. The participants in the Diabetes Obesity Intervention Trial (DO IT) study, and others highlight a number of factors that support a normal healthy approach to eating over any kind of type 2 diabetes diet.
A healthy eating and exercise plan corrects simple but fundamental errors committed by many people trying to lose weight, such as going for too long without eating or saving the biggest meal for the end of the day. It also ensures that you cover all your basic nutritional needs without ever feeling hungry.
It never restricts what you can eat, although you may need to eat favourite foods in smaller portions or prepare them in different ways. A typical comment by DO IT participants is: "It didn't feel like a diet.'
It's a plan you can live with. Although recent research has tentatively bolstered weight loss claims made for popular low-carbohydrate diets - at least in the short term - doctors and dietitians find that many people have an extremely difficult time staying on these diets long term because they are too restrictive. A more balanced and healthy eating plan can produce significant results that become a way of life, not merely a temporary fix.
Another important reason to follow a healthy eating plan rather than a specific diabetic diet is that it has been proven to work for people with Type 2 diabetes. Eating smaller meals more regularly is specifically designed to keep blood sugar levels from swinging wildly between highs and lows, as well as to reduce your calorie intake so that you lose weight.
Unlike many low-carbohydrate diets, the eating smaller meals more regularly steers you clear of the less healthy type of fat that makes blood sugar more difficult to control and raises your risk of heart disease - already a big danger if you have diabetes - and focuses on the 'healthy' fats that facilitate better blood sugar control.
You can eating unlimited amounts of vegetables, which will provide plenty of the nutrients that people with diabetes need most (not to mention plenty of food, so you won't be hungry). And the exercise you get will help to increase your insulin sensitivity and further decrease your blood sugar levels.
Because a normal healthy eating plan doesn't involve maths, it's easy to follow. There's no calorie or carbohydrate counting (except for an initial one-off assessment of your current diet); you don't have to know the specific Glycaemic Index values of all the foods you eat; and you don't have to eat your burger without a bun or give up potatoes. You're allowed to eat bread and pasta, and even dessert, in reasonable amounts. You will need to make some changes - for instance, eat a little less fat, fill your plate with more vegetables, and cut back a little on portion sizes overall - but they aren't big ones. And you must be ready for change, or you wouldn't be reading this article.
The Power Of Choice
Can a 'self-selected' diet really control blood sugar as well as one that imposes more rigid guidelines? Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, recently put this question to the test with 648 African-Americans, whose risk of diabetes is twice that of Caucasians.
One group of Type 2 diabetes patients was put on an eating plan using food exchanges, while another group was given a much simpler program that emphasized making healthy choices (balanced meals, less fat).
The result: the people in the healthy choices group improved their blood sugar just as much as those on the plan that used the food exchanges.
Following a diabetes diet plan may not necessarily be the best thing to control and manage your diabetes symptoms. A normal healthy eating plan coupled with some regular exercise could be just as good as any diabetic diet plan. Get the facts today.
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