Type 2 Diabetes Diet Or Normal Healthy Eating Plan - Which Is Best

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.

Diabetes Diet Tips - Do You Really Need To Follow A Diabetic Diet

A couple of years ago, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine undertook a survey to examine what effects being overweight had on diabetes. The objective of the survey was to help a control group lose about 7 percent of the excess bodyweight and monitor the impact it had on their diabetes symptoms.

The main difference this study had over others of a similar nature was how they planned to help the diabetics achieve their weight loss. They did not place the participants on any kind of diabetic diet. The plan was to follow a healthy lifestyle rather than adopt any kind of 'type 2 diabetes diet'.

At a little over 6 months into the study, all of the participants in the control group had over achieved on their weight loss goals, having lost an average of 10 percent body fat.

The study noted that the corresponding reduction in blood sugar levels of the members of the group were particularly impressive.

Remarkable Results

Participants in the study, officially called the Diabetes Obesity Intervention Trial (DO IT), were given basic dietary guidelines to follow, and then they made their own choices about what to eat. Each week, a dietitian offered suggestions on how to make the meals and snacks they were eating slightly healthier. The idea was to improve the participants' current eating habits here and there, a little at a time, instead of trying to get them to adopt a whole new diabetes diet or way of eating.

The other key component of the study was physical activity. Here, too, the goal was not to start an exercise 'program' as such, but to introduce more activity into people's everyday routines, starting with small amounts of walking and gradually building more steps into each day.

For six months, the participants went about their normal lives while applying the principles of the plan. Then they went to the clinic for an extensive series of tests and evaluations that required an overnight stay - something they had done at the start of the study as well. One of those tests (not available at your doctor's surgery but used by researchers) is for insulin sensitivity, and indicates how well cells are able to use insulin.

Six months later the participants returned to the lab again. The results were nothing short of spectacular. By sticking to simple guidelines, the study participants:

Exceeded the 7 per cent weight-loss goal, losing an average of 10 per cent of body weight after six months.

Kept weight off through to the end of the year-long study. Although average weight bounced back slightly, on average, the participants were still more than 8 per cent below their starting weights after a year.

Reduced their fasting blood glucose from an average of 9.4mmol/l - well into dangerously elevated territory - to 6.9mmol/l, which crosses the border into non-diabetes territory. That's a significant 2.5 point difference.

Brought their hemoglobin Alc levels (a measure of blood glucose averages over a three-month period) down from an average of 8 (typical for people with diabetes) to 6.7, which is below the goal of 7.

Improved their insulin sensitivity by fivefold in some cases and, in many cases, by twofold. Because the sophisticated laboratory tests for insulin sensitivity are not generally available you won't be able to check your own sensitivity improvement, but if you have better sugar control with less medication, your sensitivity will have improved.

Were able to stop taking medication. This was true for 18 of 25 people who were taking drugs at the start of the study.

Matched the weight loss of a control group that followed the plan and also took the weight-loss drug orlistat (Xenical). By using entirely natural methods, participants in this study achieved the same results as people who tried to get a boost from a weight-loss drug.

Not everyone can expect these exact results, of course. For research purposes, none of the participants weighed more than 136kg (21st 41b) - the laboratory measuring equipment couldn't cope with people heavier than this. To enable researchers to tell which results came from lifestyle changes, none of the participants was on insulin. Those who were on medication needed to be able to come off their regimens for the study and safely maintain fasting blood glucose levels under 11.1 mmol/1 - well above the level of 7mmol/l that indicates diabetes, but low enough not to pose acute danger.

Regardless of these factors, though, anyone with Type 2 diabetes can significantly benefit from the approach used in the study.

As if the results of the DO IT study aren't impressive enough, there's even more you can do to bring blood sugar down naturally and reduce your risk of diabetes-related health problems. These measures won't necessarily help you to lose weight, but they will help to lower your blood sugar levels. They include:

Relaxation techniques which help to improve your glucose control by reducing levels of 'stress hormones' that raise blood sugar.

Improving sleep patterns and battling sleep deprivation, which has been linked to increased insulin resistance.

Simple strength training exercises that build muscle and boost your metabolism, so you'll burn more calories.