Diabetic Diets: Is It Alright To Have Sugar?
Once people find out that they have been diagnosed with diabetes, they first assume this means going on a strict diet that includes no sugar whatsoever. This, however, is not true. In fact everyone, including diabetics, need sugar because it’s the sugar the feeds the cells which provides us the energy. The simple difference between diabetics and non-diabetics is how their bodies process the sugar. When you understand how your body processes the sugar you eat, you will be able to choose a diabetic diet that is a perfect fit for your taste.
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.
Type 1 diabetics can not produce enough insulin to carry the sugar into their cells usually because their pancreas has stopped working. The sugar then runs amuck inside their body and causes great harm to the other organs. This is why they have to take insulin shots. The insulin shots perform the work that the pancreas can no longer carry out and helps the person to keep their body in good condition.
In type 2 diabetics, the pancreas behaves a bit differently. It has no problem generating enough insulin to handle the amount of sugar that has been consumed. Their problem lies in the fact that the insulin has a very hard time opening up the cells so the sugar can get in and provide energy. This causes the sugar to start building up which makes the pancreas work harder to try and get the extra sugar into the cells. This cycle will continue until the pancreas eventually burns out. Once this happens, the person will become a type 1 diabetic and will require insulin shots to take place of the pancreas’ job.
All diabetics need to manage the sugar that enters their bodies. The difference comes into play in how the pancreas handles the sugar that distributed into the cells. Type 1 diabetics need an insulin shot when they eat to process the sugar because their pancreas can not work. Type 2 diabetics have a good chance at improving their pancreas function by watching their sugar intake and thus making their lives healthier.
So, it is very important that type 2 diabetics start controlling the sugar they eat so they can maintain a healthy body. One of the best and easiest ways to get your sugar intake down is to go on a ‘diabetic diet’. Now, do not let the term ‘diet’ scare you, this is not your normal diet of starvation and eating foods that taste like cardboard. This ‘diabetic diet’ is simply substituting the foods you normally eat with brands that have less sugar. One example would be jelly. Regular jelly has 16 grams of carbohydrates whereas reduced jelly has 6 grams of carbohydrates. That’s less than the carbohydrates of the normal brand. So just by changing the brands you normally eat on a daily basis will allow you to consume less sugar and will help keep your pancreas healthy.
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 carbs. 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.
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