The Diabetic Diet

The Diabetic Diet

If you have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, or Type 1.5 diabetes, you no doubt have gotten many conflicting reports of what you are supposed to eat.

First, let’s explain what “macronutrients” are, which are our big food groups, carbohydrates, oils, and proteins. A carbohydrate is a food made up of sugars, both refined and complex—they consist of fruits, veggies, grains, refined sugars, and are also in beans, and nuts. A fat is any oily food, like oils, and butter, but are also found in nuts, animal products, and also leafy grains. Proteins consist of nuts, seeds, beans, peas, lentils, soy, eggs, fish, dairy, poultry and meats.

Now that we now the macronutrients, let’s move on to how they have been put together in the diets of diabetic patients.

In standard care medicine, for decades the American Diabetes Association recommended a fairly high carbohydrate diet, both at meals and two snacks a day. This was due to the autopsy of diabetic patients most who died of cardiovascular disease; it was found that their arteries were full of cholesterol, so in the mid-1970s the ADA decided that fats caused cardiovascular disease and thus had to be low in a diabetic patient’s diet. Thus, the low fat, higher carb diet idea was born,  and is still considered a valid way to discuss diet with diabetic patients in mainstream medicine.

Unfortunately, diabetic patients still die mostly of cardiovascular disease but our understanding of that process is much more understood and is more complex than simply believing low fat will prevent it in diabetic patients. It won’t!

The quick one line definition of diabetes is that patients have lost the metabolic capacity to process carbohydrates and clear them from their bloodstreams. High blood fat does not diagnose diabetes; high blood glucose does!

In 2013 the ADA put out new dietary guidelines, which basically suggested that the healthcare practitioner was to decide which diet is the best to give to a diabetic patient. http://www.ndei.org/ADA-nutrition-guidelines-2013.aspx That was helpful, for the large guiding organization to pull back from a high carb/low fat diet for everyone, but that old diet is still established in many practitioners. Thus we still see patients coming in eating oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, guaranteed to raise their glucose! However, the new guidelines did mention watch saturated fat, avoid refined sugar, limit alcohol, and watch portions so that weight loss can occur if necessary. This is overall a big step for the ADA.

Unfortunately, many diabetic patients are 1) not given nutrition advice or 2) are following the old low fat/high carb diet or 3) have no idea what to eat. A proper metabolic diet is the key to consistently lowering glucose and A1Cs, and being able to lower insulin needs and even at times to remove patients from their oral meds.

At AIMS clinic we work very closely with patients to educate them on the proper diet for diabetes. We take a great deal of time to explain the basics and ensure that each visit time is devoted to what they are eating, supporting transitions in diet, and positively troubleshooting problems
achieving their dietary goals.

We work with patients to:

  1. Eat more veggies of a variety of sorts
  2. Eat less grains teaching alternatives of crackers, noodles and nut flours they can use
  3. Eat healthy proteins from excellent, GMO-free, organic sources.
  4. Discuss fruits which are okay to eat
  5. Discuss healthy oils to include in their diets6.
  6. Discuss all the different type of tasty beverages patients can drink
  7. Discuss allowed sweeteners and how to use them in cooking and baking

We support a low carb diet option in two different diet plans, one more plant-based/vegan than the other. Working as a team with the patient we decide together which diet is best for each patient; which will fit their palate, culture, and lives. We have patients do diet diaries and we have
a lot of hand-outs going over the diet.

We also have many resources for patients:

  1. Great recipes
  2. Books with more dietary information and more recipes
  3. Websites where you can buy cooking supplies and tasty foods
  4. Restaurant list
  5. Lists of foods patients can buy and where to buy them

All this makes it easy for patients to follow the dietary protocols.
We use a very effective and inexpensive homeopathic Leptin spray to control the appetite, if  necessary, although the change in the diet so quickly reduces the insulin reistances that drive Type 2 diabetes that the majority of patients within the first week feel their appetite in under much
better control. Leptin is the hormone in our body which decreases our appetite as well as doing so much else for us.

If you have diabetes, and want to learn how to eat, how to have a fun, tasty, easy to prepare and buy diet, which will get your glucose, A1C, lipids lowered, and your energy raised significantly high, which will allow you to lose weight if you need it, and which will allow you to heal up any
complicaitons you may have developed, (neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy), then AIMS experts in diabetes are who you wish to see.
Click to contact us and remember to print out the coupon on the home page!

Office Hours

Monday: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Tuesday: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday: 8:30am - 5:30pm




Phone: (480) 833-0302
Fax: (480) 494-5770

info@nevyhealth.com

6402 E Superstition Springs Blvd Suite 123, Mesa, AZ 85206

Achieve Your Health Aims