The diabetic diet is not a weight loss fad that only allows you to eat certain foods. Anyone can follow the diabetic diet.
Diabetics find it easier to control their blood sugar levels when they follow this diet. It's important for diabetics to keep an eye on the amount of carbohydrates they eat every day because carbs have the largest impact on blood sugar levels. Here are more important facts about the diabetic diet for your continued education.
One factor you should always be looking at before you eat anything is the glycemic index. When you have this information, you have a quick way to determine whether you should consume a particular food or not. Your blood sugar is something you have to consistently watch, and the glycemic index will tell you how a certain food will impact this. Specifically, it basically considers the carbohydrate characteristic for a food and bases the ranking on that. Your doctor can explain more about that to you. It's a good idea to have a table which lists the glycemic index rankings for foods handy, so that you always know what you're eating.
Reading food labels is an excellent habit. Start tracking the amounts of sugar and carbohydrates in the foods you buy.
You will find out that you have to give yourself a certain limit on the carbohydrates you consumer in a day. So you will need to subtract carbohydrates from somewhere if you want to have a sweet dessert. That is called carbohydrate substitution and is important for you to know and do.
The TLC diet is often used for those with diabetes and high levels of cholesterol. As you can imagine, this particular diet works to decrease the amounts of foods that work to increase cholesterol levels. There are certain actions you can take that will increase the effectiveness of this type of diet. If you're trying to lose weight, which is a common issue for diabetics, then you should also be exercising. The important thing is to decrease LDL, or bad cholesterol as much as possible. You should be raising your HDL cholesterol, the good or helpful type.
A diabetic diet can help anyone with diabetes control this disease and help to manage the symptoms. It takes perseverance to stick to any diet, but you have to make every effort if you want to feel your best. It is possible to still enjoy certain foods you love to eat. Within the limits of what your doctor advises, you can include most kinds of foods as long as you watch your portions and the frequency with which you indulge. As you notice the effect of various foods on your blood sugar levels, you, with your doctor's help, can find the right diet that balances your health with enjoying your meals.