Meal plan is essential for anyone diagnosed with diabetes, as wrong food can cause more harm to the patients. Knowing the food to eat and the ones to avoid will greatly help you in controlling diabetes. Managing your blood sugar level is key to living well with diabetes and avoiding some of its complications. Keeping to your diabetes meal plan can help make sure that you get your daily nutritional needs. It can also help you to loose weight, which is likely one major cause of diabetes. You need to consult your doctor or a dietician to make you a meal plan, that will suit your health status, as what works for other people may not work for you. Meal plan for a diabetic patient will not only help you loose weight, it will also help you keep track of carb and calorie you consume, and also makes your eating habit healthy and interesting, as you will be getting more nutritious meal on a daily basis.


    There are two main types of diabetes

  Diabetes mellitus type 1

   Diabetes mellitus type 2

      Diabetes mellitus type 1is an auto immune condition of the body destroys the pancreas and produces insulin. This happens because the cell that makes the insulin (beta cells) have been destroyed by the body own immune system. Insulin is the hormone that helps to move sugar or glucose to produce energy. Cells use it as a fuel and also enable cells to use that glucose to produce energy.
  

           Roles of glucose inthe body

  •   Glucose serves as a main source of energy for the cells that make up muscles and other tissue.
  • Glucose comes from two major sources your food and your liver.  
  • Your liver stores glucose as glycogen. 
The liver provide your body with stored energy to carry out your daily routine activities,even when you have not eaten.
 In diabetes mellitus type 1 there's no insulin to let glucose into the cell,this will I turn cause more sugar build up in your blood stream. This can cause life threatening conditions. Damage to beta cells from diabetes mellitus, throws the process off. Glucose does not move into your cells as insulin is not there to do it. Instead it builds up in your body while your cells is been starved and this causes high blood sugar.
 
  Diabetes mellitus type 2 is a common type of diabetes, it is chronic problem in which blood glucose can not be circulated. There are two reasons for these, first, the cells of the body becomes resistance to insulin, as insulin works as a key to let glucose move out of the blood to the cells. This type of diabetes is mostly caused by some certain genetic predisposition,environmental factors, lifestyle choices, and the dynamic reaction between all of these different aspects.

          Causes of diabetes mellitus

 

  1. Insulin resistance 
  2. Overweight, obesity and physical inactivity 
  3. Genes and family history 
  4. Age, the risk increase asa person grows older 
  5. Diet 
  6. Impaired glucose metabolism 

     Signs and symptoms of diabetes 

  •  Being very thirsty
  • Feeling hungry 
  • Feeling tired all the time
  • Heavy blurry eyesight 
  • Loosing weight without trying 
  • Urinating more often 
  • Deep rapid breathing 
  • Dry skin and mouth 
  • Nausea and vomiting 
   You have known few things about diabetes and it life threatening sickness, therefore safety precautions should be taken to prevent it, if possible avoid any lifestyle that will increase your chances of having diabetes. 
  We will be giving you tips and guidelines that can help you set up and follow your meal plan. It is adviced that a diabetic patient should enjoy a, healthy, varied diet that will help to manage their blood sugar level. A diabetic patient must have meal plan in advance as this will help them in managing their diabetes condition. Eat food rich in fibre to help manage blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of high cholesterol. 

        Steps to planning a meal plan 

  There are many steps to planning a meal for a diabetic patient, they should not eat anyhow food, there foods must be strictly prescribed by a doctor or a dietician. Ensure that their meal plan is routinely and strictly followed. There food should be nutritious and well prepared, as this will aid their diabetes treatment. Below are some meal plan to be regularly followed for great development. 

Avoid food with high cholesterol 

  Limit your rate of eating oily foods, never eat any foods with high cholesterol value. Avoid foods high in saturated and trans fat increases cholesterol levels. Foods rich in cholesterol are;fatty meat, full cream, dairy products, examples, milk, cheese, and butter, deep fried takeaway foods, baked products, examples biscuits and pastry. Avoid eating the above mentioned foods as they increase your cholesterol and weight level. More of this foods can cause stroke, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and chest pain. You can consult our articles What you need to know about high cholesterol levels.
    Stop eating this foods as the can also increase your body mass, which is the major causes of stroke, and heart disease. Lower cholesterol level, starts from the grocery store, read foods labels and buy foods low in cholesterol to protect yourself and to live a healthy life free of diabetes. Work with your dietician for an effective result. 

Have a weight management plan 

  Avoid foods that can cause more weight on you, reduce your calorie level, as obesity is the major cause of heart disease and in some cases of diabetes. Know what is good for your weight, avoid foods that have high calorie value and saturated fat,manage your weight effectively. Read more of this article on our blog posts Steps to gain healthy weight

Eat healthy fats

  Not all fat are bad, there are good fat as much as their are bad fat, consume the healthy fat in moderate quantities. Eat more food containing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help lower your cholesterol level, this includes, avocado, nuts and butter. 

Healthy carbohydrates 

  Carbohydrates have many health benefits which we will discuss in this section, they are the body main source of energy. They can also help fuel your brain, kidney, heart muscles, and central nervous system. Carbohydrates foods such as fibre helps to aid digestion and also help to check blood cholesterol level. During digestion sugars and starch break down into blood glucose. Focus on healthy carbohydrates such as whole grain, legumes, low fat dairy, such as milk and cheese. Avoid less healthy carbohydrates, such as food or drink with added fat,sugar and sodium. 

Starchy and non starchy vegetables 

  Non starchy vegetables such as pumpkin canbe eaten in large quantities. They do not react with blood sugar. Fresh vegetables have as many vitamins as possible. Starchy vegetables are a good source of nutrient like vitamin c. They should be taken in moderate quantities, starchy vegetables include  potatoes, squash, whole grain such as brown rice oatmeal, these are good sources of fibre and have low glycerine load making them a good food choices .

Eat more proteineous foods 

  Protein provides slow steady energy with relatively little efforts on blood sugar. Plant base protein should always be part of our meal or snack. Protein helps the blood sugar to be stable, it also helps with sugar craving and feeling full after eating. The two major sources of protein are from plant and animals,protein from animals are often a source of unhealthy unsaturated fat, precautions should be thing and its should be consumed in moderate quantities. Examples of plants protein sources ;legumes, egg, seafood, pea, and organic dairy products. 

      Foods to avoid eating as a diabetic patient 

  As a diabetic patient there are some foods you should avoid, these foods can cause more harm to your health, so they should be avoided. 
Likewise some foods are known to throw blood sugar level out of whack and promote unhealthy weight gain, foods to be avoided are ;chips, cookies, cake, white bread, and pasta, canned soup which are high in sodium. 
      If you are diagnosed with diabetes and you are confirmed positive, you are under a meal plan by a dietician, the prospect of giving up the foods you once cherished may sound daunting. Embracing your healthy eating plan is the best way to keep your blood glucose levels under control and prevent diabetes complications. And if you want to loose weight, you should exercise occasionally In order to keep fit. Managing your meal not only protects against diabetes, as it also reduces your risk of getting cardiovascular disease, if you have diabetes its important you partner with your doctor or dietician to create a eating plan that works for you. Use healthy foods, portion control and scheduling to manage your blood glucose level. If you work against your meal plan you are at risk of fluctuating blood sugar levels and more serious complications. A dietician may recommend you choose specific foods to help you plan your meals and snack. You can choose some variety of foods from the various nutrient.        
    A diabetes diet is based on eating a balanced meal at regular time, a registered dietician can help you arrange a diet based on your health goals, taste and lifestyle. You can also increase your eating habits, examples choosing portion sizes that suit the needs for your size and activities level. Eat foods that will help you keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control. Eat healthy foods .