5 minute read
Hitting the sweet spot with Diabetes
Hitting the Sweet Spot with DiabetesBY CHRISTINA BATEY, ACCREDITED PRACTISING DIETITIAN
As you are reading this, there is a pretty good chance that you know someone who has been diagnosed with Diabetes. That person might even be you.
What is Diabetes?
It is a disorder where a person’s body has trouble maintaining the correct levels of glucose or sugar in their blood.
The stars of the Diabetes show: Glucose, Insulin and The Pancreas Glucose: Glucose is a type of sugar that is needed by our muscles – and most importantly our brain – as fuel.
Sugars can be stacked together to make long chains called carbohydrates.
Carbohydrate foods are starch or sugar containing foods. When we eat carbohydrates, we break them down into glucose to use as fuel. Insulin: Is a hormone. It’s like a little key that unlocks the cells in our muscles and brain to let the glucose in so our cells can use the glucose for energy. The Pancreas: The organ that produces the insulin. It sneakily sits behind your stomach.
Signs and symptoms of Diabetes
It is estimated that around 500,000 Australians have undiagnosed type 2 Diabetes right now. Diabetes Australia has developed a risk calculator that you can use to assess your risk https://www. Diabetesaustralia.com.au/risk-calculator. You can speak with your doctor about your risk of developing Diabetes.
Three classic symptoms of undiagnosed Diabetes are increased hunger, increased thirst and increased urination. Sometimes people with Diabetes, or their families, notice other signs such as irritability, poor wound healing, or tiredness and lethargy.
Diabetes can affect many systems of the body, but mostly it can affect the vascular system (heart, blood and blood vessels). If Diabetes is not managed well, the high blood sugar levels can damage the blood vessels (capillaries, veins, arteries). This can lead to poor circulation and ulcers that take a long time to heal, which may require amputation as treatment. Diabetes can also increase a person’s risk of suffering a heart event or stroke, so it is important that it is well controlled to reduce the risk as much as possible.
Should people with Diabetes cut carbohydrates from their diet?
It can be overwhelming to receive a new diagnosis of Diabetes. The learning curve is steep and there is a lot of conflicting information out there, not only online, but also from family and friends. It may seem the most logical step to simply stop eating carbohydrates.
Unfortunately there are a few problems with eliminating carbohydrate foods from the diet to control blood sugar levels. Complex carbohydrates in foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals are a great source of the glucose energy that our cells need. Because of the way these carbohydrates are stacked together, they give a slow and sustained release of fuel for long lasting energy, assisting blood sugar levels to stay in the normal range. Fruit and dairy contain some carbohydrates too, but just like wholegrains, these foods are a really good source of essential nutrients such as fibre, vitamins and minerals, are valuable for good health and must be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet. The key is to space carbohydrates out over the day and avoiding excessive portions to reduce the “spikes” of glucose.
Diabetes Australia recommends using the Australian Dietary Guidelines to guide them on what and how much to eat.
Managing Diabetes with lifestyle medicine
When someone has been diagnosed with pre–diabetes, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance or Diabetes, the best way to manage these conditions is to look at the lifestyle factors affecting blood sugar control – diet and exercise – and receive expert assessment, education and management from an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist. Diabetes is a condition that can be managed well when the person is confident with their diet and knowledge of foods that can affect their blood glucose levels.
The exercise guidelines recommend enjoying physical activity daily including some weight bearing activity it is important to seek expert guidance from an Exercise Physiologist to assess your current fitness levels, help you know what exercises, in what intensity and duration you can do and stay safe.
Our first task as a Dietitian is to assess the person’s medical situation and understand a bit about their lifestyle including what they eat. This really helps people become aware of what they eat. Then we educate them about carbohydrate foods – what they are, where they can be found, what are the different types and how they affect blood glucose levels. We discuss goals and create some action plans to help make some small changes over time. When added up they will make a big difference. We often ask people to keep a food, activity and blood sugar level diary for a few days and bring it in for us to go over. We will ask them what they noticed, for example, did keeping the diary make them feel more accountable for their actions? Did they feel differently when they ate certain foods? Did more activity affect their blood sugar levels?
Most importantly, our job as Dietitians is about support. Making changes is hard, and we understand that. It can take a good 9 months for a lifestyle change to become normal, and changing eating habits often involve many small steps. In giving the best standard of care we encourage everyone with Diabetes to get their diet checked by their Dietitian every 6–12 months, to make sure they are managing blood sugar levels optimally.
So please contact your GP for your referrals to your Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist today to keep yourself or your loved ones on the best path to living well with Diabetes.
Christina Batey is an Accredited Practising Dietitian at Bright Diets. As a busy wife and mother to three children she understands how difficult it can be to ensure the family eats that healthy balanced diet we all strive for. She loves helping people overcome the challenges with juggling the demands of life and ensuring everyone in the family has a balanced diet and lifestyle helping them lead happier and healthier lives. You can contact Christina on 0421 199 669 or via www.brightdiets.com.au or connect on Bright Diets Facebook page.
