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Living a busy life with diabetes can be a challenge. You need energy to fuel yourself, but choosing what to eat and timing your snacks in order to best control your blood sugar can be quite the balancing act.
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, your diet - everything from what you eat to when you eat it and how often - plays a key role in controlling your blood sugar. If you have type 1 diabetes and you go too long without eating, you risk becoming hypoglycemic, a low-blood-sugar reaction that can result in dizziness, nausea and even unconsciousness. High blood sugar levels, which can affect people with both types 1 and 2 diabetes, doesn't have as obvious an impact in the short term. Over time, high blood sugar can increase your risk of diabetes-related complications, including heart and kidney disease, eye problems, nerve damage and more.
There is some debate about whether it is better for people with diabetes to eat three square meals per day or a number of smaller meals and snacks. These two approaches may have different effects on different people, so talk to a dietitian about the best strategy for you. You may need to experiment to find out what kind of eating plan keeps your blood sugar levels most stable.
But in general, snacks are recommended for some groups. For example, people with type 1 diabetes are often told to have a bedtime snack to prevent their blood sugar from dipping too low overnight. As well, if you are active or if you do shift work, well-planned snacking can be key to helping you prevent low blood sugar reactions caused by increased calorie requirements. Women with gestational diabetes (diabetes of pregnancy) should also try to eat multiple snacks and smaller meals over the course of the day.
And when it comes to snacking, it's important to pick your foods wisely - not only will the right ones stabilize your blood sugar for longer, they will also help you meet your nutritional requirements. The wrong snacks, on the other hand, may provide empty calories and give you only a short-lived increase in blood sugar.
Here are some principles to help guide your snacking choices:
- Think high fibre. Not only can picking high-fibre snacks help you meet your daily target of 25 to 35 grams per day, but there is also evidence that soluble fibre (contained in oat bran, legumes, fruits and some vegetables) may help regulate blood sugar by slowing the pace at which you digest food.
- Know what serving size will give you the amount of carbohydrate you require. To avoid inadvertently eating more carbohydrates that you plan - which can lead to not having enough insulin and high blood sugar levels - make sure know how much you are really eating. For example, if you are snacking on cereal, check the box to determine how much will give you 15 grams of carbohydrate (or whatever amount your dietitian recommends). Familiarize yourself with what a serving looks like by measuring portions until you have a visual understanding of how much to eat.
- Plan ahead. If you are going to be on the road or at the office, remember to tote along a snack. Pre-measured portions of nuts, fruit or whole-grain crackers can make for easy snacking on the go.
- Know your fats. Because maintaining a healthy weight can help reduce insulin resistance - a key to controlling type 2 diabetes - choose lower-fat snacks. And to reduce your risk of heart disease, a complication of diabetes, pick foods with unsaturated fats over trans or saturated fats.
- Wash it down with water. Remember that fruit juices - even ones with no sugar added - are high in natural sugars, which can still raise blood sugar.
- Watch the salt. Diabetes can increase your risk of high blood pressure, and salty snacks may worsen the problem. So pick unsalted pretzels and nuts and look for the sodium count on the labels of packaged snacks and canned soups. Your dietitian can tell you how much sodium is appropriate for your diet.
- Talk to a registered dietitian. A dietitian can help you determine how many snacks you should have and how often, as well as the correct balance of protein to carbohydrates to best control your blood sugar.
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