Having diabetes does not mean that a person has to stop eating what they enjoy. A diabetes diet plan can include most foods, but people may need to have smaller portions of certain foods.
Foods to avoid
1. Do not drink drinks sweetened with sugar, such as:
2. Energy drinks
3. Flavored milk
4. Egg nog
5. Fruit juice
6. Regular soda
7. Sports drinks
8. Lemonade
9. Sweet tea
You can drink these to treat a low blood sugar.
Do not eat breakfast foods with a lot of sugar and simple carbohydrate, such as:
1. Breakfast pastries
2. Doughnuts
3. Flavored oatmeal
4. Pop-Tarts
5. Toaster pastries
While there are no absolute diet restrictions in type 1 diabetes, healthier food choices can make control a lot easier. For example, meal timing is very important for people with type 1 diabetes. Meals must match insulin doses.
Most people with type 1 diabetes use a long-acting insulin (also called basal insulin or NPH), which means it will continue to lower blood sugar over 24 hours. This means it will lower blood sugar even if there is no glucose from dietary carbohydrates to act upon. Because of this, skipping a meal or eating late puts a person at risk for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
On the other hand, eating a larger meal or a meal that contains more carbohydrates that normal will raise blood sugar more than the basal insulin can dispose of. In this situation, a short-acting insulin (also called regular insulin) must be given in the appropriate dose to match the carbohydrate content of the meal and the level of blood glucose before eating.
Eating meals with a low glycemic load (index) makes meal timing easier. Low glycemic load meals raise blood sugar slowly and steadily, leaving plenty of time for the body (or the injected insulin dose) to respond.
People who use continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps instead of finger sticks and injecting insulin have a little more flexibility in their meal timing because they have real-time feedback to help them match carbohydrate intake with insulin. However, everyone benefits from becoming more aware of their dietary intake, making diet restrictions to stay consistent with a low glycemic load diet, and matching their meals with appropriate insulin doses.