A healthy diet for type 2 diabetes includes healthy carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; low-fat dairy products; heart-healthy fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines; and good fats like nuts, avocados, and olive oil.
But feeling your best when you have diabetes isn’t just about making the right food choices, it’s also about limiting or avoiding foods that can raise our blood sugar and increase our risk of complications.
There are foods that are very obvious to avoid, especially those that are displayed on almost all advertising posters, however, in addition to these foods, also the wrong combinations can literally create carbohydrate bombs that can profoundly affect a diabetic.
Foods you shouldn’t eat if you have diabetes
Foods that are made primarily of processed sugar, such as many desserts, candy, and soft drinks, are considered low-quality carbohydrates.
These foods not only lack nutritional value, but can also cause a sharp rise in blood sugar. They can also lead to weight problems.
Refined carbohydrates raise blood sugar levels. Then our body produces additional insulin to lower the blood sugar level. Insulin is a fat storage hormone. With more insulin circulating in your bloodstream, your body converts carbohydrates to fat and stores them, whether it’s in your belly, waist, buttocks, etc.
While high-fiber whole fruit is considered a healthy carbohydrate for people with diabetes, fruit juice is not. People with diabetes should avoid drinking juice, even 100 percent fruit juice.
Fruit juice contains more nutrients than sodas and other sugary drinks, but the problem is that juices concentrate large amounts of fruit sugar and therefore cause a large spike in blood sugar. Also, drinking fruit juice does not make us feel full like eating a piece of fruit.
On the other hand, it is necessary to avoid the bad combinations that seem to be made when preparing breakfast, lunch or dinner. For example, it is necessary to avoid the consumption of yellow bananas, but above all, it is necessary to avoid preparing a banana smoothie to which yogurt, milk or other fruits are also added.
These combinations can raise glucose very quickly and cause blood sugar levels to stay very high for longer. In addition, the body will not feel satiated, on the contrary, you will feel that you want to eat more, but especially sweet foods.
Avoid bad combinations, learn what foods are recommended for a diabetic, and control your glucose levels by taking several measurements a day, especially the postprandial measurement, which is 2 hours after eating.