Diabetes and weight loss: finding the balance
28 September 2013, 18:00 PM
UPDATED
28 September 2013, 22:07 PM
If you are overweight and have type 2 diabetes, dropping pounds lowers your blood sugar, improves your health, and helps you feel better. But before you start a diabetes weight loss plan, it is important to work closely with your doctor or diabetes educator - because while you are dieting, your blood sugar, insulin, and medications need special attention.
Cutting back on just one meal can affect the delicate balance of blood sugar, insulin, and medication in your body. Experts from WebMD recommended the following balance in a diabetes weight loss plan:
* Maintain a healthy ratio of carbohydrate (carbs), fat, and protein. The ideal is 50% to 55% carbs, 30% fat and 10% to 15% protein.
* For people with diabetes, a refresher course on carbs may also be in order. That's because carbs have the biggest effect on blood sugar, since they are broken down into sugar early in digestion. Eating complex carbs (whole-grain bread and vegetables, for example) is good because they are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream, cutting the risk of blood sugar spikes.
* Simply cutting lots of carbs -- a common dieting strategy -- can be dangerous. When your body doesn't have carbs to burn for fuel, your metabolism changes into what's known as ketosis and fat is burned instead. You will feel less hungry, and eat less than you usually do but long-term ketosis can cause health problems. Ketosis decreases oxygen delivery to the tissues, which puts stress on eyes, kidneys, heart, liver. That's why the low-carb, high-protein diet is not really safe for people with diabetes. Diabetics need to try to stick with a more balanced diet so your body can handle nutrients without going into ketosis.
* Exercise is another important issue that is beneficial for both diabetes and weight loss. Regular exercise with foot care can boost up your plan to lose weight and control sugar better than before.
The write up is compiled by Dr Shahjada Selim, Endocrinologist and Diabetologist, Comfort Diagnostic Centre, Dhaka.
Email: selimshahjada@gmail.com
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