Type II Diabetes Diet: Why It’s So Important

A type II diabetes diet is important because you are trying to maintain more than just your blood sugar levels. Maintaining a proper diet is essential to staying healthy and ensuring you won’t have bigger problems with your diabetes.

Being diagnosed with type II diabetes is serious because that means you are susceptible to things like eye or kidney damage, nerve and circulation problems, liver and heart disease, and high cholesterol and blood pressure. These things are very difficult to maintain, but can be controlled if you are eating a proper diet.

Carbohydrates are the biggest factor in diabetes because they digest much faster than any food. However, not all carbohydrates digest the same. Carbohydrates are digested from glucose straight through the intestines into the blood stream. This is what can cause your blood sugar to spike. Choosing carbohydrates that digest slower than others are the best in a type II diabetes diet. The Glycaemic Index is the best chart to check out carbohydrates and see which foods are best for you.

Type II diabetes also means that you may have an unhealthy lipid profile or unhealthy levels of fat in your blood stream. Having the wrong types of fat in your blood stream or too much fat in your blood stream is what leads to circulatory problems and heart disease. It is essential in a type II diabetes diet to cut out saturated fat from your food intake. Protein can also be absorbed as fat if too much of it is consumed.

You also might have high blood pressure or high cholesterol if you are diagnosed with type II diabetes. High blood pressure and high cholesterol can be maintained by lowering your salt intake, lowering your fat intake, cutting down or eliminating alcohol from your diet, and getting plenty of exercise. Exercise is key to solving most health issues associated with diabetes because exercise helps your body absorb insulin better.

A type II diabetes diet is important to follow so you don’t become susceptible to major problems down the road. Cut down on your intake of salt, alcohol, fats, and carbohydrates, and make sure you are getting plenty of exercise.