Sugars, carbs, and GI, oh my!
People with diabetes have lost (or are losing) the ability to regulate their blood sugar properly. Whether or not you take anti-diabetic medications or insulin, careful management of your diet is the number one thing you can do to take control of your health.
Carbohydrates
In particular, you'll want to start paying attention to foods that contain carbohdrates, because these are the foods that have the most dramatic impact on your blood sugar. It's extremely important to control how many carbohydrates you eat. Your diabetes educator or nutritionist can advise you how many grams of carbohydrates you should eat at each meal and snack.
A typical goal for diabetics is to get 45 to 60% of total calories as carbohydrates. For most people, that's between 200 and 300 grams per day.
Sugars
Sugars are a type of carbohydrate and so they are included in your total carbohydrate count. But all of us (and not just diabetics) should limit the amount of sugar we eat. Try to minimize your intake of foods with added sugars, such as candy, pastries, jams, cookies, and sodas. Instead, choose a piece of fruit.
Using the glycemic load
The glycemic load is another way of looking at how a food may affect your blood sugar. Choosing foods with a low glycemic load (and avoiding foods with high glycemic loads) can help you improve your blood sugar control For those with diabetes, a typical target for total Estimated Glycemic Load is 80-100 per day.
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