List of Foods
Diabetics should Avoid

Introduction

Diabetes is a chronic health disorder in which your body is not able to properly secrete insulin, which is a hormone that plays a significant role in transforming starches, sugar, and other food sources into energy required for your daily needs. As a result, this adversely affects your bodies metabolism system and may sometimes lead to a number of such disorders as heart diseases, blindness, limb amputations, neuropathy, stroke, and kidney failures. Even though it could not be completely cured, diabetes can be completely controlled by following a systematic diet plan. In others words, a proper diet plan is key to manage diabetes effectively. This in turn helps to lower your high blood sugar levels.

An effective diabetes diet plan must contain right proportion of proteins, fats, and carbohydrate, such as about 10% calories of proteins, 30% calories of fats, and 50% calories of carbohydrates. Among the foods recommended for a diabetic are complex high fiber carbohydrate foods such as oats and wholegrain items; Omega 3-enriched food items such as tuna and salmon; foods containing Omega 6 fatty acid like blackcurrant oil and borage oil; and foods with alpha-lipoic acid – a kind of antioxidant that helps to improve the glucose intake. Similarly, a diabetic should strictly avoid the intake of certain foods, which fall under categories including high glycemic index foods and fat foods.

High Glycemic Index Foods

Foods with high glycemic index are usually made from white rice, white flour, and simple carbohydrates. Included in the high glycemic index foods are:

White Rice

Since white rice is stripped of fiber and other essential nutrients, its consumption may lead to over secretion of insulin in order to deal with the high blood glucose levels, which in turn may lead to the exhaustion of the cells that produce insulin, thereby increasing your chance to develop type II diabetes. Hence, rather than the intake of white rice, it is recommended to consume brown rice (long grain), which is more healthy, as it consists of nutritious dietary fiber.

White Pasta

Majority of dishes containing pastas and noodles possess a high glycemic index. However, it would be better if you consume pasta made from brown rice or whole pasta.

White Flour

Even though it appears clean and beautiful, white flour foods’ intake may have adverse affect on diabetes patients, since it contains alloxan – a kind of chemical that has capability to destroy the pancreas’s beta cells. The result is that alloxan prompts the uric acid to damage the DNA contained in the pancreas’s beta cells. As an outcome, beta cells may fail to function normally over the time, thereby no longer secreting adequate insulin. This is regarded as one of the prime causes for the early onset of type II diabetes in adults.

White Sugar

Increased consumption of white sugar is regarded as one of the prime causes for type II diabetes. White sugar, also referred to as sucrose, is a chemically refined food product. One of the prime drawbacks of white sugar is that when consumed, it quickly gets absorbed in the blood streams, which in turn adversely affect the blood glucose levels. This condition, in turn, is referred to as hyperglycaemia, and is closely associated with diabetes. A patient with hyperglycaemia may experience a range of such symptoms as weakness, dizziness, insomnia, and depression. Increased intake of white sugar may also lead to conditions such as obesity, candidaiasis, kidney stones, reduced immunity, hypertension, and menstrual disorders.

Apart from these, a diabetic may strictly avoid high glycemic index foods such as potatoes, sweetened desserts, carbonated cold beverages including sugary juices and sodas, and white breads and rolls and tortillas made from a combination of white flour and white sugar.

Fatty Foods  

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a diabetic is at greater risk to develop diseases like heart related ailments and stroke. As such, intake of saturated fats should not exceed 7 % of calories. Hence, it is important to minimize the consumption of foods that contain a high level of saturated or trans-fat, along with high glycemic index foods. As a first step, reduce the intake of foods that consists of relatively high content of saturated fats, such as, whole milk, egg yolks, and meat products. However, a diabetic may include in his diet items such as skinless chicken, lean meat, and seafood with small amount of fat. Likewise, avoid foods that are made using large quantity of hydrogenated oil, animal fat, and butter. Above all, avoid the intake of foods labeled as zero-trans fats, as it does not mean that it is completely free of trans-fats.

Caffeine Foods

Over consumption of caffeine containing items such as tea and coffee may have an adverse effect for people with diabetes. It is recommended to limit its usage, especially if you are prone to or already affected by diabetes.

Alcohol

A diabetic is advised to stay away from alcohol, as it may lead to a number of serious health disorders like nerve damage, high blood pressure, eye problems, and high levels of triglycerides.

Artificial Sweeteners

Nowadays, many diabetics use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, believing that they do not significantly raise blood sugar levels. The jury is still out on this debate and it is therefore advisable to consult with a doctor prior to its usage. Where possible natural sweeteners such as agave should be used instead.

In addition, a diabetic should avoid foods such as sugar coated cereals, commercial foods like snack foods, and processed foods including sausage pies and scotch eggs.

Also see

List of foods you should eat if you are a diabetic
Treatment for Diabetes