Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Diabetic Myth

There is one thing that drives my husband and I crazy. I like to call it the Diabetic Myth: Diabetics cannot ever eat any sugar. Let's set one thing straight. Carbohydrates and sugar are equally as evil to a diabetics blood sugar. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics live a very different life, as these are two very different diseases. I will concentrate on type 1. An insulin dependent diabetic takes a certain amount of insulin depending on the number of grams of CARBOHYDRATES, not sugar, in the food. Does this mean they can eat or drink as much sugar as a non diabetic? No, it means, in small quantities, sugar is okay. The more sugar in a food usually means more carbs, so therefore you will be taking a larger dose of insulin. This has it's draw backs as insulin can cause weight gain. Also, foods such as ice cream cause the blood sugar levels to spike much more quickly than say a piece of wheat bread. You have to take insulin for both foods, however they digest at different speeds. Slower acting carbs, such as sugar free products, will digest slower and have a slower spike in glucose levels. So, as I said in the beginning, if a diabetic would like to treat themselves once in a while, it's okay, as long as they keep portion control in mind.

2 comments:

  1. I think the big thing for my husband has always been figuring out which of these "treats" cause his sugar to spike the fastest! It often seems to be a huge guessing game. Do you find that is also true with your husband?

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  2. Yes and no. He tends to eat the same things all the time, so he knows how things will react most of the time. One big thing he has to watch is that fruit spikes him like crazy. Of course he still eats fruit but he is just careful.

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