Diabetes and Blood Sugar Management

by Charles Roring

The most important thing which patients of diabetes must do is learning how to control their blood sugar. Food consists of protein, carbohydrates and fat, and also fiber. All of us have to combine these elements in ratio that is suitable for our bodies. Everybody has his or her own food ratio. Next time, if we want to eat something, we can start making changes in our food intake ratio. One or two hours after eating our foods, we can measure our blood glucose level. Make sure that it is within the allowable range. If it is always above 200 mg/dl, it means we have suffered from diabetes.

Glucose always exists in our blood. Our body needs it as a fuel to function well. Glucose is a simple form of sugar. It is derived from the food which we consume everyday. When the food has reached the stomach, it will be digested and processed. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat from our food are processed by our digestive system to generate energy. Excessive energy is changed into fat. Glucose can easily be obtained from carbohydrates.

Foods that are categorized as the source of carbohydrates are bread, rice, grains, pasta and fruit. Some foods such as palm sugar and refined sugar are classed as simple carbohydrates whereas others such as grains and tubers are classed as complex carbohydrates. Foods such as honey, white rice, French bread release their energy quickly. They have high glycaemic value. If we plant to work hard during the day, we will need such foods to supply us with sufficient energy so that we will not become weak during and after work. However, if what we do are typing and filing, we should choose foods which contain low glycaemic value such as oats, basmati rice and raw carrots.

When we eat foods of high glycaemic value but we don't work hard, the excessive amount of sugars that are released will be stored in our body. To do this we need the insulin. This hormone is produced by pancreas. Insulin maintains our blood sugar to an acceptable level. If we always eat high glycaemic foods, we will need more insulin. More insulin is also needed if we frequently drink alcohol. Eating fast-releasing energy foods such as cereal, a cuf of coffee or apple juice, and soft-drinks (sprite, fanta, coca-cola and pepsi) will cause our blood sugar rises rapidly. It will trigger the release of insulin.

Pancreas may become exhausted. Failure of insulin producing cells in the islets of Langerhans of pancreas leads to diabetes. To avoid this disease, we need to balance our foods so that they will not always bring pressures to pancreas. Our meal should be the combination of foods that contain complex carbohydrates, fiber and some protein.