A Diabetic Diet or Simply a Healthy Diet?

Diets are so popular nowadays that one can simply think that being on a diet is so everyday - like buying new pair of shoes or seeing a movie. For a diabetic a diet is one of the ways to treat diabetes and above all to lead a normal life with diabetes.

There are millions of diets and each one claims that it is the real one, the ultimate truth to achieve your dream body, to get rid of all your fat (even the fats you need) and to look like a supermodel (without their endless plastic surgeries, of course). So, in this case, if you are a diabetic, you can safely go on a diet and for bad or worse, you really have the chance to be like the others.

To some extent many non-diabetics undergo such severe diets in the name of vanity that even the strictest diabetic diet looks fattening. Don't worry, your diabetes will not make you starve or eat some of those healthy and absolutely tasteless foods that the average blonde eats in her attempts to weigh 80 lbs. A diabetic diet is simply a healthy diet that is recommendable for everybody. So, in a sense your diabetes will teach you how to eat (and live) healthily.

There are many types of diabetic diets and similarly to weight loss and weight gain diets new (and revised) diabetic diets are emerging every second. But no matter how they are called, they basically boil down to the same essentials – cut down the intake of carbohydrates as much as possible.

But this is not something new. Cutting the intake of carbohydrates up to 10 percent of your daily food input is a basic postulate in low-carb diets, which currently are one of the most influential diets in the world.

So even if you are not a diabetic but are simply following a low-carb diet, you have already forgotten the taste of sweets and chocolate, which are supposed to be one of the biggest enemies of weight loss.

One difference between a low-carb diet and a diabetic diet is regarding the direct intake of sugar. While low-carb diets allow small quantities of sugar and sugar-containing foods, a diabetic diet strictly forbids this. Sugar gets directly into your blood and because of your inability to produce insulin or to use it for sugar-processing, your blood sugar level instantly soars.

Sugar comes in many products and probably this is the trickiest part. Depending on how severe your diabetes is, you could occasionally have snacks that contain insignificant quantities of sugar, like some confectioneries but avoid carbonated drinks because they are actually sugar and water. Well, sugar is not the worst part of Coca-Cola and the like. The other chemical substances that are contained in them pose a real health danger for healthy people, not to mention patients with digestional, cardio-vascular or other diseases.

There are many other products, besides sweets and carbonated drinks that contain a lot of sugar. The problem is that sugar is used as a preservative, so many processed foods actually contain plenty of sugar. Therefore, always look at the labels of products to see if they contain sugar or not.

However, be aware that sometimes there is hidden sugar, so even if the label says there is no sugar in a particular product, don't take this for granted. If you are really sensitive to sugar, even in the smallest amounts, then you'd better buy all your food from special diabetic stores because this way you have a guarantee that the products are really sugar-free.

One of the negative aspects of low-carb diets and of diabetic diets is that the decreased daily dosage of carbohydrates leads to less energy. Yes, carbohydrates give quick energy to your body but energy can also be achieved by the increased intake of proteins and fats. Proteins are to be found in meat, poultry products, milk and dairy products, eggs, nuts, oilseeds, etc. Fats come from vegetables and animals but generally it is best if you manage to eat only vegetable oils t(i.e. sunflower oil or rapeseed oil). Butter is of animal origin, while margarine is artificial, so both are to be avoided.

Eating fruit and vegetables is also healthy because they contain vitamins and minerals, which everybody needs. There are many so called negative calorie foods and most of them are vegetableyou can eat. Soya products are also especially good both for healthy living and for a diabetic diet, so unless you are hooked on meat, you may find soya products quite valuable.

As you see, a diabetic diet is a healthy diet – even healthier than the weight loss tortures. You can have every kind of food, but moderation is the key.