Is there a difference in the recommendations for a type 1 diabetic and a type 2 diabetic?

Not in principle, no. However, since it is more common to suffer from overweight if you have type 2 diabetes, you will find the typical type 2 diabetic diet focusing on weight loss. The reason you will want to loose weight is that the overweight might lead to a resistence to insulin which would be a problem to a diabetic. The actual diet for you will still depend a lot on your lifestyle - if you are a growing teenager or a man in his 50's working in an office etc.

Diabetes diet

Diabetic food has changed gradually during the last 100 years. In the 1940's, diabetics were recommended large portions of fat and in the 1970's a diabetic was told not to eat pasta. Today both of these well-meaning pieces of advice are no longer true.

Insulin is necessary for the transportation of blood sugar out to the cells in your body. Having diabetes means that your body lacks the ability to produce insulin (fully or partially). The treatment is to keep your blood sugar at a constant level which will minimize the insulin load. For this purpose, it is necessary to focus on 3 things:

• The amount of food
• The energy you use up during the day
• The amount of insulin
• Is a diet necessary?

Today, a diabetic can eat almost everything, but not at every time and not in any quantities. Eating at regular intervals is very important and this is the first cornerstone in your meal planning.

A good suggestion is to have three main meals and 2-3 snacks during the day. The actual amounts you eat will be individually chosen and depend on how much energy you consume. The pause in eating over night should be kept as short as possible - ideally a small snack late night. A good snack can be a fruit or maybe a sandwich made of wholemeal bread.

Use the plate diet - imagine your plate having 3 parts. In the smallest part you put the protein-rich food (meat, fish, beans etc) and in the other two (equally sized) you put

• Carbohydrates - Pasta, rice, potatoes etc
• Fiber rich vegetables, root vegetables and fruit

Different foods will have different effects on your blood sugar level. The blood sugar level fluctuation will depend on how fast your body breaks down the different foods.

A few examples: Mashed potatoes will increase your blood sugar level faster than whole potatoes. An apple will increase your blood sugar less than a glass of juice.

Wholemeal bread will result in less blood sugar increase than white bread.

Comparing similar types of foods: Potatoes are "faster" than rice. Rice is "faster" than pasta.

As a diabetic - you should normally choose "slow" foods. You don't have to avoid "fast" foods (i.e. foods that will be converted to blood sugar fast) at all cost. By combining them with slow foods you can still achieve a good mix. Adding grean peas to your mashed potatoes is an example of this.