Having diabetes, is it right or wrong to not eat starch?

Most diabetic patients eat less starch to prevent and treat the disease without knowing that using starch helps stabilize blood sugar and limit insulin production.

Illustration photo SIS Can Tho .

Eating too much or starving yourself can cause complications.

Ms. NTH, only 42 years old, abstained from starch and did not dare to eat sugar and fat to lose weight and prevent diabetes, heart disease, and high blood fat. She often chose low-energy foods such as potatoes and vermicelli. As a result, she fainted at work and was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when she was hospitalized.

Reality at hospitals shows that not only Ms. H. but many people have made mistakes in eating, leading to diabetes and serious and dangerous complications of the disease.

Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Van Binh, former director of the Institute of Metabolic Disorders and Diabetes Research, emphasized that many people, especially diabetics, do not understand and therefore make mistakes in their diet, leading to illness and serious and dangerous complications.

For example, most patients do not dare to eat much because they think that eating a lot will cause an increase in blood glucose levels. But they do not know that the more they fast, the worse their condition will be.

There are even many people who have to go to the emergency room in a coma, fainting, and pale skin due to low blood glucose. Especially when the disease has complications such as infection, amputation, etc., the prognosis is even worse if they are not given a high-energy diet.

Or some people eat a lot to compensate for the lost glucose and as a result they experience complications such as lipid disorders (cardiovascular, blood pressure...), kidney failure, and peripheral polyneuropathy.

Diabetes is a leading cause of disability and premature death in most countries and is a leading cause of blindness, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and leg ulcers leading to amputation.

Diabetic patients not only abstain from sugar but also from starch , do not eat rice but eat a lot of vermicelli, or eat too many tubers for fear of high blood sugar, this is due to lack of knowledge about the nutritional value of each type of food, which significantly affects the results of treatment.

Because diabetes causes a series of metabolic disorders, first of all, glucose (sugar) metabolism disorders cause high blood glucose and glucose to appear in the urine.

Disorders of glucose metabolism lead to disorders of lipid, protein and electrolyte metabolism. These disorders cause many serious complications for patients or can lead to coma and death if not treated promptly.

Therefore, patients abstain from sugar without knowing that there are two types of sugar: fast sugar (sucrose) and slow sugar (starch). Fast sugar includes: sugar, molasses, honey, and carbonated soft drinks.

When we consume fast sugar - even just one piece of sugar, the sugar will go from the stomach to the intestines immediately. The sugar is absorbed by the intestines and transferred to the circulatory system, if there is no energy consumption (due to physical activity). The body will store energy in the form of fat, causing overweight, obesity and that is the cause of diabetes.

Starch is a slow sugar, made up of many glucose molecules tightly joined together. For example, 5 grams of noodles or bread are put into the stomach, mixed and gradually digested, absorbed in the small intestine, and slowly transferred to the blood, so that over a long period of time, the blood can provide energy according to the body's needs. Therefore, the concentration of sugar supplied to the blood is stable.

Maintain stable carbohydrates and reduce drug use

According to Dr. Phan Huong Duong - Deputy Director of the Central Endocrinology Hospital, the causes of diabetes are very complex, but are mostly due to being overweight, obese and lacking physical activity. Practicing a healthy lifestyle will help prevent diabetes in up to 70% of cases.

However, more than 73% of diabetic patients in our country do not follow a proper diet because they do not thoroughly understand nutritional knowledge.

Starch provides plant-based protein and B vitamins, which are necessary for metabolism and nerve balance, as well as minerals (calcium, potassium and magnesium). Using starch helps stabilize blood sugar and limit insulin production. Therefore, people with diabetes can use starch.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, former deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, emphasized that if diabetic patients know how to combine diet and physical exercise well, they can cure 50% of type 2 diabetes, helping to stabilize blood sugar and reduce complications.

Accordingly, patients should keep the amount of carbohydrates (starch) in their meals stable and know how to replace foods rich in starch.

The proportion of food components in the energy ration includes: carbohydrates: 50 - 60%; protein: 15 - 20%; lipids: 20-30% (for people with normal weight and normal blood lipids), under 30% (for obese people); cholesterol: 300mg/day; fiber: 20 - 35g/day.

Food should be divided into 5-6 meals/day to prevent excessive hyperglycemia after meals and prevent hypoglycemia when fasting, especially in patients taking hypoglycemic drugs.

And especially should choose foods with low glycemic index.

- Carbohydrates: reduce rice, replace with tubers such as taro, yam or black bread, brown rice, corn, potatoes, should not eat vermicelli;

- Protein: lean meats, unsweetened milk, fish, beans, peanuts, sesame;

- Lipids: should use both vegetable oil and some animal fat, do not eat products high in cholesterol such as animal organs.

According to HA LINH - Tuoi Tre Online (Title by Hau Giang Newspaper)

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