Diet for Pre-Diabetics

More Than 100 Million Americans Are At Risk.

Type 2 diabetes affects more than 25 million people in the U.S. Roughly 80 million more Americans have pre-diabetes.

There’s more troubling news. The pre-cursors of Type 2 diabetes – pre-diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome – increase our risk of heart disease almost as much as Type 2 diabetes does.

All this suffering, all this early death, is preventable. It is the direct result of the way we live – by our sedentary habits and our Western-style diets, bereft of whole, fiber-rich foods and full of fast foods and other calorie-dense junk.

The Power of Prevention

There is much you can do with lifestyle alone to prevent diabetes. In a landmark study, the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Prevention Program, scientists tracked 3,234 pre-diabetic men and women for three years. Half were following lifestyle changes. The other half took a drug – metformin (Glucophage®). Compared with the drug-takers, those on the lifestyle-change plan were 60% less likely to progress to full-blown Type 2 diabetes. Their lifestyle changes, focused on eating low-calorie-dense, high-fiber foods, exercising five days weekly for at least 30 minutes, and a 7% weight loss.

Diet
People suffering from pre-diabetes have blood sugar levels higher than normal, but not yet high enough to qualify as diabetes. The University of Pittsburgh reports that over 25 million American adults have pre-diabetes. Diet is an important element in treating the condition, and a diet geared toward controlling blood sugar levels can help get them back under control. However, weight loss and exercise also play essential roles in reversing pre-diabetes, so make sure you incorporate your diet into an overall active and healthful lifestyle.

Foods to Eat
Protein from fish, including sardines, tuna, haddock, halibut, herring, cod, catfish, flounder and tilapia, is recommended by the ADA, but only two to three times a week. Seafood may also include shellfish such as shrimp, oysters, lobster, crab and clams. The main source of protein should come from daily portions of skinless poultry and dried beans, lentils and peas. These may be consumed in soy meat products, vegetarian baked beans, or fat-free pinto refried beans. The ADA lists pinto, black and lima beans as excellent dietary choices for the bean category. Eggs and pork, cut as tenderloin and center loin or Canadian bacon, are also recommended to provide protein requirements.

Vegetables are the key to a healthy diet for people diagnosed with pre-diabetes. “Non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans” should be the most frequent meal choices, according to the ADA.

Foods to Limit
Calcium intake is a necessary part of the daily requirements but the calcium should come from high-quality protein, according to the ADA. This includes fat-free or non-fat yogurt, soy milk and non-fat or 1 percent milk, and occasionally non-fat cottage cheese.

Foods high in sugar should also be avoided on a pre-diabetes diet. Take soft drinks, sweets, ice cream, cake and cookies off the shopping list and in plan a treat of an orange slice or two to add vitamins in addition to a taste of sweets. Avoid fruit juices since these typically have additional sugar and additives.

Focus on Fiber
Whole grain foods, such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta provide fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals without adding excessive amounts of sugar to the diet. Whole grain foods are defined as products that use the entire grain (the germ, bran and endosperm). Refined and enriched wheat flours eliminate many of the vitamins and minerals in the milling process and should be avoided. Whole grain should be listed as the first ingredient on the product label. The ADA also recommends buckwheat, millet, sorghum, quinoa, cracked wheat, oatmeal, corn meal, popcorn, wild rice, barley and rye for this category.

References

• ADA: Q&A
• ADA: Making Healthy Food Choices
• University of Pittsburgh: Diabetes & Related Conditions - Pre Diabetes

MEET THE NUTRIENTS

 

The Energy-Yielding Nutrients

Foremost among the six classes of nutrients in foods is water, which is constantly lost from the body and must constantly be replaced.  Of the four organic nutrients, three are energy-yielding nutrients, meaning that the body can use the energy they contain. The carbohydrates and fats (fats are also called lipids) are especially important energy-yielding nutrients.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates usually provide the greater part of the energy in a normal diet, but no individual carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in the sense that the body needs it but cannot make it for itself from other nutrients. If the carbohydrate intake is less than 100 g per day ketosis is likely to occur

Fat

Fat provides the most concentrated source of energy, with 9 calories per gram. Healthy adults should get 20 to 35 percent of total calories from fat, which equates to 44 to 77 grams of fat per day on a 2,000-calorie diet, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Unsaturated fats, such as from olives, nuts, canola oil and avocados, are considered healthier than saturated fats, which come from full-fat cheese, fatty meats, butter and coconut oil.

Protein

Protein provides 4 calories per gram, and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend getting 10 to 35 percent of your total calories from protein. This equals approximately 50 to 175 grams on a standard 2,000-calorie diet. Along with providing energy, protein is an essential nutrient for maintaining your lean muscle mass, promoting a strong immune system and allowing chemical reactions in your body to occur. Good sources of protein include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, tofu and beans. 

 
Vitamins and Minerals
 

The fifth and sixth classes of nutrients are the vitamins and the minerals. These provide no energy to the body. A few minerals serve as parts of body structures (calcium and phosphorus, for example, are major constituents of bone), but all vitamins and minerals act as regulators. As regulators, the vitamins and minerals assist in all body processes: digesting food; moving muscles; disposing of  wastes; growing new tissues; healing wounds; obtaining energy from carbohydrate, fat, and protein; and participating in every other process necessary to maintain life. Later chapters are devoted to these six classes of nutrients.

The Concept of Essential Nutrients

When you eat food, then, you are providing your body with energy and nutrients. Furthermore, some of the nutrients are essential nutrients, meaning that if you do not ingest them, you will develop deficiencies; the body cannot make these nutrients for itself. Essential nutrients are found in all six classes of nutrients. Water is an essential nutrient; so is a form of carbohydrate; so are some lipids, some parts of protein, all of the vitamins, and the minerals important in human nutrition.