More people than ever before are being diagnosed with diabetes. Diet plays a signifi cant role
in managing life with diabetes. More information can be found at diabetes.org.
The number of people living with
diabetes has risen dramatically over
the last four decades. According to
the World Health Organization, between
1980 and 2014, the number
of people with diabetes rose from
108 million to 422 million.
The dramatic spike in diabetes cases
in such a short period of time highlights
just how big a threat the disease
poses to the health of people
across the globe. That makes now a
perfect time to learn more about diabetes
and what individuals can do
to manage their disease.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic disease related
to how the body produces or utilizes
insulin, a hormone that regulates
blood sugar. Diabetes occurs when
the pancreas does not produce suffi
cient insulin or cannot effectively
utilize the insulin it produces.
What is the difference
between type 1 and type
2 diabetes?
The WHO notes that more than 95
percent of the people with diabetes
have type 2 diabetes. According to
the American Diabetes Association
¨, type 2 diabetes occurs when
the body does not use insulin properly,
whereas type 1 occurs when
the body does not produce insulin.
Can diabetes be managed?
It’s important that individuals diagnosed
with diabetes recognize that
both types 1 and 2 can be managed.
The ADA reports that diet and routine
exercise are vital to managing
type 2 diabetes. The ADA urges
people who have recently been diagnosed
with diabetes to speak with
a registered dietitian nutritionist
(RDN/RD) to fi nd foods that are
healthy and help them feel satisfi ed
at the end of a meal. Lingering may
compel people to make poor dietary
choices that could make their condition
worse. The ADA’s “Nutrition
Consensus Report,” published in
2019, is a comprehensive review
of 600 research articles over a fi veyear
span conducted by a panel of
scientists, doctors, endocrinologists,
diabetes educators, and dietitians.
That review emphasized the significance
of working with an RDN,
noting that recommendations about
diet for diabetes patients must take
factors specifi c to each individual,
including their life circumstances
and preferences, into consideration.
The review also noted that each person
responds differently to different
types of foods and diets, so there is
no single diet that will work for all
patients.
Though there is no “one-size-fi tsall”
diet for people with diabetes,
the ADA created the Diabetes
Plate Method as a simple way to
help people with diabetes create
healthy meals. The method urges
individuals to fi ll half their plate
with nonstarchy vegetables, such
as asparagus, broccoli, green beans,
and salad greens. One-quarter of
the plate should be fi lled with lean
proteins such as chicken, lean beef
(cuts like chuck, round or sirloin),
or fi sh (salmon, cod, tuna). Plantbased
sources of protein also count,
and these include beans, lentils,
hummus, falafel, edamame, and
tofu, among other foods. The fi nal
quarter of the plate should be reserved
for foods that are higher in
carbohydrates, such as whole grains
(brown rice, quinoa, whole grain
pastas), beans and legumes, or even
fruits and dried fruit.
THE DANGERS OF ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS
not just ultraprocessed meats that
increase risk for cancer, but also
other processed or ultraprocessed
foods, including ready-to-eat-orheat
foods such as french fries,
prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen
pizza, doughnuts, and store-bought
cookies and cakes, among others.
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THE BASICS OF DIABETES AND DIET
The results of two studies recently
published in the British medical
journal The BMJ found that eating
a lot of ultraprocessed foods signifi -
cantly increases men’s risk of colorectal
cancer. Published in August
2022, the studies, which examined
individuals in both the United States
and Italy, also found that diets high
in ultraprocessed foods can lead to
heart disease and early death in both
and men and women. Processed and
ultraprocessed foods include meats
such as bacon, beef jerky, corned
beef, ham, hot dogs, and salami.
Various organizations, including
the World Health Organization, the
American Cancer Society and the
American Institute for Cancer Research,
have previously warned that
those meats are associated with a
higher risk of bowel cancer in men
and women. The studies published
in August 2022 reported that it s
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