Juvenile Diabetes and Nutrition

Careful and constant management of blood glucose levels is essential to the treatment of juvenile diabetes. By keeping levels as normal as possible you can avoid further medical complications such as heart disease, kidney disease and serious eye problems which may sometimes lead to blindness. As well as insulin and other forms of medication, a healthy nutritional diet is one of the main factors of efficient diabetes control.

Individually designed meal planning is an essential part of keeping blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible. Your healthcare team will include a dietician who will be able to work out a plan that easily fits into your lifestyle. The general nutritional guidelines for diabetics do not vary that much from the guidelines for most people who do not suffer with the disease. Here are a few tips for effective meal planning.

Eat a variety of foods for a well balanced diet.

A healthy balance between the food you eat, your insulin and your exercise program will help to maintain or improve your weight.

It is important that you incorporate added fiber into your diet from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Limit your calorie intake from fat, this should be no higher than 30% of your daily intake, of which no higher than 10% should be from saturated fat.

Restrict foods containing significant amounts of sugar, like candy, cakes, cookies and fizzy drinks.

Limiting sodium intake is also recommended.

There are two main types of meal planning systems, exchange lists and carbohydrate counting. Your health care team will discuss these with you and decide which plan will be best suited to your needs.

Exchange lists allow you to control the amounts of sugar and cholesterol of each meal. Food is measured per serving size and divided into six categories, bread and starch, meat or meat substitutes, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and fats. Your dietician will explain how this works and tell you the number of servings from each group that you require on a daily basis. You can exchange one food with another in the same group to help provide a varied diet.

Carbohydrate counting matches insulin intake to the amount of carbohydrates in the food that you eat, keeping your blood sugar at a safe level. It may take time to figure out your own insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, as this varies from one person to another. Your own ratio will also change over time, but this will be monitored by your dietician, who will test your blood sugar levels in relation to the food you eat at mealtimes.

Remember that what ever plan, or a combination of plans, you choose will become second nature to you. The confidence and freedom that these plans offer are a great life enhancing benefit to children suffering with juvenile diabetes.