|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Meal Planning is probably the hardest part of managing diabetes, and being on an insulin pump, you have to be much more careful when deciding on what you are going to eat. Counting Carbohydrates is going to be a huge part of everyday events while using the insulin pump.
Before your doctor places you on your insulin pump, you're going to have to take a crash course on counting carbs. This is pretty easy if you have a food label handy or the nutritional value of the foods you're going to eat. You will basically take so much insulin for so many grams of carbs just before you begin to eat.
I take 1 unit of insulin for every 15 grams of carbs. Some people take as little as 1 unit of insulin for each 25 grams of carbs, and I've seen people use as much as 1 unit of insulin for every 5 grams of carbs. Your doctor will provide you with this information during your pump training.
This is not in any way a prescription as to how much you should eat. Your personal physician, diabetes educator, or dietitian must determine that. Diets change on a regular basis, I know cause I've been on more diets than I can count on my fingers and toes throughout my 27+ years of being a diabetic. Check with your doctor or nutrition educator before changing your diet.
The American Diabetes Association and the American Medical Association recommend good eating habits along with being physically active, and diligence in taking your prescribed medications/insulin as an important part of diabetes self-management. Since these plans are based on food exchanges, you'll need to consult an exchange list at the back of most diabetic cookbooks to see specific amounts allowed for each choice.
Generally speaking:
1 carbohydrate exchange provides 80 calories, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, and a trace fat-this includes foods from the bread/starch, fruit, milk, and vegetable groups (a serving of non-starchy vegetables provides 25 calories, 5 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, and 0 fat)
1 protein exchange provides 7 g protein and varying numbers of calories and grams of fat, depending on whether the choice is very low-fat, low-fat, medium-fat, or high-fat choices
1 fat provides 45 calories, 0 protein, 0 carbohydrates, and 5 g fat
Remember these all correspond to servings (weight) of the food you are going to eat - - that's why you need to consult and learn how to use an exchange list.
Books I highly recommend to anybody with Diabetes
All are available at a great price from Barnes & Noble.
Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
The American Diabetes Association Complete Guide to Diabetes
The Official Pocket Guide to Diabetic Exchanges
Mr. Food's Quick and Easy Diabetic Cooking: Over 150 Recipes Everybody Will Love