Today, without exaggeration, diabetes is not just a disease, but rather a lifestyle. With timely diagnosis and joint efforts of both the doctor and the patient himself, it is absolutely simple to prevent the development of complications of such a formidable disease and to compensate for it as soon as possible. The main attention of patients and treating specialists with this pathology is aimed at correcting and normalizing plasma glucose levels. At the same time, the main and effective way to achieve a positive result is to maintain a diet and normalize the diet.
Basic principles of rational and proper nutrition in type 1 diabetes
In diabetes mellitus, nutrition should be balanced, regular, fractional, wholesome and consistent with the following principles: carbohydrates during the day should be distributed so that most of them are for breakfast and lunch; skipping meals is unacceptable; with an increase in physical activity, it is necessary to increase the amount of carbohydrates in the diet; necessarily the presence of fats in the diet; evenly distribute bread units for all meals; should completely abandon alcohol.
Bread Units
For all patients with diabetes mellitus, especially the second type, it is imperative to control the amount of carbohydrates. For the convenience of their calculation, a unified calculation measure called the bread unit (XE) was created and unified . One such unit contains from ten to twelve grams of carbohydrates. Thanks to bread units, it is possible to calculate the amount of carbohydrates necessary for consumption with various dietary products. Such calculations are convenient and simple for the patients themselves.
Type 1 diabetic bread unit chart
The photo shows tabular informational results of staple foods and the number of bread units in them.
In one piece of bread (the thickness of which is only one centimeter), no matter what flour it is made from, only one bread unit is contained. The fact that crackers are dietary may seem deceiving, because they still remain bread (although dried), with the same amount of the above units in it. This fact determines the mandatory control of consumed food.
The table of bread units for type 1 diabetics contains a list of all the necessary products for a complete diet. For the calculation of bread units, doctors are not obliged to weigh each product - it is quite acceptable to use
measuring spoons, cups and glasses.
An important and interesting point is the fact that more liquid porridge is absorbed faster than thick. This feature will help in a faster effect on sugar levels. So, if a patient with diabetes has an increased amount of plasma glucose, then preference should be given to crumbly cereals, and in case of a hypoglycemic state, liquid, for example, semolina.
The bread unit chart for type 1 diabetics pays particular attention to such a common product as potatoes. This root crop has a very high content of carbohydrates, as well as its "close relative" Jerusalem artichoke, the bioavailability of which directly depends on the method of their preparation. So, mashed potatoes significantly increase the glucose content in the bloodstream than potatoes cooked in their skins. The remaining root crops do not need strict control and counting the number of these units in them, since they are completely sugar free or their content is negligible (see the table of bread units for type 1 diabetics).
Pumpkin and beetroot are the most preferable vegetables for consumption, since just one unit is contained in a piece in as much as 200 g. But the most carbohydrate-rich berry is grapes. Only 70 grams contains 1 XE. Therefore, it is he who is most often used in hypoglycemic conditions to quickly increase the plasma concentration of glucose.
It may seem strange why the table of bread units for type 1 diabetics does not contain an egg, fish, meat and cottage cheese at all. But this is not a mistake. These products practically do not affect the plasma glucose level and can be consumed without undue caution.
Type 1 diabetic bread unit chart
In the image above, the main food products are arranged in the form of a kind of “food” pyramid, which give a visual representation of the importance of controlling the bread units in a particular product.
Conclusion
With diabetes, along with traditional drug therapy, proper nutrition is also of great importance. To simplify the calculation of carbohydrates consumed, the described units are used in the diet of such patients. Information about their content in a certain amount of food makes it easy to control your diet and compensate for the disease itself.
Now you know what the bread unit chart for type 1 diabetics is. Thanks to it, you can quickly and accurately calculate the amount of necessary food and maintain the sugar level within the required limits.