Type I Diabetes

EAT THESE FOODS IN SMALL PORTIONS!







Carbohydrates, Blood Glucose and Insulin

Carbohydrate foods have the greatest effect on blood glucose levels and it is the starchy foods - bread, cereals, potatoes, pasta, rice etc. - that you will need to pay most attention to you.

Carbohydrate foods are mostly broken down into glucose by digestive enzymes. The glucose is then absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream (usually 1 - 2 hours after eating) and this causes the blood glucose level to rise. Insulin is needed so that the body's cells can take this glucose from the bloodstream and either use it for energy or store it for later. People who do not have diabetes will produce just the right amount of insulin to cope with the rise in blood glucose that occurs after a meal. Insulin on demand allows the person without diabetes to keep blood glucose levels within the normal range, even after a meal rich in carbohydrates.

Getting The Balance Right

If you have Type 1 diabetes then your body no longer produces insulin; you have to inject it yourself. In order to keep the blood glucose level close to normal after eating, you need to inject just the right amount of insulin to deal with the food that you eat. It is also important that the injection is timed right, so that the insulin is arriving in the bloodstream at the same time that the glucose from the digested food is being absorbed from the gut.

If there is too little insulin (for the amount of glucose coming from the digested food) then the blood glucose level will rise too high (hyperglycaemia). If there is too much insulin (or not enough glucose coming from the digested food) then the blood glucose level will fall too low (hypoglycaemia).

So, your food intake needs to be closely matched by your insulin injections. This is why you will need to consider not only what you eat, but how much you eat, and when.
(From www.diabetes-insight.info)

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