Proper Nutrition - Making Sure You Get Enough Nutrients From Every Food Group

Proper nutrition is essential for everyone, and making sure you get enough nutrients from every food group is vital for your health, especially if you have diabetes. One aspect of managing your diabetes is through proper nutrition as well as regular exercise.

Following is a list for proper nutrition> as well as making sure you get enough nutrients from every food group:

Vegetables

Water is the only natural drink or food that contains no calories which in turn cannot make you gain weight. It is also important to note that leafy vegetables contain around 85 to 95% of water so they are nutritious and beneficial like water, these vegetables are low in calories and have the least effect on our body where fat is involved.

As the carbohydrate content of leafy vegetables is low, this means that people are not able to eat enough of these vegetables to significantly affect their blood glucose levels.

Other benefits of vegetables include the reduction of blood pressure and blood fats. Vegetables are also rich in antioxidants like vitamin C and B-Carotene.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are found mainly in plant foods like fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. It is important to remember that all carbohydrate foods end up as sugar in your blood stream; therefore it is vital that you monitor the intake of carbohydrate foods so that you can control your blood sugar levels and your weight.

It is also important to note that the type and quantity of carbohydrate determines the glycemic load in your meal, this is how your blood glucose and insulin levels are after eating.

The way you can reduce the amount of carbohydrate in each meal is to ensure that you select the best carbohydrate foods that are low in GI; these foods are known to help with your blood sugar levels.

The index rating for the Glycemic Index is as follows:

Low GI - Look for foods that have a GI of 55 or less

Medium GI - These foods are only good in small quantities and their GI is 56 to 69

High GI - These are foods that have a GI of 70 or more and should be avoided whenever possible

Proteins

The main sources of protein are found in animal products. They are also found in plant products, and combined with animal products are made up of building blocks called amino acids. The essential amino acids that are required by our bodies can also be found in plant sources.

We do not need more than 120 to 200 grams of protein each day; ensure that the protein should only cover 25% of your plate and that the protein chosen is lean meat. Eating fish at least twice a week can be beneficial also.

Fats

Not all fats and oils effect your cholesterol; saturated fats are known as the bad fats and you should make sure that you do not add more than 8% of calories to your diet. On the other hand monounsaturated oils are the good oils and a recommendation of around 10% of calories in your diet.

Proper nutrition is making sure you get enough nutrients from every food group so that you can manage your diabetes effectively and maintain good health.