Nutrition for Diabetics - Essay Example

Nutrition for Diabetics” Introduction Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycaemia, glycosuria, hyperlipaemia, negative nitrogenbalance and sometimes ketonaemia. A widespread pathological changes involves thickening of capillary basement membrane, increase in vessel wall matrix and cellular proliferation resulting in vascular complications like lumen narrowing, early atherosclerosis, sclerosis of glomerular capillaries, retinopathy, neuropathy and peripheral vascular insufficiency ("An RCN guide to the National Service Framework for Diabetes"). Enhanced nonenzymatic glycosylation of tissue proteins due to persistent exposure to high glucose concentrations and the accumulation of larger quantities of sorbitol (a reduced product of glucose) in tissues are believed to be causative in the pathological changes of diabetes. The concentration of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is taken as an index of protein glycosylation: it reflects the state of glycaemia over the preceding 2-3 months ("What is Diabetes?"). Two major types of diabetes are- Type I or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), juvenile onset diabetes mellitus, which is caused due to the destruction of β- cells of pancreatic islets, majority of the cases are autoimmune (type 1A) antibodies that destroy β-cells and are detectable in blood. In all type I cases circulating insulin levels are low or very low and patients are more prone to ketosis. However this is less prevalent and has low degree of genetic predisposition ("What is Diabetes?"). Nutrition Nutrition plays the most imperative part in our well being, as it directly relates to the physical and mental growth and development. Lack of proper and appropriate diet as well as deficiency of important and essential components results in malnutrition and hence result in overweight or underweight or some deficiency disorder. Diabetes is a condition where nutrition plays a vital role in the management. A well balanced and appropriate amount of nutrition helps in management of the condition by keeping the blood glucose level close to the normal value, thereby preventing the progress of diabetes to the higher level. Diet aids in management of the condition by avoiding medication dependence. A high-quality nutrition required by the diabetics involves eating a large variety of foods categorized under various heads as meal plan, a guide that enables one to understand the kind as well as quantity of food to be consumed in diabetes. For diabetics healthy diet is considered to have 40% to 60% calories that come from the carbohydrates, 20% from proteins and Read More