Type 2 diabetes and the importance of counting carbs.

Living with Diabetes type two means, you are walking on a two-edged sword. While people with type one diabetes get used to their eating habits over time, people with the type of diabetes usually get diagnosed after 45 years, which means suddenly they need to change their eating patterns, lifestyle, and daily activities. Imagine waking up one day and realizing that you can no longer enjoy the same food items that you have been using for a very long time.

This might come as a surprise; the worst issue is that most people suddenly find it hard to adjust their lifestyle. Most of the people who get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are obese, which means they already have a high risk of heart issues. To cope with diabetes, obesity, and heart issues, it is very important to focus on daily calories and the sugar level. However, most people are not familiar with the carbs count because they feel calorie count is enough for them. Experts explain that being a diabetic patient, you have to focus on the carbs count in your diet.

Why Carbs Count Is Important?

Carbs are more complex than you think. Most people think that everything that is sweet will be considered carbs. However, complex sugar is not very sweet. Complex carbs like potato, bread, and pasta are usually bland in taste, and they get slightly sweet on toasting or cooking. 

Your carbs count approach means that you will be looking at your calorie count as well as the carbs count. Technically, everything we eat has calories; even a high protein diet or a full protein diet also offers us enough calories to sustain. However, most of the food items we consume consist of carbs as well as protein, fats, fibre, minerals, and vitamins. Since carbs consist of simple and complex sugars, you will see yourself struggling to calculate the carbs.

This is mainly because there are so many different calorie calculators based on the food you eat and their weight, but carbs content is only based on ingredients. In short, you can replace the ingredients with something healthy, offering you the same taste but with a low carbs ratio. This is one of the main reasons people with diabetes are asked to use whole grain, full fibre, and low-carb items. These ingredients are available in the market, and if you look at the nutrition value of these food items, you will get details about the carbs as well.

How Do Count Carbs And How It Can Help With Diabetes?

So far we have mentioned that the sugar content in our food is based on the number of carbs we consume every day. The carbs count is completely different from the calorie count. If you focus on the calorie count, it will be in the form of kilocalories. However, if you look at the carbs, we will see it based on the grams consumed per serving. This per serving carbs count will be added eventually to come up with per meal and per day carbs count as well.

For a diabetic patient with type 2 diabetes, insulin intake is usually based on the number of calories you consume. This means that if you have consumed more carbs, you will adjust your insulin intake as well. With careful tracking, you can learn to adjust the reading of insulin and carbs accordingly.

Since the process of counting per serving and grams is a little tricky, most people take help from a professional. In this case, professionals usually look at the staple food in your region and calculate the number of carbs you consume based on these food items. Some of the staple foods people use include wheat, rice, grains, cereals, legumes, lentils, beans, potatoes, and starchy vegetables. Juice, fruits, honey, dairy products, and other food items.

Usually, the amount of complex carbs in our diet is much more than simple carbs. This is why most people end up cutting down the simple sugars without understanding how complex sugars can impact their diet and health. When professionals offer a complete diet plan, they don’t usually cut the food items complexly; instead, they look for healthy alternatives that can help with reducing sugar levels, improving gut health, and reducing bad cholesterol.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to the amount of food you consume as well as the number of carbs per gram of food you consume. Where most people look at the taste only, which is the reason they go for processed food items rich in taste and high in carbs, but they impact the sugar level as well as suggestions.

On the contrary, if you go for high fibre and whole grain items, you will see an improvement in your cholesterol and will consume fewer calories per serving. The best thing is that these high-fibre items absorb fat, reduce cholesterol and also decrease the sugar level, helping you eat more according to the demand of your body.