Diabetes Carbohydrates and diabetes an introduction
Diabetes - Carbohydrates and diabetes - an introduction: It is impossible to open a newspaper today, without seeing a reference to the amount of fat that we are consuming daily. Fat is a very broad term, and this comes in various forms. Most of the fat actually consumed by humans, is known as triglyceride. Despite this, the form most talked about, is cholesterol, which is the same type of fat found in a typical egg yolk.
Most people today know what their cholesterol level is. It seems that no visit to the doctor is complete without a reading. Cholesterol has become such a part of our lives that you can almost get your cholesterol level measured at the local fair. Your total cholesterol level is a combination of the good kind, HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and the bad kind, LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Your doctor can tell you more about this balance, which has been shown to be a reasonable indicator of the risk of heart attack.
With the exception of eggs, most foods do not contain much cholesterol. That said, the daily recommended amount of is 300mg, almost the amount in a single egg. While an egg or two will not harm the average human, this is far from true for anyone with diabetes, who should avoid eggs, and organ meats high in cholesterol.
As noted above, the vast majority of fats in our diets are known as triglycerides, due to their chemical composition. The main forms of these are
* Saturated fats - These are found in animal sources, like meats, and dairy products
* Trans fats - These originally found their way into our diets as a butter substitute. Research shows that these fats, found in margarine, snacks, and many fast foods, may be worse than saturated fats in causing heart disease.
* Unsaturated fats - These are fats from vegetable sources. The first kind are mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive and canola oil, and these do not raise the cholesterol level. The second kind are polyunsaturated fats, such as corn oil and some margarines. While these do not raise cholesterol levels, they can lower the good or HDL cholesterol.
Fat also happens to have concentrated calories, so should be kept to a minimum in any diet. Mono-unsaturated fats however, seem to protect against heart disease, and may explain the lower incidence of coronary conditions in people who live around the Mediterranean, with diets rich in olive oil. As a general rule, fats from vegetables are better than those from animals. Main exceptions to this rule, and high in saturated fats, are palm and coconut oil.
Below is a list of some of the labels you will find on food packages, and what they mean
* Fat-free: Contain 0.5g or less of fat per serving
* Low-fat: Each serving has less then 3g of fat
* Reduced fat: Has 25% less fat than regular similar food item
* Lean meat: Has less than 10g of fat, of which less than 4g is saturated and no more than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving
* Low saturated fat: Has less than 1g of saturated fat which cannot be more than 15% of the calories
* Cholesterol free: Has less than 2g of saturated fats, or 2mg of cholesterol per serving
* Low cholesterol: Does not contain more than 2g of saturated fats or 20mg of cholesterol per serving
* Reduced cholesterol: Has 25% less cholesterol than regular food item and less than 2g saturated fat per serving.
In planning your diet therefore, try and keep fat as a source of less than 30% of your calories. Of that, make sure saturated fats are less than a third, and where possible, use fat from vegetable sources.
Most people today know what their cholesterol level is. It seems that no visit to the doctor is complete without a reading. Cholesterol has become such a part of our lives that you can almost get your cholesterol level measured at the local fair. Your total cholesterol level is a combination of the good kind, HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and the bad kind, LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Your doctor can tell you more about this balance, which has been shown to be a reasonable indicator of the risk of heart attack.
With the exception of eggs, most foods do not contain much cholesterol. That said, the daily recommended amount of is 300mg, almost the amount in a single egg. While an egg or two will not harm the average human, this is far from true for anyone with diabetes, who should avoid eggs, and organ meats high in cholesterol.
As noted above, the vast majority of fats in our diets are known as triglycerides, due to their chemical composition. The main forms of these are
* Saturated fats - These are found in animal sources, like meats, and dairy products
* Trans fats - These originally found their way into our diets as a butter substitute. Research shows that these fats, found in margarine, snacks, and many fast foods, may be worse than saturated fats in causing heart disease.
* Unsaturated fats - These are fats from vegetable sources. The first kind are mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive and canola oil, and these do not raise the cholesterol level. The second kind are polyunsaturated fats, such as corn oil and some margarines. While these do not raise cholesterol levels, they can lower the good or HDL cholesterol.
Fat also happens to have concentrated calories, so should be kept to a minimum in any diet. Mono-unsaturated fats however, seem to protect against heart disease, and may explain the lower incidence of coronary conditions in people who live around the Mediterranean, with diets rich in olive oil. As a general rule, fats from vegetables are better than those from animals. Main exceptions to this rule, and high in saturated fats, are palm and coconut oil.
Below is a list of some of the labels you will find on food packages, and what they mean
* Fat-free: Contain 0.5g or less of fat per serving
* Low-fat: Each serving has less then 3g of fat
* Reduced fat: Has 25% less fat than regular similar food item
* Lean meat: Has less than 10g of fat, of which less than 4g is saturated and no more than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving
* Low saturated fat: Has less than 1g of saturated fat which cannot be more than 15% of the calories
* Cholesterol free: Has less than 2g of saturated fats, or 2mg of cholesterol per serving
* Low cholesterol: Does not contain more than 2g of saturated fats or 20mg of cholesterol per serving
* Reduced cholesterol: Has 25% less cholesterol than regular food item and less than 2g saturated fat per serving.
In planning your diet therefore, try and keep fat as a source of less than 30% of your calories. Of that, make sure saturated fats are less than a third, and where possible, use fat from vegetable sources.