Senior citizens who have diabetes need to incorporate healthy eating habits and special attention to nutrition to manage their condition. Millcreek Home Health and Hospice brings you the American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet. The ADA has constructed the ADA diet that can be used as a guideline for managing diabetes. The ADA diet can help educate a diabetic person on the types of foods they should consume and even the foods they should avoid.
Here are the ADA diet food group guidelines:
Food Group One: Proteins such as eggs, fish, poultry, lean meats, nuts and dried beans
Food Group Two: Dairy products such as yogurt, cottage cheese, low fat milk and skim milk
Food Group Three: Cereals, whole grains and breads
Food Group Four: Fruits and vegetables
The ADA diet recommends foods that fall into the following healthy nutrition groups: proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, minerals and vitamins. If you were to follow the ADA diet guidelines, your body should receive all of the nutrients it needs function well and be healthy.
Carbohydrates are a necessary part of a healthy diet. “Carbs” are the building blocks that create energy for your body. But keep in mind that not all carbohydrates are good for the diabetic diet. Focus on including the following good carbohydrates into your diet: beans, lentils, cereals and whole grains. Whether you eat “good carbs” or “bad carbs” any type of carbohydrate, when broken down by the body, will produce sugar. Diabetics are used to calculating and managing their carb intake. Make sure you calculate correctly no matter what types of carbohydrates you add to your diet.
Proteins provide another source of energy for the body. Proteins can support steady blood glucose levels. When diabetics have low blood sugar levels, it is recommended that they eat both a carbohydrate and a protein. The carbohydrate will give the body the immediate sugar needed to raise the blood glucose level. The protein will provide a steady energy source to give stability to blood sugar level. The ADA diet recommends that diabetics get a healthy ratio of carbohydrates and proteins in their daily diets.
The ADA diet also encourages a diet with high fiber foods such as beans, whole grains, etc. These high fiber foods can help reduce high blood glucose levels as well as high blood-fat.
The ADA diet recommends that lean cuts of meat, flax seed oil or olive oil can be used as examples of healthy fats. Keep in mind, that fats of any kind should be included in a person’s diet in the right proportions.
The ADA diet guidelines include these additional tips as well:
- When cooking chicken, remove the skin.
- Use low-fat milk or skim milk
- Choose low sodium content foods
- Read nutrition labels and check sodium, fat and carbohydrate amounts
- Eliminate foods high in refined sugars such as sugar coated cereals, canned soda & alcoholic beverages
If you have questions about the ADA diet for senior citizen diabetics, please feel free to contact a Millcreek Home Health and Hospice staff member. Diabetics can eat right and be healthy by following the ADA diet.
Want to find out more about caring for the elderly, home health or hospice care by visiting Millcreek Home Health and Hospice.
