Healthy Eating and Type 1 Diabetes
Published: 15/03/2018
We are pleased to introduce you to Care Assistant Ruth, who supports our customers in the community and lives with Type 1 Diabetes. Ruth has shared her story with us along with some tips and advice.
We are pleased to introduce you to Care Assistant Ruth, who supports our customers in the community and lives with Type 1 Diabetes.Diabetes UK explains that type 1 diabetes is a serious, lifelong condition where your blood glucose level is too high because your body can't make a hormone called insulin.
Around 10 per cent of people living with diabetes in the UK have Type 1 diabetes. It’s the most common type of diabetes in childhood but it can develop at any age.
Ruth has shared her story with us along with some tips and advice:
Hi, my name is Ruth and I have been a type 1 diabetic for 24 years now. Healthy eating is not easy whether you have diabetes or not but with type 1 diabetes it is important that insulin is taken when eating carbohydrate.
Insulin is of the utmost importance as not taking it may be very dangerous and may result in diabetic keto acidosis (DKA). This is very serious and requires hospital attention.
A balanced diet is key which should include five portions of fruit or vegetables, starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, bread, potatoes etc, protein such as meat, beans, fish etc, dairy products such as milk, cheese etc and a very small amount of oil or spreads.
Cholesterol can be a problem in people with type 1 diabetes. I take a statin to protect my heart as diabetics are more likely to have heart disease than normal people.
My diet has also been changed to take into consideration to try to reduce the likeliness of heart disease.
High density lipoprotein (HDL) is generally considered good cholesterol while low density lipoprotein (LDL) is considered bad cholesterol. LDL’s are found in products containing saturated fats, these include cheese, meat, butter, lard or dripping.
Good examples of HDL’s are products such as sardines or mackerel or oils such as sunflower or olive oil. Swapping cooking techniques such as frying for baking or grilling can help to reduce bad cholesterol.
For more information and advice on Diabetes along with services available to you, please visit the Diabetes UK website here.Insulin is of the utmost importance as not taking it may be very dangerous and may result in diabetic keto acidosis (DKA). This is very serious and requires hospital attention.
A balanced diet is key which should include five portions of fruit or vegetables, starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, bread, potatoes etc, protein such as meat, beans, fish etc, dairy products such as milk, cheese etc and a very small amount of oil or spreads.
Cholesterol can be a problem in people with type 1 diabetes. I take a statin to protect my heart as diabetics are more likely to have heart disease than normal people.
My diet has also been changed to take into consideration to try to reduce the likeliness of heart disease.
High density lipoprotein (HDL) is generally considered good cholesterol while low density lipoprotein (LDL) is considered bad cholesterol. LDL’s are found in products containing saturated fats, these include cheese, meat, butter, lard or dripping.
Good examples of HDL’s are products such as sardines or mackerel or oils such as sunflower or olive oil. Swapping cooking techniques such as frying for baking or grilling can help to reduce bad cholesterol.
