Diabetes Diet? Think Tasty, but Healthful

Those with diabetes can still enjoy food -- but they must make healthy choices.

ByABC News
January 8, 2009, 12:32 AM

Nov. 14, 2007— -- People with diabetes often fear that they'll never be able to eat good-tasting food again.That's what registered dietitian and exercise physiologist Ann Albright found when working with those patients. "They sometimes felt like they were going to prison, and they were only going to drink water and eat toothpicks for the rest of their lives," she says.

She quickly assured them that this wasn't the case but told them they would have to learn to make more healthful choices.

Albright, who has type 1 diabetes, now works full time trying to help people with diabetes improve their diets. She's head of the diabetes division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the American Diabetes Association's president of Healthcare and Education.

Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin, or it doesn't use the insulin properly. Insulin helps glucose (sugar) get into cells, where it is used for energy. If not enough insulin is produced or it doesn't function normally, sugar builds up in the blood, damaging nerves and blood vessels.

There are two major forms: type 1 and type 2. The latter accounts for 90 percent of diabetes cases and is associated with obesity and inactivity. Most people with type 2 diabetes could benefit from weight loss, experts say. Even losing as little as 5 percent to 10 percent of body weight and keeping it off can help, Albright says.

Healthful eating and regular physical activity are crucial for patients with diabetes because controlling blood sugar can prevent such complications as heart disease and kidney failure, experts agree. But there's no one single diet that works for everyone, Albright says. "Gone are the days of being one diabetic diet. We try not to teach that any longer."

Most people need an individual nutrition plan, she says, and should work with a registered dietitian or other health professional to figure out what will work best for their lifestyle, schedule and tastes. "There are decisions and nuances in diets that need to be considered for each patient."