Diabetic Seniors

If you’re a senior who is prediabetic or has Type 2 diabetes, you might be controlling your diabetes through diet. You also might prefer fast foods over health foods due to their easy preparation process (there is none!), sneaking in a Big Mac or Starbucks Frappuccino from time to time. After all, just one won’t hurt. But diet controlled diabetes allows no place for fast foods for three reasons:

• Zero trans fats are still fats
• Carbohydrates still produce sugar
• You should treat your body well by eating good foods — not fast foods

Zero Trans Fats Are Still Fats

In January 2005, the medical Journal Lancet published a study showing that people who ate fast foods more than a couple of times a week not only became fatter, but also developed insulin resistance by the time they reached early middle age. Since then, many fast food companies such as McDonalds and Burger King have switched from using trans fats to oils that contain no trans fats. This change might seem like a good development for diet controlled diabetes because it was the trans fats that led to the insulin resistance.

But for diabetes diet control, fat is fat no matter if it is hydrogenated, saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Why? Because as a diabetic, you have to watch your fat intake. And fast foods, even if they contain no trans fats, are still high in fat. For example, suppose your daily goal for your diet controlled diabetes is to limit your fat intake to 60 grams. Eating certain McDonalds burgers — forget about the fries — might not leave you much room for eating something healthier during the rest of the day:

Carbohydrates Still Produce Sugar

For diabetes diet control, you always have to be aware of how many carbohydrates you consume each day. Your body converts carbohydrates from white breads and other ingredients such as potatoes into sugar fairly quickly, and fast foods are loaded with such carbohydrates. The last thing you need is to get socked with sugar overload from sneaking in a fast food burger. If, for your diet controlled diabetes, you’re counting carbohydrates, a McDonalds’ Double Cheeseburger has 34 grams. If you’re using the exchange system, the Double Cheeseburger consists of 2 carbohydrates, 4 medium fat meat and 1 fat. A Big Mac is even higher. And even a light Frappuccino from Starbucks, made with nonfat milk, contains between 16-32 grams of carbohydrates.

You Should Treat Your Body Well by Eating Good Foods — Not Fast Foods

One of the most important things to consider for diet controlled diabetes is the quality of the food you eat. Fast foods tend to be made from the lowest quality ingredients. That’s one reason why those foods are so cheap. There’s an adage that says, “If you like yourself, you’ll treat yourself well.” As a prediabetic or a type 2 diabetic, you should really take that adage to heart in your diabetes diet control. Make sure your meals consist of the appropriate combination of high-quality ingredients from all the food groups.

Tags: carbohydrates, diabetes diet, diabetes diet control, diet controlled diabetes, fast food and diabetes, fast foods and diabetes