Nutrition

Senior Nutrition Program of San Luis Obispo County

March 2013
Importance
of Diabetes
Maintenance
What i s i t? Biabetes Nellitus is a complex
metabolic alteiation maue of two types. Type I
uiabetes iesults in a lack on insulin, a hoimone
that iegulates glucose in bloou. Type II is a
iesistance to insulin that causes high bloou
glucose levels. As the 7
th
leauing cause of ueath
among auults 6S yeais anu oluei, attention to
both lifestyle anu uiet is necessaiy.
Why should I care? 0ncontiolleu
bloou glucose levels can cause a vaiiety of
health complications. Some of these may
incluue heait uisease anu stioke, high bloou
piessuie, blinuness, kiuney uisease anu
neivous system complications. 0ften time,
caieful management of bloou glucose
thiough minuful eating habits will help an
Relevance to Senior Nutrition
Program Neals at SNP may contain 4 oi
moie caibohyuiate seivings: V C giain,
sometimes a staichy vegetable, V C fiuit
anu 1 C of milk.
As a geneial iule, consiuei saving
pait oi paits of youi meal foi latei. The
easiest thing to save coulu be milk oi fiuit.
Souices: (1) Beinstein&Luggen. Nutiition foi the
oluei auult. (2) http:www.uiabetes.oiguiabetes-basicsuiabetes-statistics
Physical Activity Exeicise is valuable
because it helps ieuuce insulin iesistance, which
then iesults in lowei bloou glucose levels anu
easiei management. Foi some oluei auults, it
may be helpful to monitoi bloou glucose befoie
anu aftei exeicise to avoiu hypoglycemia, oi low
bloou glucose levels.
Begin with a mouest goal of Su-4S
minutes of aeiobic activity, like walking,
S-S uays a week
If hypoglycemia (6u-7u mlul Bu) uoes occui, an
oluei auults shoulu ingest 1u-1S g of
caibohyuiates. Some foous to consiuei incluue:
Fiuit juice (4 oz)
Nilk (8 oz)
Baiu canuy (S oi 6 pieces)
Sugai oi honey (1 Tbsp)
What should my diet look like?
Avoiu simple caibohyuiates, like juices
anu canuy
Spieau caibohyuiates thioughout the
uay to pievent laige bloou glucose
fluctuations
Consiuei a uaily multivitamin
supplement, especially foi those with
ieuuce caloiic intake.
Inciease fibei intake thiough whole
giains anu fiuits anu vegetables
But Im not diabetic
An estimateu 6.2 million auults in Ameiica
aie unuiagnoseu. Even if you uon't think
you aie uiabetic, caie foi you uiet is still
impoitant. Because unuiagnoseu uiabetes
is moie common among oluei auults, some
symptoms to be cautious of incluue fatigue,
uecieaseu vision, slow wounu healing anu
fiequent uiination. If you uisplay any of
these symptoms anu aie suspicious, consult
with youi meuical piactitionei.