The Importance of Protein to Diabetics and the Best Sources Revealed
Food Types Explained - Protein
The first thing to say about protein is that it hardy raises your blood
glucose levels at all. For this reason, many diabetics tend to eat more
protein than average.
A high protein diet can also lead to a high saturated
fat diet if the protein is coming from sources like steak, bacon or
full fat cheeses that also contain animal fats. Another common mistake
is to fry protein foods like bacon and sauages in oil, increasing the
fat content. If you insist on frying, use a monounsaturated oil such as
olive oil, but ideally grill your food, this generally reduced the fat
content, as fat can drip out.
As previously mentioned, protein is required as part of a balanced Sensible diet, but it should make up no more than 10 to 15% of your diet according to the Diabetes Food Pyramid. As with fats and carbohydrate, different protein sources have different properties and some are better than others, principally because of their fat content. For Vegetarians (and non-vegetarians!), Soy is the only vegetable that contains more protein than carbohydrate. Soy is a good source of healthy low fat protein and should be included in your Sensible diet plan. Here we list some common protein sources.
Best
- Fish: Cod, Tuna (fresh or canned in water), haddock
- Meat: Skinless chicken breast, turkey breast (typically 90% protein, 10% fat)
- Other: Fat free cheeses, Soy
Good
- Fish: Salmon
- Meat: Lean beef, pork or lamb (70% protein, 30% fat)
- Other: Low fat cheeses
Below average
- Fish: Fried fish
- Meat: non lean beef cuts, normal cuts of pork or lamb and dark chicken meat (approx 60% protein)
- Other: Medium fat cheeses like Edam or Mozzarella
Avoid
- Meat: Sausages, bacon, processed meats (typically less than 50% protein)
- Other: Full fat cheeses like Cheddar
Easy Steps
- Buy tinned tuna that is in water, not oil.
- Have reduced fat cheeses
- Grill don't fry
- Only buy lean meat cuts and eat skinless chicken or turkey
- Sausages and bacon as occasional treats only!
Next, learn about Vitamins & Minerals. How to make sure you get enough.
More Resources
[ www.lifeclinic.com ]
[ www.mayoclinic.com ]
[ www.webmd.com ]
[ www.ediets.com/diabetes
]
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[ Diet ] [ Ideal Weight ] [ Food ] [ Carbohydrate Content ] [ GI explained ] [ Fats ] [ Protein ] [ Vitamins & Minerals ] [ Losing Weight ] [ Summary ]
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