Escape from Sugar
Trying away from sugar, many diabetics apparently end up with fat - at least that is the result of a study carried out at the University of Ulm on the dietary behavior of 40-year-old and older diabetics in Germany. About one in twenty Germans suffers from diabetes, the vast majority of them (approx. 90%) from type II, adult-onset diabetes. The basis of the therapy and prerequisite for the successful use of medication is, above all, the right diet, in accordance with the recommendations of relevant specialist societies such as the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), which also apply to non-diabetics. Scientists have so far paid little attention to the dietary habits of adult diabetics.
Dr. Friederike Bischof from the University of Ulm has now, as part of the "National Consumption Study", a representative nutritional epidemiological study based on a 7-day nutritional log and an extensive questionnaire on eating habits and he alth awareness, attitudes and diet of (type II) diabetics forty compared to their non-diabetic peers and to official recommendations.
A total of 5,343 over forty-year-olds were found in their sample and among these 383 (=7.2%) diabetics - 28 with insulin, 99 with oral antidiabetics, 69 exclusively with diet and 187 not treated at all. They were generally in poorer he alth than the non-diabetics, but half of them benefited from close medical supervision and expert advice on lifestyle and diet. Despite this, only 38% of the diabetics recorded follow a diet, including those who are exclusively treated with diet. Bischof suspects that a considerable proportion of those on drug therapy are under the false certainty that the metabolic problem has been solved with pharmaceutical care.
Measured against the nutrient recommendations of the professional associations, the diet of diabetics hardly differs from that of non-diabetics. When it comes to energy intake, consumption of saturated fat and table s alt, diabetics fare even worse: only 13% of them adhere to the recommendation to cover no more than 35% of their total energy requirements with fat; the guideline value of 10% for the calorie content of saturated fatty acids was exceeded by almost all patients. In terms of cholesterol intake, diabetics are average, their supply of dietary fiber and vitamins is unsatisfactory, as is the case for the general population. On the other hand, a lot of animal food and table s alt are consumed, although diabetics in particular have every reason to be cautious here in view of their (threatening or manifest) accompanying diseases.
Avoided Complex
The common misconception proves to be a serious misunderstanding: “Sugar is harmful. Sugar is made up of carbohydrates. So carbohydrates are harmful.” So, supposedly in accordance with instructions, many of those affected not only eat less sweets, honey and white bread as sources of insulin-critical simple carbohydrates, but also avoid foods rich in starch, i.e. complex carbohydrates, such as pasta and wholemeal bread - with the result that it Hardly any diabetic patient manages to cover half of their energy needs from these complex carbohydrates, as would be nutritionally sensible. Bischof sees the cause of most of these mistakes in a lack of detailed knowledge about the basics of nutritional physiology. Apparently, the relevant training courses specifically for diabetics do not fully meet the requirements.
