The Taiwanese Association of Educators on Friday published a low-glycemic diet cookbook, which nutritionists say can not only help people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels, but can also help people reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Association president Tu Shih-te (杜思德) said food is what mainly affects the amount of sugar in the blood after a meal, but health education clinics have discovered that younger people and older people have different diet preferences, leading to different ways of controlling blood sugar levels.
However, across the different generations, a common problem is a lack of understanding about low glycemic index (GI) diets, Tu said.
According to the American Diabetes Association, “the GI measures how a carbohydrate-containing food increases blood glucose. Foods are ranked based on how they compare with a reference food — either glucose or white bread” and “a food with a high GI increases blood glucose more than a food with a medium or low GI.”
Tu said that many people with diabetes measure their fasting blood sugar levels every day, but do not monitor the amount of sugar in their blood after a meal, which is a risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, so choosing the right food — low GI — can help maintain more stable blood sugar levels.
Many young people cannot resist the temptation to eat cakes, sweet beverages such as bubble milk tea, or fruit high in sugar, but these are all high GI foods that can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar after eating, he said, adding that some young people with diabetes believe that they can eat whatever they want as long as they inject insulin regularly.
Association deputy secretary-general Chen Wen-hui (陳紋慧), who is a nutritionist, said some older people have difficulty in chewing, so they prefer to eat soft food such as salty rice porridge, pottage or thick soup (羹), but these foods made with starch gelatinization often have a high GI, and might also be high in fat, salt and sugar.
Some older people with diabetes also like drinking juice rather than eating fresh fruit, but juice does not contain dietary fiber and can be digested faster, so it can cause the blood sugar levels to increase more rapidly, she said.
Association vice president and nutritionist Hsu Pi-hui (許碧惠) said that in order to help people with diabetes establish correct dietary knowledge, the association published the low-GI foods cookbook that includes both Western and Chinese food, and also balanced diets from rich and diverse ingredients.
The association also urged people with diabetes to get regular health checkups, and actively control their blood sugar levels after a meal by choosing the right food, as well as taking prescription medication.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS