Every part of the society needs to show effort in order to eliminate diabetes

Academician of European University of Lefke (EUL) Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Prof. Dr. Cahide Yağmur made some statements on the occasion of “November 14, World Diabetes Day” and conveyed detailed information.

Yağmur: Diabetes is the most common seen chronic disease

Yağmur said that the diabetes is the most common seen chronic disease and added that, “Diabetes is expected to affect a billion people in the world in the next 20 years by increasing rapidly”. Yağmur said that, World Diabetes Day is an important day to raise awareness of the people about diabetes and related complications and pointed out that November 14^th has been named as the “World Diabetes Day” since 2007.

Yağmur: Prevention and treatment of diabetes requires a multidisciplinary approach

Pointing out that every part of the society needs to show effort in order to eliminate diabetes, Yağmur said that, “Therefore, primary health care workers should evaluate patients for diabetes risk factors and take measures to prevent diabetes development. Diabetes screening should be done in required individuals”. Yağmur underlined that, in order to prevent complications, treatments and controls of the individuals with diabetes should be monitored and emphasized the fact that prevention and treatment of diabetes requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Yağmur: Nutrition program should be organized and nutrition education should be offered to the individuals with diabetes.

Emphasizing that Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is one of the key elements of the treatment of diabetes and should be a part of the treatment over the course of disease, Yağmur stated that, without applying MNT, ensuring the metabolic control with other treatments is difficult. Yağmur stated that in some patients with type 2 diabetes, only MNT is sufficient to organize the blood glucose level and added that MNT should be prepared individually, in direction with the needs of the patient. Emphasizing that, nutrition program should be organized and nutrition education should be offered to the individuals with diabetes, Yağmur said that, in order to come off with MNT, a proper nutrition plan should be prepared by taking into account the patient’s dietary habits and socio-economic status.

Yağmur said that, “It is planned to meet the energy and nutrient requirements of adult, pregnant and lactating women and elderly adults with different dietary patterns in the different stages of the life cycle with medical nutrition therapy” and pointed out the aims of MNT as; improvement of health through healthy eating and physical activity; ensuring behavioral change; and providing individual nutritional requirements taking into account individual and cultural preferences and lifestyle.

Underlining the importance of bodyweight approach in reducing the risk of diabetes and related symptoms, Yağmur stated that bodyweight approach embraces ensuring weight loss and preventing weight gain. Yağmur said that, “An increase in physical activity can treat glycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, reduce insulin resistance, and cardiovascular risk factors. All these positive effects of regular exercise are independent of weight loss” and emphasized the necessity of medium-intensity physical activity (preferably walking) for at least 150 minutes for three days a week, and added that days without physical activity should not be more than 2 days in a row.

Yağmur said that, “Carbohydrates are important in diabetes; low glycemic index foods should be preferred” and added that the type and amount of carbohydrates, especially in the dietary component, greatly affects blood glucose. Pointing out that, there are several factors that affect the glycemic response of foods, Yağmur listed these factors as; type of carbohydrate, type of sugar (glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose), type of starch (amylose, amylopectin, resistant starch), amount and type of diet’s fiber, cooking and processing of nutrients.

Yağmur: Dietary fiber is recommended for diabetic patients at a feed rate of 20-35 g / day

Yağmur said that, high fiber diet has beneficial effects on insulin and blood glucose, soluble fiber (guar-pectin) enhances glucose control and β-glucagon slows down the digestion-absorption of carbohydrates and lipids. She also said that, “In general, soluble fiber reduces blood lipids and postprandial blood glucose more effectively than insoluble fiber” and stated that, fiber-rich foods have lower energy densities than refined ones and increase the saturation by creating a volume in the stomach, therefore increasing the usability of low-energy diets. Yağmur said that, dietary fiber is recommended for diabetic patients at a feed rate of 20-35 g / day. She also said that, consuming vegetable-fruit, bran (oats, wheat) or bran unbroken whole grain cereal products, dried legumes on a daily basis is recommended as a source of fiber according to the carbohydrate content of the diet and the blood glucose and lipid levels. Yağmur also emphasized the importance of monitoring carbohydrate intake in ensuring the glycemic control.

Pointing out the importance of fat type and amount of the diet in metabolic controlling and preventing complications, Yağmur said that, a rich diet of monounsaturated fats has a positive effect on insulin resistance. Yağmur said that “The studies show that, Wwhen compared a rich diet of polyunsaturated fats, a rich diet of monounsaturated fats reduces total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol,” and added that daily fat intake exceeding 30% of the energy is not recommended in diabetes. She also said that, since many type 2 diabetes patients have hypertension and dyslipidemia, saturated fat intake must be limited and energy from alcohol should be considered as an oil change in the treatment of diabetes.

Yağmur said that, “As a result; there is no single nutrition model of MNT that can be offered to the people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes” and added that the medical treatment of each person with diabetes is different and that a proposal which is healthy and suitable for one diabetic may not be suitable for the other. Yağmur finally stated that, before getting started with the MNT, nutritional habits of the individuals and their families, information regarding their diabetes, and their behaviors and beliefs should be evaluated and approaches and practices of different disciplines (doctor, dietician, nurse, and psychologist) should also be used.