[송대욱 박사의 당뇨엔 진심 (13)] Principle of healthy eating for diabetic patients, “Eat side dishes like rice, rice as side dishes”

[뉴스투데이=송대욱 전문기자] The biggest concern for people with diabetes is how to eat. This is because if you eat with your mind, your blood sugar will rise and if you eat too little, you will lose energy. Also, I don’t know if everything I eat is good or bad for diabetes, so I pay attention every time I eat something new.

This is because everyone thinks that the cause of diabetes has so far been the wrong diet. So, you have to change your way of thinking. It is practicing “Eating side dishes like rice and rice like side dishes”. If you reverse the diet that was the cause of diabetes, the diet will improve diabetes.

In the case of type 2 diabetes, which becomes obese, the cause is obesity, the accumulation of visceral fat and insulin resistance, resulting in increased blood sugar levels. In order to reduce high blood sugar, the level of insulin in the blood also increases, which causes other complications. Insulin secretion is strongly influenced by sugar consumed orally, so diet is important.

When you lose weight by eating fewer carbohydrates than you need each day, you have the ability to store carbohydrates, making it easier to control your blood sugar. Simple sugars or refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar to rise rapidly, thus promoting insulin secretion and repeating the vicious cycle of gaining weight with insulin, increased insulin resistance and higher blood sugar levels. The dietary principle for diabetic patients that can break this vicious circle is “Eat side dishes like rice and rice as side dishes”.

When we have a regular meal, we put a large spoonful of rice to fill the hungry stomach and put the garnish in the mouth. And when you eat rice, you eat side dishes. Hence, Korean food is a high carbohydrate diet. Whole meals eaten in Korean food and fermented foods like kimchi and soy noodles are said to be healthy foods. However, there are conditions for such a meal to become a healthy diet. There must be movement of the body that consumes carbohydrates.

It was okay to eat this high carbohydrate content when I was doing so much physical work. Things have changed a lot now, so eating like this will cause you to gain weight and get diabetes. Also, the westernized diet increases meat and fat intake, which leads to obesity, which is why diabetes is more common. A major cause of diabetes in Korea is that the body doesn’t move as much as it is said to be a tradition from the past that everyone lived like this in the old days.

It is not a desirable way to add foods that are good for diabetes while keeping the current diet in the dietary principle of diabetic patients. There is a problem with continuing to eat after the hyperglycemia has occurred before the blood sugar rises. Some patients say, “I take diabetes medicine to eat while I eat.” This corresponds to people who have no knowledge and information about diabetes and have a habit of not thinking deeply. Even if you are taking diabetes medications, it is natural to change your diet, which is the cause of diabetes. This is because diabetes medications can control blood sugar and treat diabetes with diet.

◀ Song Daewook Profile ▶ Kyung Hee Graduate School of Korean Medicine Doctor of Oriental Medicine / Director of the Deoksoo Oriental Medicine Clinic / Director of the Clinic Research Institute / Professor MBTI / Developer of Constitutional Test Strips SnCi Sasang / Full Member of the Sasang Medical Association / Full Member of the Korean Fermentation and Detoxification Society / Executive Director of the Seongjeong Philosophy Association