Diabetes is a disease that requires a comprehensive medical approach. It not only focuses on the control of blood sugar but the possible associated complications such as high blood pressure, dyslipidemia (disproportionate levels of cholesterol), and obesity.
To achieve the correct levels of sugar in the blood, three fundamental pillars must be implemented in a coordinated way: medical treatment, diet, and physical activity.
High Alert
Currently, on social networks, food plans are offered that claim to “cure diabetes”, so the College of Nutrition Professionals (CPN) warns the population not to be carried away by these statements, as an incorrect approach to this illness can have serious consequences.
According to Dr. Jose Guillermo Jiménez, a specialist in endocrinology and president of the National Association for the Study of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases “the approach has to be comprehensive, with the participation of several professionals who, in addition to the doctor, contribute to achieve control goals that are the well-being of the person with diabetes, eliminate symptoms, and reduce or prevent chronic complications and premature death. Also, the treatment of the diabetic should always contemplate some oral or injectable medication, or the combination of these agents.
According to the expert, nutritionists, psychologists, pharmacists, and people specialized in physical training must intervene, who, together with the doctor, is in charge of managing the person with diabetes.
Nutritionists are a fundamental complement
A nutritional plan is ideal to educate the patient about better eating habits and thus ensure that they self-manage their disease, obtaining an optimal balance of glucose in the blood, as long as it is a support for medical treatment, without nutritional intervention the patient will not have the same quality of life.
Dr. Daniel Gómez, representative of the CPN is emphatic in assuring that “it is false to affirm that food is the cure for diabetes, since by itself it cannot regenerate the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin, and we cannot find insulin in our food to function as a determining hormone in the body’s metabolic balance”.
“The consequences for patients who do not have a correct approach to this chronic disease, range from diabetic nephropathy (a complication in the kidneys), vision problems, diabetic ketoacidosis (a serious condition caused when the body begins to break down fat too quickly) and even death,” adds Dr. Gómez.
