[Medical Q&A] What should diabetic patients pay attention to when dining out?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Wu Xueyan, Chief Physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Dietary control is very important for diabetic patients. Therefore, it is recommended that patients eat at home as much as possible so that they can better control the proportion of oil, salt, and meat and vegetables. If you need to eat out, you should pay attention to the following points.

1. Pay attention to the choice of dishes: Try to choose dishes that are conducive to blood sugar control, that is, dishes with less oil and salt, and mainly cooked by steaming, boiling, stir-frying, braising, stewing, and cold salad. The staple food should be coarse and fine, such as eating white rice and white flour with potatoes, taro, yam, sweet potato, pumpkin and other coarse grains. For diabetic patients with poor blood sugar control, it is recommended not to eat fruit temporarily. If blood sugar control is relatively stable, you can selectively eat some fruits with a low glycemic index, such as watermelon, strawberry, kiwi, apple, orange, etc.; do not eat fruits with a high glycemic index such as pineapple, longan, lychee. Try not to eat or eat less fried or pan-fried food. In addition, pay attention to avoid the intake of beverages and desserts.

2. Plan your meal times: Diabetic patients use different hypoglycemic drugs, and some need to be taken before meals. Therefore, meal times should be planned in advance to ensure that medication matches meal times, which helps stabilize blood sugar.

3. Increase the amount of exercise: After eating out, you can increase the amount of exercise appropriately. If the place where you eat is not far from home, you can choose to walk home; or you can play some games after the meal to burn off excess calories.

4. Preparation before meals: You can eat a small amount of low-glycemic index foods before meals, such as oats, beans, milk, yogurt, etc., to increase satiety and avoid overeating.

By planning their diet and lifestyle properly, diabetic patients can better control their blood sugar and reduce the risk of complications.