I am diabetic patient but like to eat sweets potato and mutton. If I eat this this very less in a week that will be bad for me? Or it can be eat sometime please reply.

Question

Mr. Lybrate-user, if a person has diabetes then certain restrictions on food intake have to be followed. Hence, it is essential to avoid sweets, the reason is sweets contain mainly sugar plus trans fats. Sugar (glucose + fructose) being a simple carbohydrate raises blood glucose level rapidly leading to hyperglycemia. Again eating repeatedly also increases craving for sweets, in turn hyperglycemia and can lead to weight increase. Potato again is also a simple form of carbohydrate. It has very high glycemic index (85), meaning it is converted to glucose very rapidly. One medium baked potato gives approx 173 g of carb, it also can increase blood glucose fairly rapidly. But eating potato vegetable occasionally is ok. Mutton, particularly red meat is not good as it contains very high unhealthy fat. Hence lean meat is better. You can take it twice a week. But keep a track of total caloric intake. Eating a small piece of sweet once in a while is allowed, but should have excellent sugar control- fasting around 100 mg, pp 150 to 160 mg, hba1c%<6.8. If you have any doubts please do come back. Thanks for the question.

Prabhakar Laxman Jathar · Accepted Answer

Mr. Lybrate-user, if a person has diabetes then certain restrictions on food intake have to be followed. Hence, it is essential to avoid sweets, the reason is sweets contain mainly sugar plus trans fats. Sugar (glucose + fructose) being a simple carbohydrate raises blood glucose level rapidly leading to hyperglycemia. Again eating repeatedly also increases craving for sweets, in turn hyperglycemia and can lead to weight increase. Potato again is also a simple form of carbohydrate. It has very high glycemic index (85), meaning it is converted to glucose very rapidly. One medium baked potato gives approx 173 g of carb, it also can increase blood glucose fairly rapidly. But eating potato vegetable occasionally is ok. Mutton, particularly red meat is not good as it contains very high unhealthy fat. Hence lean meat is better. You can take it twice a week. But keep a track of total caloric intake. Eating a small piece of sweet once in a while is allowed, but should have excellent sugar control- fasting around 100 mg, pp 150 to 160 mg, hba1c%<6.8. If you have any doubts please do come back. Thanks for the question.

Ms. Deepa Nandy · Answer

Sweet potato is resistant starch and it is extremely good for a diabetic patient. Whenever you are doing this do not eat any rice or roti along with it. Preferably get a plan for nutrition so that you donot overdo your starches. Mutton is a good source of protein. So if you do lean mutton once a week it is perfectly fine.