The most popular fruit in summer is watermelon. Watermelon is sweet and juicy, rich in vitamins and minerals. In the eyes of watermelon lovers, watermelon can be described as an oasis in the desert and a life-saving artifact in summer. But when diabetics face watermelons, they are very entangled.
I saw a news item before that a diabetic patient ate a few more slices of watermelon after a meal and had symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. I thought it was improper preservation of watermelon, too much bacterial breeding, caused by intestinal diseases, but unexpectedly it was an acute complication of diabetes "diabetic ketoacidosis".
So does watermelon have a big impact on blood sugar? Can diabetics eat watermelon? Does watermelon really cause ketoacidosis? Next, I will analyze it for you.
Is watermelon a high-liter sugar fruit?
In general, when judging whether a food is a high-glycemic food, the GI value of the food will be looked at. The so-called GI is the glycemic production index, which is an indicator of the degree to which the body's blood sugar rises caused by food. Watermelon has a GI of 72, which is a high-GI food.
So through the GI of watermelon, can we judge that watermelon is a high-glycemic food? In fact, it is not accurate to use only the GI value as a judgment on whether a certain food is a high-glycemic food. Because the so-called GI is a percentage value of the level of blood glucose response in the body by quantifying carbohydrate foods with the same amount of glucose at a certain time. This means that GI is affected by the carbohydrate content of the food.
Here, another concept " GL " is introduced , which is "glycemic load" . The product of GI and carbohydrates per 100 grams of food is used to determine whether such food is a high-glycemic load food. Higher than 20 is a high GL food, between 10-20 is a medium GL food, and below 10 is a low GL food. The level of GL value is affected by the carbohydrate content and weight of the food.
According to the Chinese Food Ingredient List, the carbohydrate content of watermelon is between 5.7-8.1. Taking a watermelon with the highest sugar content as an example, if the sugar content per 100 grams of watermelon is set to 8.1 grams, the GL value of this watermelon of 100 grams is 5.83, which is a low GL food. But when ingesting 200 grams of watermelon, the GL value soared to 11.66, entering the ranks of medium GL food.
Therefore, although the GI value of watermelon is high, it is completely fine for diabetics to consume about 150 grams of watermelon per day.
Although it has been listed with data that diabetics eating a small amount of watermelon has little effect on blood sugar, there are still some patients who have doubts. Watermelon is so sweet, how can it have little effect on blood sugar? So, next, I will analyze why watermelon is so sweet.
Why is watermelon so sweet?
The main ingredient of watermelon is water, up to 90%, followed by sugar, protein, fat and some minerals. The content of sugar in watermelon is generally in the range of 6%-12%. Compared with common fruits, such as apples (sugar content of 15%-30%), pears (sugar content of 8%-12%), peaches (sugar content of 8%-10%), etc., the sugar content of watermelon is relatively low.
So why does watermelon taste so sweet? This starts with the sugar composition in watermelon. In the process of growth and development of watermelon, there are three main sugars: sucrose, fructose, and glucose.
In the young fruits of watermelon, it will contain a small amount of starch, but the main body is glucose. As the watermelon fruit continues to grow, a large amount of soluble sugar accumulates in the fruit, and glucose is gradually converted into fructose. At the same time, sucrose began to appear in the fruit of watermelon. In the process of fruit ripening, the content of fructose and glucose gradually decreases, and the content of sucrose also gradually increases. When the fruit grows for about forty days, the highest sugar content in watermelon is sucrose, followed by fructose, and then glucose.
The soluble sugar component in watermelon is also influenced by the watermelon variety. Early ripening varieties of watermelon fruit, the main soluble sugars are glucose and fructose; In the fruits of watermelons of medium- and late-ripening varieties, the main soluble sugars are mainly sucrose.
The sweetness of fructose, sucrose, and glucose is different. Of the three sugars, fructose is the sweetest. If we assume that the sweetness of sucrose is 100, the sweetness of fructose can reach 180, and the sweetness of glucose is only 53. According to relevant studies, watermelons have the highest sugar content and the greatest sweetness at this time when the watermelon is about 23 days after flowering (when the fruit is ripe). But about 18 days after the watermelon flower, the sweetness has reached 98%.
Most watermelons are not fully mature when they are sold to the market, and although the sugar content of watermelon has not accumulated to the maximum value, the fructose component in the watermelon is already very high, and the impact on the sweetness of the watermelon is also very large. Therefore, although watermelon is very sweet to eat, the actual sugar content is relatively low.
After understanding the sugar content and GL value of watermelon, some patients asked, since watermelon has little effect on blood sugar, why do diabetics have ketoacidosis because of eating watermelon? Is the marketing number alarmist?
Can eating watermelon cause ketoacidosis?
Diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute complication of diabetes. The main cause of this complication is insulin deficiency and inappropriate elevation of glycosteroids caused by disorders of sugar, fat and protein metabolism, resulting in imbalances in the balance of water, electrolytes and acid-base in the human body. Ketoacidosis is clinically characterized by hyperglycemia, hyperketones, and metabolic acidosis.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, some people eat watermelon caused by ketoacidosis. It can only be said that eating watermelon may cause ketoacidosis, but there is no absolute causal relationship between the two. Like the diabetic ketoacidosis in the case, the few more slices of watermelon he eats are more like the last straw that overwhelms the camel. Since in the case, there was no other food that the patient ingested besides watermelon, it was impossible to make a clearer judgment as to what precipitated ketoacidosis.
In the previous discussion on whether watermelon is a high-glycemic food, it is known that the GL value per 100 grams of watermelon is 5.83, and the recommended consumption amount is 150 grams per day. 150 grams for watermelon, that's the weight of two small pieces. The patient's watermelon intake in the case was clearly beyond the recommended daily intake.
As an acute complication of diabetes, ketoacidosis threatens the safety of patients when severe. Early diagnosis and early treatment can effectively improve the rescue success rate of ketoacidosis. This is followed by a brief introduction to the early symptoms of ketoacidosis, which is a must-remember point for the patient and his or her family.
In the early stages, ketoacidosis occurs with extreme irritability, thirst, and polyuritization, and is accompanied by significant dehydration, and patients have weakness of the limbs, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. Some patients experience abdominal pain, some similar to surgical acute abdomen, but without abdominal muscle tension, and only pain when pressing the abdomen, accompanied by headache. Some patients experience mental malaise and delirium.
Through the above introduction, it can be clearly understood that diabetics can eat watermelon. So how can diabetics eat watermelon correctly and healthily?
How should diabetics eat watermelon?
The watermelon is very delicious and is a summer artifact. Diabetics can properly ingest watermelon, but when eating watermelon, we must pay attention to the following three points.
First, it is necessary to look at your own blood sugar control.
The diet of diabetics is an extremely important point in the regimen of controlling blood sugar. Diabetics should eat daily, have a certain plan, and adjust it in a timely manner according to their blood sugar control. When diabetics want to eat watermelon, they can first check their blood sugar control. Only when blood sugar control is good and relatively stable, you can eat a small amount of watermelon.
The following set of data provides a reference for sugar friends. Fasting blood glucose < 7.8 mmol/L, postprandial blood glucose < 10 mmol/L, glycosylated hemoglobin < 7.5%. Such data can be regarded as good blood sugar control, and it is possible to eat a moderate amount of watermelon at this time.
Second, we must control the amount.
According to the medical community's research on diabetic diet, doctors recommend that the total intake of fruit in a day for diabetic patients should not exceed 200 grams, and if they eat fruit on the same day, they need to subtract the same amount of staple food to ensure the calorie balance of the whole day diet. The daily amount of watermelon for diabetics should be controlled at about 150 grams, and the maximum should not exceed 170 grams.
The third is to pay attention to the time of eating watermelon.
Although the sugar content and GL value of watermelon are not high, the glycemic index is still relatively high. Even if diabetics can eat small amounts, it is still necessary to choose an appropriate time to eat watermelon. After a meal, blood sugar will rise slightly, and eating fruit at this time will make blood sugar rise faster, which is not conducive to blood sugar control. Generally speaking, 10-11 o'clock in the morning and 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon is a more suitable time period for eating melon. At this time, the blood sugar has basically calmed down, and you can eat a small amount of watermelon to relieve hunger.
summary
In the hot summer, a piece of cold watermelon is the most relieving. Diabetics can control according to the blood sugar control situation, good control, you can eat in moderation, 150 grams a day can be, not greedy. At the same time, you also need to pay attention to the time period of eating watermelon, and choose the right time to eat.
#健康真知计划 #
bibliography
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