Diet alteration is one of the very first targets after receiving a diabetes diagnosis. Not all cases of Type 2 diabetes are entirely due to diet, but a vast majority of them are rooted in some amount of dietary deficiency or error, and altering your diet is usually one of the first recommendations offered by your treatment team.

Diabetes and Diet

To efficiently and safely manage your diabetes, you must be able to keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range. An average joe accomplishes this feat without much thought or effort, as the human body is designed to regulate blood sugar regardless of diet. A diabetic, however, have to pay closer attention and exert a little more control in the effort to keep glucose levels healthy.

Your diet, then, plays a huge role in your condition and can be the determining factor in whether or not your particular case of diabetes is considered under control or brittle. That being said, living a life of perpetual restriction can prove problematic by creating undue stress and increasing stress-related complications.

Indulging Without Guilt

The healthy balance in the body of a diabetic lies not in constant restriction and punishment, but in knowing how to walk the line of having an indulgence without veering over into going on a binge. The very nature of an indulgence is that it is an uncommon occurrence, rather than an everyday one. The key to indulging is choosing the best and savoring every morsel.

A diabetic individual cannot and should not consume a rich dessert with every meal, nor should they drown every cut of meat in a vat of butter and fat. If you set aside a single meal per week, however, to indulge your sweet tooth or your love for fatty foods, your body will not break down, and your health will not go down the drain.

The key, here, is to place a heavy emphasis on treating your meal as a treat, rather than a daily expectation.

Staying Safe with Indulgences

That being said, when you do allow yourself a rich dessert or a series of fried foods, make sure you monitor your blood sugar levels and your overall experience. If you consistently experience dramatic highs after your dessert, or you experience nausea after each indulgent meal, your indulgence may have turned into a binge. Eat a single burger instead of a plate full, or cut your brownie lava cake in half and share it with a friend.

Indulging your desire for heavy foods is not a danger to your health, but not being able to recognize your body’s signals and communication is. Indulge without guilt, but do so safely and carefully.