Summer ice cream is refreshing and easy for diabetics to enjoy

Can diabetics eat ice? In the hot summer, a bowl of refreshing shaved ice is the most seasonal snack to cool down. However, commercially available shaved ice often contains a lot of sugar water, which makes diabetic patients dare not eat it without worry. Nutritionists recommend choosing low-sugar, low-calorie ingredients such as agar-agar and mountain tapioca pearls, and controlling sugar intake so that diabetic patients can also cool down in the "summer".

Huang Jinhuan, a nutritionist at Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, pointed out that the nutrition consultation clinic has recently found that more than 20% of diabetic patients who usually have good blood sugar control have experienced unstable blood sugar levels; and those who usually have poor blood sugar control have even worse blood sugar levels. After questioning, it was found that most patients said that because of the hot weather, they often eat ice cream to cool off, or drink a lot of yam water, but they didn't expect that this would affect blood sugar control.

Eat ice to cool off, be careful of high blood sugar

Although everyone loves to eat ice to cool off in the hot summer, for diabetic patients, if they are not careful, they will consume too much sugar. Especially the green beans, red beans, coix seeds and other ingredients commonly found in ice products. Just 2 spoons of disposable spoons are equivalent to 1/4 bowl of rice. If you still have three normal meals on that day, it is easy to cause excessive sugar intake for the day. If you add the various sugar waters and syrups used in the flavoring of ice products, it is difficult not to soar blood sugar.

Since ice cream contains starch and added sugar or fructose, syrup will affect blood sugar levels. In particular, when diabetic patients consume the same amount of sugar, their blood sugar levels 2 hours after the meal will be significantly higher than those of ordinary people. If the glycated hemoglobin (A1C) is well controlled at 6.5% to 6.0%, the blood sugar level before meals is close to the normal level of less than 100 mg/100 ml. Two hours after eating a bowl of ice, the blood sugar level will rise to about 140 to 160 mg/100 ml. This should not be underestimated.

Nutritionist Huang Jinhuan analyzed that some people think that as long as there is no sugar or low sugar content, it is fine, but in fact sugar may be added during the manufacturing and preparation process. For example, the ingredients in shaved ice may have been boiled in syrup in advance. Therefore, instead of succumbing to the temptation of commercially available ice products, it is better to make your own ice products, which can take into account hygiene and health, and blood sugar can also be controlled.

Calculate portion sizes to lower blood sugar levels

Diabetic patients are reminded to calculate the amount before eating ice cream and control the sugar content to around 15 grams. If they feel hungry or have high blood sugar, in addition to finding out the cause of high blood sugar, they can choose light ice cream with low-calorie ingredients such as mountain tapioca pearls, agar-agar, and grass jelly, or 100 grams of vegetables with cool Japanese sauce, which will give them a sense of fullness without affecting their blood sugar.

If your blood sugar is well controlled, you can choose light ice with about 150 to 200 grams of seasonal pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe and other fruits within your personal allowable portion, which is about 80% full of a rice bowl, or light ice with 50 grams of cooked rice cake, sweet potato, rice cake, mung bean, tapioca pearls, coix seed and other staple foods, which is about 1/4 of a rice bowl. You can also choose agar noodles or 40 grams of vermicelli, add 100 grams of vegetables, and then drizzle with Japanese sauce to make a refreshing salad, which can be delicious and healthy.

Hygienic alternative to ice cream with tea

At the same time, please remember to use boiled cold water when making clear ice and pay attention to the hygiene of the ice products. If you want to prepare ice cream with different flavors, you can choose to brew fragrant tea, refreshing mint, and other floral aromas to add flavor, and then store and freeze it to make a more natural ice product. In short, diabetics must remember the total amount of sugar they can consume each day and choose low-calorie ice products to satisfy their taste buds, which can also relieve the heat.

[Nutritionist’s Intimate Reminder]:

In addition to controlling blood sugar, diabetic patients should also be aware of their sugar intake, drink in moderation within a safe range, and maintain good interaction with their doctors. Diabetic patients can also happily eat ice cream and stay cool all summer.