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(A) Diabetes Patients
Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease caused by the malfunctioning of insulin receptors or inadequate secretion of insulin, leading to high blood glucose level as a result. Though it cannot be cured, patients can still lead a normal life with the help of drugs and suitable adjustment of diet.
Principles of a Diabetes Diet:
1. Regular intake of a constant amount of food
- Ingest a constant amount of food regularly to prevent fullness or starvation, and to keep blood glucose level stable.
2. Maintaining a balanced and diversified diet
- Eat a diversity and right amounts of grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products, while reducing the intake of food with high levels of fat, sugar or salt.
3. Eating more foods with high dietary fibre content
- High dietary fibre intake can stabilize blood glucose level because dietary fibre can prolong the time needed for the body to absorb carbohydrates, thus reducing the demand for insulin.
4. Choosing healthy cooking methods
- Choose light cooking methods according to the principles of low fat, low salt and low sugar.
- Avoid eating fried food; instead, choose steamed, boiled, stewed and baked foods.
- Before cooking meat or poultry, remove the fat and skin to reduce fat intake.
- Use more natural seasonings such as ginger, scallion, garlic, pepper, etc. Avoid using large amounts of sugar-containing seasonings, such as sugar, seafood sauce, tomato sauce, etc.
- Cornstarch is carbohydrate, so reduce the usage of cornstarch for making sauces during cooking.
5. Eat an appropriate amount of carbohydrates
- Carbohydrates in foods, including starch, fructose and lactose, affect blood glucose level, so they should be suitably distributed in everyday diet to maintain a stable blood glucose level.
- Fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and dietary fibre, and are necessary in a balanced diet. Patients can eat 2 portions of fruit every day.
- Patients can use the principle of ‘carbohydrate exchange’ to prevent the over-consumption of carbohydrates, thus controlling blood glucose level. For instance, after eating foods with high carbohydrate content (such as sweet potatos and red beans), according to the table of ‘carbohydrates exchange’, the patient should eat less rice. Patients can consult the doctor if they have any questions concerning ‘carbohydrate exchange’.
6. Adopting a suitable diet
- The amount and types of nutrients required vary among individuals, so patients should seek advice from medical staff rather than following the diets of other patients. Overweight patients should reduce food intake and do more exercise according to doctors’ instructions to control body weight.
(B) Patients with Coronary Disease
Coronary artery is a blood vessel running around the heart and is responsible for supplying blood to heart tissues. All diseases caused by the narrowing of coronary arteries are known as coronary diseases. Patients should maintain a balanced diet and reduce cholesterol intake to prevent the excess deposit of cholesterol on vessel walls, which can lead to hardening or blockage of blood vessels.
Principle of diet for patients with coronary disease:
- Control energy input to maintain a desirable body weight.
- Maintain a balanced diet and reduce cholesterol intake to prevent the excess deposit of cholesterol on vessel walls, which can lead to hardening or blockage of blood vessels.
- Patients should keep their daily diet light and low in salt. This is especially important for patients with hypertension; they should keep their salt intake below 5 grams per day.
- Patients should increase the intake of dietary fibre. Dietary fibre can adsorb cholesterol and prevent its uptake by the body, and enhance the egestion of cholic acid in faeces, thus reducing the formation of cholesterol in the body and lowering blood cholesterol level.
- Eat small amounts of food frequently instead of eating large amounts of food all at once, and do not eat too much for dinner to prevent the occurrence of acute myocardial infarction.
- Patients must not drink hard liquor. Alcohol increases heart beat rate and may increase hypoxia of cardiac muscles, so patients should not drink.
(C) Patients with Renal Disease
The ability of patients with renal disease to adjust and excrete electrolytes in blood will deteriorate gradually, so electrolytes accumulate in the body easily, raising the electrolyte content in blood and thus causing a variety of diseases. The amount and limits of food intake in patients with renal disease are subject to adjustments according to the seriousness of the disease, treatment method or side effects of drugs; while water intake will be adjusted according to the patient’s condition, treatment and degree of edema.
Principles of diet for patients with renal disease
Intake of sodium, potassium and phosphorus)
| Electrolytes |
Signs Caused by Renal Disease |
Major Food Sources |
| Sodium |
An excess of sodium in blood will lead to hypertension and edema |
Food with high salt content, soy sauce, preserved food such as preserved vegetables, processed food such as sausages and luncheon meat, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and artificial flavorings, dim sum in restaurants, snacks, etc. |
| Potassium |
Both too high or too low a blood potassium level will lead to irregular heart rhythm and heart failure |
Dark green vegetables such as spinach, fruits such as banana, durian and guava, dried fruits, fungi, stem tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, chestnut, taro, etc. |
| Phosphorus |
An excess of blood phosphorus will affect calcium uptake and lead to osteoporosis |
Foods rich in protein: wholegrains, dried fruits, hard-shelled nuts, fungi, peas, internal organs, fatty fish, dairy products, chocolate and cocoa drinks, stew items, etc. |
Intake of protein
| State of illness |
Protein Intake |
Reasons |
| Early-stage renal failure |
Restricted |
Low protein diet is adopted to prevent the accumulation of toxic waste such as urea from protein metabolism |
| Intermittent peritoneal dialysis (IPD) |
Less Restricted |
Toxic waste in the body, such as urea, can be removed in the dialysis fluid, yet some proteins may also be lost in the process, thus protein intake being less restricted. |
| Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) |
Increased |
More proteins will be lost along with the dialysis fluid, so low plasma protein level easily arises. Therefore, protein intake needs to be increased. |
| Haemodialysis |
Increased Slightly |
A small amount of amino acids will be removed alongside metabolic waste. As amino acids are the main components of human proteins, increased protein intake in diet is needed to replace the amount lost. |
| Post kidney transplant |
Increased |
Normal renal function has just been restored, and increased protein intake can enhance the healing of surgical wound. |
Limitations to fluid intake
- When edema is obvious, apart from sodium intake, fluid intake also has to be limited to about 0.5-1 litre.
- Patients should avoid drinking tea, coffee or alcohol.
* If patient is diabetic as well, besides paying attention to the abovementioned points, he should also evenly distribute carbohydrate and sugar intake, such as grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes and fruits, in his diet, eat according to the principle of eating constant amount of food regularly, and avoid sugary foods and beverages.
General Diet
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