Gaining Weight for People With Diabetes

Having weight in a healthy range can be good for health generally as well as especially if one has diabetes. For most people, what it means is that they must lose weight which can put severe restrictions on what they can eat. However, what is even harder is when a person is expected to gain weight healthily while having diabetes. There are several challenges in the way – one needs to eat carbohydrates to work out to keep one’s body in shape, and diabetes puts restrictions on the carbohydrates one can eat. That is because diabetes refers to unhealthy spikes in glucose in blood sugar. This article looks at some of the possible solutions to this problem.

The best way to gain weight when one has diabetes is by ensuring that one keeps the following considerations in mind:

Weight Gain Guide For Diabetes

1. Calories count

Firstly, one must eat more carbohydrates than one consumed on a normal day and must exercise to ensure that those calories are healthy. However, having diabetes means that you can only add only very limited amount of calories without carrying bad spikes in the blood. While the amount of calories matters, it is also crucial to check the source of calories, increasing to more than balanced carbohydrates might not be the best way of increasing calories.

2. Workout

The workouts you chose must also be those involving an inconsistent increase in heartbeats, thus they can not be stringent bursts of workout with rest in between as such workouts tend to increase glucose formation in the body.

3. Other nutrients

Though you are paying specific attention to your calorie intake, you must also have a balanced diet in general with all the desirable nutrients. People with diabetes need many vital nutrients to fight the disease well. Since most food items have some calories, it is crucial to ensure one doesn’t lack other nutrients first. Nuts, beans, nut butter, avocado, etc. are some examples of high-calorie food items that are also high in calories.

4. Saturated fats

Saturated fats can help gain weight without causing spikes in glucose. That is because these fats are saturated and thus not easily broken down. However, they also add to the cholesterol of a person, and thus anyone having heart disease or likely to have heart disease should avoid them. Dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, etc. are good examples of full-fat food items as long as they are not sweetened.

5. Avoid caffeine

Caffeine has a way of suppressing one’s diet and thus food items rich in caffeine should be avoided.

6. Avoid artificial sweeteners and chocolates

Many food items, especially drinks that have artificial sweeteners, must be avoided altogether. Chocolates too should be avoided as they add to calories without being nutritious.

7. Healthy unsaturated oils

Many food items have unsaturated oils, which can be a healthy way of adding calories to one’s diet. Some examples include homemade mayonnaise, greens, and vegetables with healthy oil. Adding oil-based dressing is a good way to add these unsaturated oils to the diet.

8. Glycemic index of food items

Adding food items with low Glycemic index to one’s diet can help add calories to one’s food without creating spikes in blood glucose levels.

Frequently Asked Questions

There are several questions relating to weight gain among people with diabetes. The following are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s) :

Question: What are some of the reasons a person may want to gain weight?

Answer: A person might be undernourished or underweight due to any number of reasons – stress, loss of appetite, poverty, previous health condition, etc.

Question: What is a healthy body weight range?

Answer: It depends on a person’s gender and height. It can easily be checked through BMI or Body Mass Index – an index that gives the range of healthy weights for people of different heights.

Question: What are some of the things that must be kept in mind while trying to gain weight as a person with diabetes?

Answer: The following precautions should be kept in mind if one has diabetes and is trying to gain weight:

• Avoid unsaturated food in case one has heart complications or is likely to develop them. Even in other cases, the ideal contribution of calories from saturated food is about 5 percent.
• The above information is generic and may not apply to a specific case.
• This article should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a medical practitioner. It is critical to get the approval of one’s medical practitioner before making changes to one’s diet.

If the reader has any other questions, they should feel free to ask them here.

The Bottom Line

One can easily wrap up the above discussion by concluding that it is possible to gain weight even if one has diabetes as long as one is disciplined and willing to follow the best diet.