People with diabetes are usually required to maintain a diet to keep blood sugar levels stable. Then, is fasting good for a person with diabetes?
The fact that a change in the pattern of eating while fasting can affect the body's metabolism, so it is quite risky to cause complications in diabetics.
However, these risks can actually be overcome and prevented by paying attention to a number of conditions. For more details, let's look at the rules for how to fast for diabetic patients safely in the following article!
Can People with Diabetes Do Fasting?
Diabetes is a disease caused by the amount of sugar in the blood exceeding normal limits. This can happen when the blood sugar level is high but is not used by the body optimally.
So, with this condition, can people with diabetes do fasting? The answer is that whether or not diabetic patients can fast depends on their condition.
For more details, here is a description of the conditions of diabetic patients who are allowed and not recommended to fast.
1. Allowed to Fast
First, fasting for diabetic patients is allowed if their blood sugar is controlled, in a healthy state, and has an HbA1C level of less than 7 percent. With these conditions, diabetes fall into the category of patients who have a low risk of fasting.
2. Allowed Not to Fast
Furthermore, patients are allowed not to fast when their health condition is at high risk. Usually, patients with high risk are over 75 years old and have pre-fasting blood sugar levels at 150-300 mg/dl.
In addition, the patient also have HbA1C levels of 9-10%, microvascular or macrovascular complications.
3. Not Recommended for Fasting
Lastly, fasting for diabetic patients is not recommended if it has a very high risk. Some conditions that have a high risk are as follows:
- Pre-fasting blood sugar levels of more than 300 mg/dl.
- Pregnant.
- Currently undergoing dialysis.
- HbA1C levels of more than 10%.
- Experienced hypoglycemia in the last 3 months.
- Have dementia.
Is Fasting Good For Diabetes Patients?
Is fasting good for people with diabetes? Fasting for diabetic patients must be considered so as not to endanger health. Therefore, there are many rules that must be followed by the patient if they want to fast.
However, fasting for people with diabetes turns out to have a lot of benefits. Some of the benefits of fasting for diabetes are as follows:
- Can lower blood pressure because the body reduces the process of producing the adrenaline hormone when fasting.
- Lower cholesterol.
- Stabilize glucose levels in the body because eating during fasting is more regular. In addition, fasting can also help the body to regulate insulin accumulation.
- Can reduce insulin dosage. A study shows that people with type 1 diabetes can successfully fast and reduce their insulin doses.
- Can maintain liver health. Generally, some of the glucose in the body will be stored in the liver into glycogen (energy reserves). If there is no food coming in for a long time, the body will burn fat to produce energy. During this process, the body rests the liver and pancreas.
- It can boost the immune system. This is because the body can renew damaged immune cells while fasting.
Fasting Tips for People with Diabetes
Since diabetes is a chronic disease, people with diabetes must prepare themselves well before fasting.
Do not let diabetic patients have a lack of blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or even exceed 300 mg/dl. In addition, they also need to do some fasting tips to be safe for their health. The ways to fast for diabetics person are as follows:
1. Check Blood Sugar Periodically
In line with the previous explanation, fasting for people with diabetes is permitted if blood sugar levels do not spike too high.
Therefore, always check your blood sugar regularly while fasting. You can check your blood sugar after suhoor, during the day, and after iftar.
Make sure the level is not less than 70 mg/dl and below 300 mg/dl. If the blood sugar is less or more than this amount, you should immediately cancel the fast.
2. Don't Skip Suhoor
Make sure not to skip suhoor, as this is when your body gets the food that will be converted into energy. For this reason, always consume nutritious foods that contain carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins.
3. Follow the Doctor's Instructions
Before fasting, people with diabetes should consult their doctor at least 2 months in advance to make sure whether they can fast or not.
In addition to checking your body condition, your doctor will usually adjust the timing of your medication during fasting. If so, make sure to always follow your doctor's instructions and take your medication regularly.
4. Keep Having 3 Meals in a Day
To maintain blood sugar levels, you should eat 3 times a day, where breakfast is replaced with a suhoor meal.
Then lunch is replaced with iftar and dinner is done after tarawih prayer. During suhoor, diabetic patients are advised to eat close to the imsak time, while breaking the fast is recommended as soon as possible.
5. Eat in Moderation
The next way to fast for diabetic patients is to eat in moderation. You need to limit the portion of food both at suhoor and iftar so as not to overdo it.
In connection with that, you can divide the portion of food by 50 percent at suhoor, 40 percent when breaking the fast, and 10 percent at dinner or after tarawih. This is intended to avoid drastic spikes in blood sugar that can harm your health.
6. Limit High-Sugar and Oily Foods
In addition to managing portions, the fasting method for diabetics is to limit the consumption of foods high in sugar and oil. This is because eating a lot of sweet foods will disrupt blood sugar levels in the body of diabetics.
Furthermore, eating fried foods or foods that are too oily causes fat accumulation in the body. This accumulation then triggers an increase in blood sugar.
7. Increase Foods High in Fiber
In order to make fasting for diabetic patients safe, it is recommended to eat foods that contain high fiber at dawn and break the fast.
This is because fibers, especially soluble fibers, can slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, thus helping the body to reduce the need for insulin.
In addition, soluble fiber is also known to prevent blood sugar from rising dramatically suddenly. Additionally, eating foods that are high in fiber will make you feel fuller for a longer period of time.
8. Drink Enough Water
Apart from paying attention to food intake, you also need to pay attention to the body's fluid needs during fasting.
Therefore, make sure to drink enough water about 8 glasses a day to avoid dehydration. Always provide AQUA FIRST to fulfill the need for drinking water.
You can follow the rules of drinking water during fasting, which are 2 glasses at suhoor, 2 glasses when breaking the fast, and 4 glasses at night before going to bed.
9. Exercise Regularly
During fasting, the body is recommended to stay active, such as doing gentle exercise so that the body does not become weak. This also applies to people with diabetes. Try to always do regular exercise to keep your body fit during fasting.
However, keep in mind that you need to avoid excessive exercise so as not to experience hypoglycemia.
Thus the explanation of the benefits to fasting tips for people with diabetes so as not to endanger their health. From this explanation, it is known that patients must pay attention to their health conditions during fasting.
If you feel dizzy, weak, blurred vision, or cold sweat, you are advised to end the fast immediately. To avoid these conditions, you can do some fasting tips for diabetics, one of which is drinking enough water.
In relation to that, AQUA FIRST. You can provide AQUA Galon 19 liters at home to meet your fluid needs during fasting.
AQUA is pure mountain water taken directly from the source. There is no need to doubt its purity because the process is carried out without being touched by human hands.
So, make sure to #AQUADULU from breakfasting to suhoor to avoid dehydration for diabetics. Created by nature, 100% PURE mineral water for the Ramadan.
