Food gives you energy, the fuel for your body. The amount of energy in certain food products is represented in calories or kilojoules and is mentioned as Kcal/g or kJ/g on the product information label. Calories are usually seen as "bad", but we need them - calories give the body fuel. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are the three most important nutrients that give us calories.

How many calories do you need?

Your diabetes is not the only influence on how many calories you need per day. It depends on many things, like height, weight and if you are growing or not. If you do heavy work or have a tight exercise program, you will need more calories. So you will have to eat more. Comparatively women need fewer calories than men.

Counting calories

A rule of thumb is that for every pound of body weight you need 10 calories a day. If you weigh 75 kilo, you need to take 1500 calories a day. Men need a bit more and usually start with a 2000 calorie per day diet.

Of course you should consider how you feel with that and you should see what happens with your weight to judge if you need more or less calories.

If you want to weigh less you have to target a realistic goal and to calculate the amount of calories that fit it. If you want to weigh only 60 kilo, you can use only 1200 calories a day. Here you should watch your intake of fat and alcohol. As they are both rich in calories, drinking is actually eating more and fatty foods are definitely not the way to a balanced diet.

To gain weight

It is important for everyone that has diabetes to keep a healthy weight. If your blood sugar level is under control, you will gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn. The extra calories will be stored as fat. Overweight can influence the effect of insulin in the body and worsen its functionality. In such a case less glucose is being absorbed in the cells, and that has a more serious effect if the body produces less insulin or if the insulin doesn't work properly, like in someone with diabetes. Try to limit or prevent gaining weight.

Overweight increases the chances of developing diabetes in an elderly age (from 65 and up).

To lose weight

It is known that in people with diabetes and overweight the blood glucose can drop if they lose weight. Reaching a good body weight is sometimes even enough to get the blood sugar level normal again. If you have trouble keeping your desired weight, not eating properly can be the cause of it.

But loss of weight can also be a sign that your blood sugar level is not under control. If your blood sugar level is often too high, you lose a lot of calories like sugar in the urine. You will also loose muscle mass and because of it you feel weak and tired. In a situation like that your doctor would sooner advise you to raise your dosage of insulin than to eat more.

Always remember that unwanted weight loss can also be a sign of a serious illness. Especially if you lost your appetite and you feel nauseous all the time.