Specific Nutritional Requirements Diabetes If you have diabetes your body: Cannot make or use insulin properly. (insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas) This leads to high blood glucose levels Healthy eating helps to reduce your blood sugar because controlling your blood sugar can prevent the complications of diabetes. There are two types of diabetes: i. insulin dependent where there is a severe lack of insulin which is treated by insulin injections and diet ii. type 2 diabetes or non insulin dependent which usually occurs in late life and can be treated with diet or diet and tablets Healthy eating for a diabetic includes Limiting sweets and sugary foods Eating often Being careful about when and how many carbohydrates you eat Eating starchy CHO such as potatoes, rice and pasta Eating lots of fibre and whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables Eating less fat Limiting your use of alcohol Sorbitol (artificial sweetener) can be used instead of sucrose and glucose KEY POINT People with diabetes do not need to follow a special diet they should follow normal healthy eating guidelines. 1
Allergies All allergies involve the immune system and are usually more serious than food intolerance. Symptoms of allergies are: Coughing dry throat nausea feeling bloated vomiting Wheezing running or a blocked nose sore red/itchy eyes Our body s immune system protects us from harmful substances but sometimes a person s body can react too strongly to a particular substance. This is what happens when a person becomes allergic to a substance. Babies are sometimes allergic to lactose, the sugar in cow s milk. Allergies to eggs, soya and certain artificial food colours, flavours or preservatives can cause reactions. Coeliacs gluten allergy Coeliac disease is intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, oats and is an autoimmune disease. Coeliacs cannot absorb nutrients if they eat gluten This causes malnutrition and anaemia Adults with coeliac disease often suffer from anemia, abdominal pain, weight loss and/or diarrhoea. There is no cure for coeliac disease. Coeliac can be treated by not eating foods that contain gluten Corn, rice and potatoes do not contain gluten There are now many different gluten free products available Products displaying this symbol have been licensed by and are safe to eat for those following a gluten free diet. Coeliac UK 2
Nut Allergy Some people have an anaphylactic reaction to nuts. Their whole body reacts immediately and severely, blood vessels start to leak and they have difficulty in breathing. They must be treated immediately with an adrenaline injection or they could die People with allergies to nuts must read all food labels carefully 3
Student task: State whether the following statements are correct by stating True or False Statement People with nut allergies can eat foods with nuts or traces of nuts in them True or False Coeliac disease is an intolerance to gluten Someone with a nut allergy must be treated immediately if they suffer an anaphylactic reaction All types of diabetes can be treated with insulin Task: Explain why it is important for people with special dietary needs to read labels? food 4
Fortification /Enrichment of foods the addition of nutrients to food There is a range of fortified foods in the UK. Some foods such as white and brown flours are enriched with calcium by law. Many are fortified voluntarily to promote foods which are associated with healthy lifestyles e.g. fruit juices, breakfast cereals Calcium enriched foods All flours are enriched with calcium Breakfast cereals are fortified with calcium and iron as well as fibre TVP when used for savoury products is fortified with iron and B vitamins to make it similar to meat Low fat spreads have Vitamins A and D added to make them similar to margarine and butter. Key Points Some foods are fortified by law Safety and technical considerations are considered when deciding which foods to fortify and to what level Fortified foods make an important contribution to diets in the UK 5
Student Task: Look at a variety of fortified food labels and complete the table. Discuss your findings with other students. Name of Product Ingredient added Function of the nutrient Why fortify 6