What milk is good for diabetic people?

Diabetes can increase a person's risk of fractures and osteoporosis. For this reason, calcium-rich foods such as milk are needed by people with diabetes mellitus to keep bones strong and protect them from osteoporosis. However, milk doesn't just contain calcium. Other components contained in milk can affect the health conditions of diabetics. So, can milk be consumed for diabetics?

Benefits and dangers of milk for diabetics

According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal, people who have diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes, tend to have low bone density. This condition is associated with the body's inability to produce insulin.

In addition, diabetics also have a high risk of fractures. This is because diabetics generally have vision problems and nerve damage which increases the risk of falls and fractures. In addition, an unhealthy lifestyle that causes type 2 diabetes can also interfere with bone health.

Therefore, consuming milk that contains high calcium can help diabetics to keep their bones strong.

How is the effect of sugar content in milk?

Apart from containing calcium, milk is also rich in protein, fat and carbohydrates as well. The carbohydrate in milk that affects blood sugar is lactose. Lactose is a natural sugar that makes milk taste sweet. The lactose content in milk can reach 40% of the total calories in milk.

In your body, there is an enzyme called lactase which converts lactose into glucose and galactose. However, the process of converting lactose into glucose takes longer than other types of carbohydrates. Therefore, milk is classified as having a low glycemic index (GI), which is around 39.

This means that your blood sugar will rise longer if you consume milk compared to other carbohydrate sources that have a higher GI value.

Even so, the American Diabetes Association still recommends that diabetics regulate their daily carbohydrate intake to control blood sugar levels. This makes the consumption of milk for diabetes should be limited.

The recommended daily intake of carbohydrates for diabetics is 15-30 grams in one meal. Well, in one glass of milk contains at least 12 grams of carbohydrates. This is the equivalent of one meal of carbohydrate needs.

If you want to stick with milk, adjust your carbohydrate portions at one time.

Determine the type of milk suitable for diabetes

Choosing certain types of milk can also be done so that diabetics can still get the benefits of calcium from milk without worrying that milk can increase blood sugar levels.

Milk that is high in carbohydrates, sugar and fat is one type of milk that needs to be avoided. However, the best type of milk for diabetics is almond milk or milk flax seed.

Both almond milk and flax seed has a low carbohydrate content (about 1-2 grams in one glass of milk). This makes the two types of milk not make blood sugar levels spike as fast as drinking cow's milk. Moreover, many almond milk products have a higher calcium content.

Replace cow's milk with almond milk or milk flax seed it is even recommended for diabetics who need to reduce more carbohydrate intake.

Meanwhile, low-fat milk is indeed good for diabetics who need to lose weight. However, low or nonfat milk still has the same high carbohydrate content as regular cow's milk.

Consuming low-fat milk can still affect the increase in blood sugar levels. If you want to consume low-fat milk, you still need to adjust the portion to the need for carbohydrate intake for diabetes.

Milk has benefits for maintaining bone health in diabetics, but you cannot consume it carelessly. You need to regulate how much milk you can drink or switch to using certain types of milk.

In addition, no matter what type of milk you consume, you should not carelessly buy milk. You still need to be careful to see the packaging label whether the milk contains added sugar or not.