Diabetes Care
At The Food Clinic, our Dietitians are here to support you to manage your Diabetes, in a way that suits you! Our Dietitians provide you with assistance to optimise your health and wellbeing. We can assist with Pre-diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes.
We Can:
- Help you to understand how foods impact your blood glucose levels
- Provide you with information on how to choose suitable products at the supermarket
- Educate you on how to carbohydrate count
- Work with your diabetes technologies to optimise your blood glucose time in range
- Prepare you to move to an insulin pump
- Optimise your nutrition
- Assist with weight reduction strategies, if appropriate
- Work with you and your healthcare team for a coordinated approach to your care
- Assist you to reduce your risk of diabetes related complications by reducing high blood sugar levels and achieve more time with your blood sugar levels in range.
- Provide dietary modifications to reduce your risk of hypoglycaemia
- Develop nutrition strategies that will work alongside other health conditions you may have such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Gastroparesis and Coeliac Disease, to name a few.
- What is Pre- Diabetes?
- Pre-diabetes occurs when your blood glucose levels are higher than the ideal range but are not elevated enough to be classified as Type 2 Diabetes. Almost one in four people aged over 25, has diabetes or pre-diabetes. It is often a warning that you are a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
- Two conditions fall into Pre- Diabetes and they are:
- Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG): Blood glucose levels are higher than normal after fasting for eight hours, but not high enough to diagnose diabetes.
- Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT): Blood glucose levels are higher than normal, two hours after an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, but not high enough to diagnose diabetes.
- What is Type 1 diabetes?
- Over 118,000 people live with Type 1 diabetes in Australia and more than 50% of people will develop Type 1 Diabetes as an adult. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, whereby the body’s immune system destroys the cells that produce insulin. Without replacement insulin, the body is unable to use glucose as energy for it's cells. Learning to carbohydrate count is a key focus for clients with Type 1 Diabetes.
- What is Type 2 diabetes?
- Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the body becomes resistant to the usual effects of insulin and eventually does not produce enough insulin. This results in blood glucose levels increasing. Up to 60% of Type 2 Diabetes cases can be prevented. Type 2 diabetes may be managed by lifestyle changes alone but may also require the use of medication.
- What is Gestational Diabetes?
- Gestational Diabetes occurs during pregnancy. It is diagnosed when blood glucose levels are higher than normal during pregnancy. Did you know that 3-8% of pregnant women in Australia are diagnosed with Gestional Diabetes? Gestational Diabetes is generally managed through a healthy diet and physical activity, however medication may also be required.