Medical Nutrition Therapy for Diabetes Mellitus

1) How will you benefit from seeing a dietitian?
You will benefit from seeing a dietitian when you have diabetes mellitus and want to learn how to modify your diet to achieve target blood sugar levels.

2) The objective of the medical nutrition therapy
The objective is to help you understand your condition and equip you with the relevant nutrition information to modify your diet, manage your blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of other health conditions through diet and lifestyle medications.

3) What is covered in the session?
During the consultation, the dietitian will perform a detailed nutritional assessment and collect the following information:

• Weight history
• Self-monitoring blood sugar level, HbA1c and other blood results
• Dietary habits, meal pattern and lifestyle
  
• Diabetes medication(s) e.g. OGLDs, insulin, etc.
• Any episodes of hypoglycaemia or DM-related complications e.g. kidney impairment, impaired vision, nerve problems or limb amputation etc.
• Other health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol etc.
  

 The dietitian will provide you with advice on:  

• Basic knowledge of diabetes and its related health consequences
• The importance of diet, medication and exercise to achieve good blood sugar control
• How to identify sources of nutrients in the diet that affect blood sugar level
• Sources of carbohydrates and how different types of carbohydrates affect blood sugar level
• Carbohydrate counting skill (if appropriate)
• Individualised dietary recommendations with appropriate carbohydrate amount suitable for your health condition
• Meal preparation and eating out tips
• Ways to prevent and deal with hypoglycaemia (if appropriate)