The nurse is providing discharge teaching to a client with diabetes mellitus, type 2. Which of the following information should the nurse include in the teaching?

A. "It describes a list of foods that are alike in terms of the amount of carbohydrate, fat, protein, and calories in each food." This definition does not describe the glycemic index. The glycemic index focuses on how quickly a food raises blood glucose, not on the carbohydrate, fat, protein, and calorie content of foods.
B. "It is a value assigned to foods based on how slowly or how quickly those foods cause increases in your blood glucose level." The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose levels after consumption. Foods with a high GI cause rapid spikes in blood glucose, while those with a low GI cause slower increases.
C. "It is a diet plan that tracks the amount of carbohydrates in food to ensure that a predetermined amount is consumed during a given meal." This describes carbohydrate counting or a carbohydrate-based meal plan, not the glycemic index.
D. "It is a scoring system that describes the amount of carbohydrates, in grams, that is present in each serving of a food." This describes the concept of carbohydrate counting, which focuses on the total grams of carbohydrates in food, not the rate at which those carbohydrates affect blood glucose.

A. Polyuria, a common symptom in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, can lead to excessive urinary loss of potassium, increasing the risk of hypokalemia. Monitoring serum potassium is crucial because imbalances can affect cardiac and muscle function.
B. While magnesium is important, it is not the primary concern in the context of polyuria related to diabetes unless specific symptoms or complications suggest a deficiency.
C. Calcium is not as directly affected by polyuria from diabetes as potassium is.
D. Chloride levels may fluctuate with fluid loss, but potassium remains the more critical electrolyte to monitor in this scenario.