Tipsbook

For most of us, dialing back on sugar and simple carbs is an effective way to fast-track the weight loss process. However, for those living with diabetes, adhering to this diet strategy can be a matter of life and death.

Diabetics are two to four times more likely than people without diabetes to die of heart disease or experience a life-threatening stroke, according to the American Heart Association. And for those who don’t properly control their condition, the odds of health issues—which range from cardiovascular trouble to nerve damage and kidney disease—increase exponentially.

Though the consequences of veering off track from a diabetes-friendly diet can be downright terrifying, that doesn’t mean you have to adhere to a bland, boring diet. In fact, this common misconception is the reason Lori Zanini, RD, CDE, penned the forthcoming Eat What You Love Diabetes Cookbook, which devotes all of its 200+ pages to the art of eating your cake and having it, too.

“After working with thousands of diabetic individuals over the years, I noticed that many asked me the same question at their first appointment. ‘Can I still eat my favorite foods?’ And the answer from me was always ‘Yes!’ It’s the portion sizes and frequency that makes the most difference, in addition to how the food is prepared,” Zanini tells us, adding, “After years of working one on one with newly diagnosed diabetics, I knew there was a need for this book. It makes controlling your blood sugar simple.”

1

If you love fried rice, spaghetti and meatballs, and other starchy dishes, swapping in veggies for grains should be your go-to move. “Cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, and spaghetti squash are all easy and delicious ways to lower the amount of carbohydrates in some of your favorite dishes,” says Zanini.

Despite what you may think, nixing sugar or salt doesn’t have to be synonymous with bland, cardboard-like dishes. “So often, we think about what we can’t eat when we start cutting out sugar. Instead, focus on ways to add more flavor to the foods you are eating,” suggests Zanini. “There are so many great ways to add flavor without adding sugar or salt. Try fresh herbs, freshly squeezed lemon or lime, ginger, garlic, or spice things up with jalapeño or cayenne pepper.”

Did You Know?!

When most people hear the word “diabetes,” they typically think about things like carbs and sugar. But salt plays a role in diabetes health, too. Dialing back on salt can help lower your blood pressure, and in turn, your risk for heart attack or stroke, two diseases commonly associated with diabetes.

Since eating protein helps stabilize blood sugar and keeps us full longer, Zanini stresses the importance of adding a lean protein to every meal. Some of the best sources include beans, hummus, nuts, wild salmon, Albacore tuna, chicken, turkey, flank steak, and pork tenderloin, according to the American Diabetes Association. Remember: While fish, meat, and poultry don’t contain carbs or raise blood glucose levels, that’s not the case with plant-based proteins like beans and hummus, so be sure to read labels carefully before digging in!

Think your new diet will leave your tummy rumbling? Think again. To keep hunger at bay, Zanini suggests building meals and snacks around non-starchy vegetables like leafy greens, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, and green beans. “These are nutrient dense foods that can be very filling without adding many calories,” Zanini explains.

While there are many reasons for our nation’s ever-expanding collective waistline, our gigantic dinnerware is definitely playing a role. “Ensuring you have the standard 9-inch dinner plate will help make it easier for you to eat well at home,” Zanini tells us. “If our plates are too large, we tend to serve ourselves portions that are too large as well.” Losing as little as 5 pounds can help control diabetes, so shedding some excess pounds should be among your chief health goals—and this is a super easy way to get the ball rolling.

When you have diabetes, snacks are more than just tasty treats. They’re tools used to aid weight loss and ward off low blood sugar levels. “Always have something with you that can hold you over until your next meal. It will come in handy for those times when you’re stuck in traffic or when your meeting runs late,” says Zanini. “If it’s been more than four or five hours since your last meal, combine a protein with a carb, such as 1/4 cup almonds with a small apple or a tablespoon of almond butter on a slice of whole wheat bread.”

If you’re trying to slim down in an attempt to improve your condition, you may be tempted to skip meals. Don’t do that! “Be mindful to not skip meals and try to eat a balanced meal every four to five hours throughout the day,” suggests Zanini, explaining, “This will help keep your blood sugars steady throughout the day, give you more energy, and if you’re on medication or insulin, eating regularly will help these aids be more effective.”

We know that we promised you a plethora of tips that would allow you to eat whatever you want and still control your diabetes, but there’s one thing you shouldn’t ever keep in your diet whether you’re diabetic or not, and that’s soda and other sugary drinks. “It’s best to choose unsweetened drinks when you are managing your blood sugar. Watch out for your morning coffee drinks with added sweeteners, fruit juices, and even sports drinks,” cautions Zanini.

When you’re trying to avoid the sweet stuff, it’s important to read labels and be familiar with all of sugar’s aliases. There are over 56 different names for added sugar including high fructose corn syrup, dried cane syrup, molasses, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and sucrose. A good rule of thumb is to avoid anything ending in “ose” or “syrup.” “These all add additional carbohydrates to your meals,” notes Zanini.

Staying adequately hydrated can help keep blood sugar levels normal, which is why Zanini suggests always keeping water by your side. Staying hydrated can also help ward off excess munching and aid weight loss efforts by boosting feelings of satiety. If you hate the taste of plain water, consider whipping up a batch of fruit-filled detox water.

“Knowing how much you are eating may seem like common sense, but we often eat more than we realize,” says Zanini. “For a week, measure out your portions and see what it looks like on your plate at home. You might be surprised, and you will be better prepared to make the better decisions in the future.”

“Roasting, baking, grilling, and steaming are all the preferred ways to cook your foods since this will not require much, if any, added fat. Plus, these cooking methods help enhance the natural flavors of food,” Zanini tells us. Why does the amount of fat in your food matter? Some fats like those found in poultry skin, lard, margarine, and shortening can raise blood cholesterol, increasing your risk for heart attack or stroke, two conditions that diabetics have an increased risk of developing. But just to be clear, not all fats are off limits. Monounsaturated fats, which are the kinds found in avocados, almonds, cashews, olive oil, peanut butter, and peanut oil, can actually help lower your cholesterol levels.

“Planning what you will eat in advance helps everyone adhere to a healthier diet. But when you have diabetes, it is especially important to map out your food—especially the carbohydrates you will be eating, so that your medicine and insulin will work optimally,” says Zanini. At the beginning of each week, sit down with a list of approved foods and whip up a few batches of carb-, protein-, and veggie-based dishes to ensure you have plenty of healthy options available the second hunger strikes.

Despite conventional wisdom, it’s not mandatory to slave over a stove for hours to get a healthy, home-cooked meal on the table. To save time in the kitchen, Zanini suggests buying frozen or pre-washed and sliced produce and investing in a slow cooker, a large electric pot that cooks everything from stews and oatmeals to entrees and sides super slowly—and safely—while you’re sleeping or away at work.

“I love to encourage my clients to stock healthy meals in the freezer. This way, if they come home and are too tired to cook or happen to be out of groceries, they always have a homemade meal ready to go,” says Zanini

If you have Type 2 diabetes, your doctors have likely advised you to watch your sugar levels and carb intake. But there are other ways to keep your blood glucose, or sugar, levels in check as well.

Some 90-95 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States are Type II. In fact, statistics say that 1 in 8 Americans are diagnosed with it. It’s time to get this disease under control.

Ah, a simple pro-tip! It is crucial to reduce your portion sizes in order to keep your blood levels at a happy balance. Think about it this way: If you eat too much at once (particularly a dish high in carbs) your blood sugar may spike which will put you in a hyperglycemic state. Not ideal! Conversely, if you eat too little, your body may go into a hypoglycemic state, which means you don’t have enough blood sugar. So where’s the happy medium? Make sure to eat three solid meals per day with lunch and dinner looking something like this: ½ of the plate should include non-starchy vegetables and fruit, ¼ grains, and ¼ protein. For breakfast, kickstart the day with a bowl of oatmeal and a ¼ cup of berries for a boost in antioxidants.

When you have Type 2 diabetes, it’s very important to moderate your consumption of protein because you want to reduce the risk of developing a particular microvascular issue called nephropathy. Nephropathy is scientific lingo for kidney damage or kidney disease, and a diet that’s moderate to low in protein helps avoid the onset of these issues. A diet low in protein doesn’t stress the kidneys nearly as much as one that’s high in protein does. Stick to one 3-4 ounce serving of meat per day at most to promote the longevity of your kidneys!

This is pretty obvious, but it’s essential to at least mention it. We’re not going to tell you to eat a certain number of grams of sugar per day because, honestly, that’s a bit unrealistic. However, something that is realistic is the fact that you can control how much-added sugar you put into your body. Limit yourself to a maximum of one sugary treat a day—two or three squares of dark chocolate would absolutely suffice. This way you still get to quench that sweet tooth without over-indulging and causing your blood sugar levels to skyrocket!

Low carb this, a low carb that. Are you sick of hearing it? Well, think about it this way, you can count carbs by calculating carb choices. One serving of carbs, or one carb choice, is equivalent to 15 grams of carbs. Women should aim to have 3-4 carb choices for lunch and for dinner, which is somewhere between 45-60 grams of carbs per meal. Men, on the other hand, should have 4-5 carb choices per lunch and dinner, which yields 60-75 grams of carbs. For breakfast and snacks, stick to 1-2 choices per meal. You’re probably wondering how you even go about counting carbs, and lucky for you numbers 8 and 9 in this article will help you do just that! Keep reading for some helpful tools.

Acquiring a blood glucose meter, a lancet device with lancets, and test strips are key to making sure your blood glucose levels are at a stable range. For example, before meals your blood glucose levels should be 95 mg/dL or lower. One hour after eating, your levels should be at 130 mg/dL or lower and two hours after eating your levels should be at 120 mg/dL or lower. A good time to check your blood sugar would be when you have an a heightened feeling of thirst, headache, difficulty paying attention, or feel weak and fatigued. However, you’ll want to get an idea on where your body’s levels are at specific times throughout the day, so you know what to expect when you prick your finger. For five days, try taking your blood glucose levels three times a day at either one of the following times: before breakfast, before lunch/dinner, two hours after a meal, before intense exercise, when you are not feeling well, and before bed. Make sure to record in a journal so you can have these numbers for reference!

This is super important! The glycemic index is a system that ranks foods on a scale from 1 to 100 based on the impact they have on blood sugar levels. Foods that are low in glycemic index are the ones you want to have comprising a majority of your diet! Fill up on non-starchy veggies like broccoli, kale, spinach, and just about any leafy green or fruit you can think of, and limit your intake of things like potatoes, meat, and dairy products. Make sure to steer clear of high glycemic index foods like white bread, white rice, and soda.

Whether you prefer aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, swimming and biking or anaerobic exercises like lifting and interval circuits, both will help you manage your Type 2 diabetes. Why? When your muscles require glucose (blood sugar), they contract and push that glucose out of your blood and into your cells. As a result, this helps balance your blood glucose levels. So slip on a pair of sneakers and hit the trail or gym!

Of course there’s an app to help you monitor your blood glucose levels! Sugar Sense is an excellent app that you can download for free on your smartphone that will help you keep track of your blood glucose levels, carb count, monitor your weight, and more. Download ASAP for immediate relief!

Cronometer is another excellent online tool that enables you to record meals, log exercise and biometrics, and more. Sign up for free!

No scientific study is needed to stress how vital it is to talk to other people who are also enduring similar struggles. Hop online and see what groups you can join in your area, you may even meet new friends, workout buddies, and dinner pals who understand what you’re going through. You are strong and you deserve to have people to vent to and bounce ideas off!

Did you know that stress can actually elevate your blood glucose levels? Keep your mind quiet and free of stress by taking a break at work and going for a walk and engaging in some deep breathing. Your health is your number one priority, updating that excel sheet or balancing that checkbook can wait!

This goes hand-in-hand with reducing stress. Inhaling positive energy and exhaling negative energy including, worries, stress, and feelings of sadness and fueling that breath through movement is incredibly beneficial to the mind and body.

Drop that McDonald’s breakfast McMuffin because you’re on the one-way road to better health! In a 15-year study consisting of 3,000 adults, it was found that those who ate fast food more than twice a week developed insulin resistance at twice the rate as those who didn’t consume fast food. And for those with diabetes, eating highly processed, refined food can increase the risk of developing those dangerous complications previously mentioned.

Contrary to popular belief, these fake sweeteners, called non-nutritive sweeteners or NNS, are not healthy for people with diabetes to consume. According to a study conducted by Harvard’s School of Public Health, consuming artificially sweetened drinks contributed to a 47 percent increase in BMI. The study finished in 2013 after monitoring 3,682 individuals for 7-8 years. So why would this happen if these sweeteners do not even contain regular table sugar (sucrose) which is thought to be one of the leading causes of visceral fat, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes? The answer is quite simple, artificial sweeteners are anywhere from 180-20,000 times sweeter than table sugar. Frequent consumption can cause an alteration in your taste buds, which makes vegetables and even fruits taste more bitter than they actually are. This causes you to neglect those foods and go after foods that satisfy that desire for sweetness. Yikes!

With all of these factors, it’s no doubt that you will lose a couple of pounds. Shedding just 10-15 pounds can significantly help balance your blood glucose levels, so get off the couch and get cracking because there’s no time to waste.

Nearly 1 out of 2 adults in the United States experience consistently high blood sugar levels, or hypertension, according to research conducted by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. This condition puts one at risk of heart disease and stroke. And one of the most influential foods when it comes to unsteady blood sugar levels is carbohydrates.

There are two types of carbohydrates: simple carbs and complex carbs. “When you hear simple carbohydrates, think of foods that have been processed to a point where they no longer contain any fiber or protein,” says Sydney Greene, MS, RD, a registered dietitian on our medical expert board. “When eaten on their own,” she goes on to say, “[simple carbs] will cause a higher spike in blood sugar than more complex carbohydrates because they are quickly digested.”

The CDC recommends that people with diabetes (or prediabetes) should commit only half of their daily calories to carbs, as well as eat the same amount of carbs at each meal to maintain blood sugar consistency.

A lot of the time you don’t have to completely cut out the carbs you love to save your blood sugar levels from experiencing chaos. Instead, adding other components to a carbohydrate food—such as healthy fats or protein—can help balance out a meal. There are also a few easy food swaps for refined, processed carbs that will offer up more whole grains and fiber to get you on your way to controlling your blood sugar.

According to dietitians, these are the seven worst carbs that may be spiking your blood sugar levels.

White bread is a common household staple. Many people use it to start the day off by throwing a few slices in the toaster or to get through lunchtime by building a sandwich. However, because of its high glycemic index (GI)—a measure of how quickly a food spikes your blood sugar—as soon as this carb is digested it can raise blood sugar very quickly. With a GI score of 71 (out of 100), one slice of white bread alone contributes a significant amount of glucose (or sugar) to the body’s bloodstream.

No need to toss out the loaf in your pantry quite yet. In fact, a simple addition of some healthy fats and fibers, like one’s found in avocados for example, “will slow down the rate at which blood sugar goes up,” says Greene.

Blueberry, chocolate chip, cinnamon, and so many more. Muffins are sugar-filled pastries that can cause problems if you have high blood sugar. The sweet treat contains many simple carbs, meaning there will be rapid digestion and lots of sugar absorption, explains Greene. “To help regulate the absorption of [the] carbohydrate,” Greene suggests topping your muffin with nut butter to reap the most benefits.

One great example is peanut butter, which not only has a low GI score, but that the spread has healthy oils, protein, and fiber that can support controlled blood sugar levels.

Not all forms of rice are bad, but eating too much white rice may be more harmful to some with high blood sugar. The milling process of white rice removes many beneficial nutrients the grain starts with, such as fiber. Research has shown that people who consume high amounts of white rice have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes as the grain has a GI of 66 or higher.

Therefore, if rice is a recurring food in your diet, Greene suggests pairing the carb with a protein—such as salmon or eggs. You can also try switching to brown rice or whole grains (quinoa) to fill in any nutritional gaps, as they are more well-rounded, complex carbohydrates.

You can usually find these crunchy bites on the snack table at a party, but you may want to think about how your blood sugar might fluctuate before you dive right in. On their own, pretzels are considered refined, processed carbs that lack fiber. Eating the salty snack solo will result in unwanted amounts of glucose, and so, “those with high blood sugar [may] have more trouble with keeping blood sugars under control,” explains Molly Hembree, MS, RD, LD, another registered dietitian on our medical expert board.

However, combining pretzels with a dip can up the nutritional value in one bite. Made from chickpeas, hummus is a fantastic plant-based protein that contains healthy fats and tons of fiber to help steady digestion and manage blood sugar. One study in the Nutrition Journal found that, in comparison with white bread, hummus raised blood sugar levels four times less and did not drastically change the body’s insulin levels.

Plain pasta is another white, refined flour-based food that can cause a quick influx in the body’s blood sugar levels. Like many others on the list, pasta is high in carbohydrates and low on digestion-slowing nutrients, such as protein and fats.

“Refined starches [that] contain little to no fiber may cause blood sugar spikes,” Hembree says. You can get a more nutritious bang for your buck, by adding vegetables or beans to have equal levels of fiber alongside your carbs, she recommends.

While it may seem simple enough, one of the worst things you can do for your blood sugar is eating food that is mainly sugar. Breakfast cereals—even the ones that say “healthy” on them—contain low amounts of protein, a macronutrient that can not only keep you satisfied but also help stabilize blood sugar levels.

For a better balance of carbohydrates and protein in your breakfast, swap out your sugary cereal for a bowl of oatmeal topped with fruit. This combination of whole grains and berries offers fiber, protein, and a more reasonable amount of carbohydrates that will digest slower and more safely in terms of blood sugar. Plus, with the addition of berries, you won’t have to give up a sweet, flavorful meal.

Technically, french fries do come from a vegetable—potatoes—but they are a high-carb food that can cause chaos to one’s blood sugar. French fries can be high on the glycemic index, with a GI as high as 82, forcing your body to absorb the food far too fast and see blood sugar levels sky-rocket, Hembree explains. According to Harvard Health, one cup of potatoes has similar effects on blood sugar as drinking a can of soda. Plus, once they’re boiled, deep-fried, and covered in salt, the damage can extend from your blood sugar to your waistline and even blood pressure.