350 Low-Carb Foods You Can Eat If You Have Diabetes

Kent Peterson, senior editor, has also produced award-winning work in television and radio.
You’ve probably heard many myths about strict diet restrictions that supposedly come with diabetes: No fruit. No flour. And forget about dessert. You might think you’ll have to give up all the foods you like.
Good news: a healthy diabetes diet can be about adding foods, not eliminating them. Eating right may add more delicious variety to your meals than ever—and you don’t have to completely give up your favorite treats. Many doctors and experts now say that a little bit of any food can fit into your meal plan once in a while.
The biggest difference in a diabetes diet is that you need to limit how many carbs you eat to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range. Our list can help. We’ve gathered 350 foods that are low in carbohydrates and widely available. Most are easy on your food budget, too.
Making smart choices
Other than watching your carbs, a healthy diabetes diet is a lot like a healthy non-diabetes diet. Everyone needs to eat a variety of wholesome foods that provide all the different nutrients we need. When you fill up on these good-for-you foods, you automatically eat fewer processed foods that have little nutritional value and too much sugar, salt, fat, and calories.
Remember to watch your portion sizes, though. Just because a food is low in carbs doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want. Carbs add up, and so do calories.
The U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Choose My Plate program can help you learn what a well-balanced dinner plate should look like.
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How to Eat Well with Diabetes

Check out these eye-opening numbers: One in 12 Americans have type 2 diabetes, and one in four have prediabetes—a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal. During the past 30 years, the percentage of American women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has doubled. What's more, if the current trend continues, as many as one in three Americans will have the disease by 2050. Now take a deep breath and let this sink in: Although diabetes is as serious condition, it's one you can control.
So, what can you eat? Many people think that having diabetes means living with a long list of forbidden foods. It is true that people with the condition should follow a healthful diet that's low in sodium and saturated fats, high in fiber and full of fruits, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains—but that's true for practically everyone. The difference for people with diabetes is that they have to ensure they balance what they eat (especially carbohydrates), their activity level and their medication to keep their blood sugar at a safe level.
If you have diabetes, use this guide to build a healthy plate:
Fill one half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, spinach or lettuce and other leafy greens.
In one quarter of your plate, put whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice, whole-grain bread or pasta) or starchy foods (beans, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash).
In the other quarter of your plate, put a protein such as lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs or tofu.
You can add a serving of dairy (such as 6 ounces of plain Continue reading

American Diabetes Association Approves Low Carb Diets for Weight Loss

In December 2008, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) issued its Clinical Practice Recommendations which included the option for Diabetics to follow low-carbohydrate diets as a weight-loss option. While this is obviously not ‘news’, it is important to note that the Canadian Diabetes Association – now called Diabetes Canada, does not as yet make the same recommendation.
Why is that?
Is there something inherently different about Diabetics in Canada than Diabetics in the United States?
For the last 9 years the American Diabetes Association has given people the option of following what they call a “moderate“ carbohydrate diet by (a) omitting some of the carb-containing foods on their standard meal plan or (b) substituting them for much lower carb alternatives. They also (c) provide Americans with the option of following a low carb diet for weight loss.
Let’s take a look at the American dietary recommendations compared with the Canadian ones.
Dietary Recommendations of the American Diabetes Association
On their web page, the American Diabetes Association states that their standard Meal Plans that are “moderate” in carbohydrates provide ~45% of calories from carbs, but they add;
Your healthcare provider may ask you to limit carbohydrate more than our meal plan suggests. This means you should cut back on the carbohydrate foods that you eat throughout the day. To keep your calorie intake about the same, substitute sources of lean protein or healthy fats for those higher carbohydrate foods.
Then they give some examples of how people can lower carbohydrate intake Continue reading

Want to Go Vegetarian? What to Do If You Have Diabetes

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, choosing to be a vegetarian can be a healthy option. In fact, research has shown that following a vegetarian diet can help you better manage your diabetes. It has also been shown to help prevent or reverse type 2 diabetes.
I began following a vegan diet a few years ago when the documentary “Forks Over Knives” came out about the benefits of a plant-based diet. The results of the research highlighted in this documentary just made sense, and it is working well for me and my family members.
RELATED: Is a Plant-Based Diet Right for You?
A look at fat and fiber
When following a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, you reduce the saturated and trans fats in your diet, which can reduce your risk of chronic disease. These types of fats can clog and damage arteries. And compared to a typical American diet, a vegetarian diet is higher in fiber. The recommended amount of fiber for adults with or without diabetes is 20 to 35 grams per day. When you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you will likely meet or exceed this amount.
Foods that are high in fiber are slower to digest so elevations in your blood sugar are less likely to occur. Fiber also provides a feeling of fullness, which usually reduces the overall number of calories eaten and may help you lose weight too.
There are different types of vegetarian diets, with the three most common being:
Vegan — No meat (including red meat, poultry, seafood or any product made with meat), eggs or dairy products.
Lacto-vegetarian — No meat or eggs, but they do consume dairy products
Lacto-ovo vegetarian � Continue reading

Team-based approach helps patients better control type 2 diabetes

Nearly one in four patients who walks through the door of a suburban Chicago community-based health clinic has type 2 diabetes and the clinic’s team-based approach in managing the condition—from pre-visit laboratory testing to the daily huddle—has gone a long way in effectively managing these complex patients, including helping to control A1C levels.
An AMA STEPS Forward™ module explains how team-based approaches like this can help physicians better manage patients with type 2 diabetes, including improving patients’ glycemic control and preventing complications from the disease. The module outlines six steps practices can take to implement a team-based approach and provides answers to common questions physicians may have about helping patients manage their condition.
This kind of team-based approach has been used at Oak Forest Health Center where patients receive treatment regardless of their ability to pay for care. The practice leaders streamline care before patients even enter the exam room. For example, with more than 15,000 primary care visits annually, the practice began encouraging patients to visit the laboratory for tests before seeing their physician.
A team member even performs reminder calls for patients who have pending lab orders, such as A1C, lipid and urine protein. Meanwhile, in the clinic, medical assistants (MAs) are getting ready by printing the patient schedule for each team a day or two before patients arrive. The MA also notes the A1C value for each patient on the summary sheet.
Making the most of patient visit
On the day a patient is schedu Continue reading