Diabetes Food Tricks And What I Really Eat

Diabetes Food Tricks and What I Really Eat

Diabetes Food Tricks and What I Really Eat
How I learned to make low-carb food tasty, doable, portable, and fun. Plus, cool new diabetes food experiments Ive been testing!
Im used to some quizzical looks at checkout counters, airports, and in restaurants:
Why all the nuts and seeds do you have birds at home?
Wait, you want the burger, but without a bun?
No rice with your Chicken Ka Prow? Can we even serve you?
For those used to eating a typical diet, a low-carb, higher-fat approach to eating can seem strange. But in reality, I find it tasty, filling, and worth any confused looks I see more in-range blood sugars, fewer extreme lows and highs, simpler insulin dosing, and far lower diabetes burden.
Below, youll find a list of foods and recipes I actually eat, taken right from my book, Bright Spots & Landmines ( free PDF here or get it on Amazon for $6). As a bonus for this online version, Ive added links to recipes and specific products. And if youve read the book already, this article starts with some brand new food tricks and experiments Ive been testing out. Bon apptit!
1. Tinkering with chia pudding : I continue to eat chia pudding for breakfast every daybut have been working to solve sticking points for diaTribe readers. Coconut oil is a big one that trips people up, and I was glad to find that shredded unsweetened coconut flakes or coconut chips work great as a substitute. They are also more portable for bringing chia pudding when I travel. Many readers have also shared they add dark chocolate chips, cacao nibs, or chocolate protein powder to bump the flavor Continue reading

Rate this article

Total 1 ratings

Vegetables in a Diabetes Diet: Is Steamed, Roasted, or Sauted Best?

Vegetables in a Diabetes Diet: Is Steamed, Roasted, or Sauted Best?
Help prevent blood sugar spikes and get the most nutritional bang for your buck with this guide.
Sign Up for Our Living with Diabetes Newsletter
Thanks for signing up! You might also like these other newsletters:
Sign up for more FREE Everyday Health newsletters .
When you're managing diabetes, there are pros and cons involved with each way of cooking veggies.
We all know vegetables are good for us, but when you have diabetes, it can be difficult to know whether certain types are better for your blood sugar, and how preparing a veggie may impact its nutritional value. For example, are roasted sweet potatoes as nutritious as steamed kale, or if you saut your spinach rather than steam it, have you lost some essential nutrients?
While all vegetables are healthy, it might be difficult to understand why some have to be limited or reduced, says Cara Lowenthal, MPH, RD, a certified diabetes educator at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
Why Veggies Should Be in Your Diabetes Diet
Vegetables are an essential part of every diet, but this food group is especially important for people with type 2 diabetes . Nonstarchy vegetables, like spinach, kale, and broccoli, are rich in nutrients like vitamin A and vitamin E, low on the glycemic index , and have lots of fiber, which means munching on them will help you fill up without significantly raising your blood sugar, Lowenthal says.
The fiber that many vegetables pack can also slow down how quickly sugar enters the blood, explains Krista Mathews, a dietitian Continue reading

Patient registry pilot eases diabetes prevention in practice

Patient registry pilot eases diabetes prevention in practice
A pilot patient registry is helping physicians and other clinicians use their electronic health records system to more easily identify patients at risk for type 2 diabetes and refer them to an evidence-based diabetes prevention program (DPP). The pilot aims to bring together all members of the health care team to ensure complete access to detailed patient information for prevention of diabetes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 84 million Americans live with prediabetes. And in Michigan alone, 2.6 million have prediabetesa number that Henry Ford Macomb Hospital is looking to decrease through the pilot program.
Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, located in Clinton Township, Michigan, is part of the Henry Ford Health System and is evaluating the patient registry for its effectiveness in screening, testing and referring patients to a DPP in partnership with the AMA. The registry pilot went live March 15 and is accompanied by a year-long DPP. Patients referred to a DPP can learn about eating healthfully, adding physical activity to their daily routine, managing stress, and staying motivated and overcoming barriers to success.
With a staggering number of Americans living with prediabetes and the vast majority unaware they have the condition, we must continue to ensure more patients have access to, and enroll in, proven lifestyle change programs that have been shown to cut in half participants risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes, AMA President David O. Barbe, MD, MHA, said in a st Continue reading

3-Day Diabetes Meal Plan: 2,200 Calories

By:Victoria Seaver, M.S., R.D., C.D., Digital Meal Plan Editor
Healthy eating is the cornerstone of managing diabetes, yet it can be a challenge figuring out what to eat to balance your blood sugar. Here we've created a delicious 3-day meal plan that makes it easier to follow a diabetes diet. In this plan you'll find a mix of nutritious foods including fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, healthy fats and dairy. This plan limits the amount of foods with refined carbohydrates (think white bread, white rice and sugar), added sugars and saturated fats, which can negatively impact your health if you eat too much. The carbohydrates are balanced throughout the day with each meal containing around 4-5 carb servings (60-75 grams of carbohydrates) and each snack containing around 1-2 carb servings (15-30 grams of carbohydrates). The calorie and carbohydrate totals are listed next to each meal and snack so you can swap foods with similar nutrition in and out as you like. Eating with diabetes doesn't need to be restrictive or complicated. Incorporating a variety of foods, as we do in this meal plan, is a healthy and sustainable approach to managing diabetes.
Meal Prep Tip:: Cook or set aside an extra 3/4 cup of black beans and 3/4 cup brown rice tonight at dinner to have for lunch on Day 2. Be sure to rinse canned beans to get rid of excess salt.
Breakfast (493 calories, 60 grams carbohydrates)
Top yogurt with walnuts, blueberries, apricots and honey.
Note: We use a small amount of added sweetener, in this ca Continue reading

8 Diabetes Warning Signs May Appear On Your Skin

Home health diabetes 8 Diabetes Warning Signs May Appear On Your Skin
8 Diabetes Warning Signs May Appear On Your Skin
8 Diabetes Warning Signs May Appear On Your Skin
In reference to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes can affect nearly every part of the body, including the skin. Surprisingly, skin problems are the first indicators that someone is suffering from diabetes. The good news is that most diabetes warning signs can be effectively treated if they are identified at an early stage.
A couple of these problems are conditions that anyone can develop irrespective of whether they are diabetic or not, but patients with diabetes are prone. They include:
Patients with diabetes are more likely to develop bacterial infections which include:
Styes (these are infections that normally occur in the glands of eyelids)
Folliculitis (infections that occur in the hair follicles)
Carbuncles (deep infections on the skin and underlying tissues)
Inflamed tissues are usually painful, hot, red and swollen. There are several organisms that cause infections with staph (Staphylococcus bacteria) being the most common. Over the past, bacterial infections were fatal. Credit to antibiotics, death from bacterial infections is now very rare. Practicing skin good care practices can lower the risks of bacterial infections in diabetic patients. It is important to contact your doctor if you are diabetic and experiencing bacterial infections.
Candida albicans is the major culprit of fungal infections in patients living with diabetes. This is a yeast-like fungus that creates red itchy Continue reading