Diabetic Healthy Eating
After being diagnosed with diabetes, you’ll discover that food is going to be your best friend. Even if you liked to eat before, you most likely did it unconsciously. What I mean by that is, whether you were hungry or, just had a craving, you could pop into a fast food joint, grab a burger and fries and devour it without giving it much thought. Or, you could satisfy your sweet tooth with a chocolate bar or an ice cream cone whenever you felt like it. Basically, you had control over the food. Well things have changed. Now food is going to control you. But, it’s not as bad as you think.
If you are missing the sweet stuff, which is only natural, you may be able to locate a diabetic bakery in your area and most grocery stores now are catering to diabetics by providing sugar free desserts such as cakes and pies. I did find a terrific website with a Diabetic E-book that has an astonishing 500 recipes from sugar free cakes, and chocolate chip cookies to black bottom pie, Swiss steak, beef stew and meatloaf! It’s called what else, DELICIOUS DIABETIC RECIPES , and is available on-line for $14.95. So, if you’re a diabetic with a sweet tooth or a craving for some down home comfort food, definitely should check it out!
Now, back to the food. It’s going to be all about food now that you have diabetes. You’ll need to always know where your next meal is coming from, what time you’ll need to eat that meal, and what that meal is going to consist of. Like I said, a life full of food. But, hey, it’s food. That’s a good thing right? So, here is a great tip. It will pay to invest in a small cooler if you don’t already have one. You are going to become a smart food snack-er “pack rat”. Try saying that three times fast. In between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner you will be snacking. And not just any snacks. Here’s the scoop. Red apples, grapes and raisins are bad snacks. Too much sugar. Also, steer clear of the white flour chips and crackers. Green apple slices, cheese, nuts or Ritz Crackers with a little peanut butter is a better choice.
Of course, your American Diabetic Food Exchange Guide will give you lists of the foods that you can eat in each food category. It’s just that some are better than others. For example, broccoli, aside from being healthy for all of us, has been found to help normalize blood sugar levels in diabetics. Also, as mentioned before, do not eat anything with white flour. If you need snack crackers, most manufacturers now offer a whole wheat product as well. A good example is Ritz. They make a whole wheat version of their original cracker. Try taking a whole wheat Ritz cracker, a piece of cheese and a slice of a Golden Delicious apple and you have a tasty and healthy snack! Okay, here comes the best diabetic HINT I have come across and it really, really works. In my last article I mentioned MILK. Most diabetics are told to drink orange juice if they are having a low blood glucose. Okay, here’s why milk is a better choice. Orange juice is very high in sugar and what it does is “shoot” your blood sugar up immediately which can leave you with a terrible headache and in some cases even a migraine! Try milk instead. Milk is like manna from heaven. Since milk is a whole food with sugar in it, a small amount of sugar, it goes to work in your body immediately to normalize your blood sugar. So, please, the next time you have a low reading and are not feeling well, reach for a glass of milk and not the orange juice. It may take a few minutes longer to work but in the long run it will normalize your blood sugar instead of shooting it over to the high side and you will not be left with the side affects of orange juice. How’s that for a great tip?
By Bonnie Howell
Topics: Healthy Eating |
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