“All diabetics watch what they eat.” True or False?
FALSE.
Diabetics monitor what they eat.
You may watch what you eat and, if you were asked you what you had for lunch yesterday, you could list the foods you ate. Diabetics do more; diabetics monitor. Diabetics have test strips and glucose monitors in their diabetic supplies to monitor their blood sugar. Blood sugar is determined by what you eat and drink, so diabetics monitor what they eat. When diabetics monitor what they eat, they sum up the nutritional value of what they are about to put in their mouths. Take yesterday's lunch: Do you know how many calories the lunch contained? How many carbohydrates? How much fat? A diabetic is aware of these things when approaching their diet.
Many people think of what a diabetic eats as a “diabetic diet” but there is no such thing as a “diabetic diet” in the “diabetic supply kit”. The real truth of the matter is that how diabetics plan their meals is how everybody should plan their meals: a balance of protein, fiber, carbohydrates, and fat. Daily exercise should be practiced and a healthy weight should be maintained. Your diabetic supplies should be properly stocked to insure proper monitoring of your blood sugar at the appointed times.
When you are arranging for your diabetic supplies you should also speak with a professional dietitian. They can tell you ways to improve your diet while keeping most of your familiar foods. Remember, there are no bad foods just bad diets.
Here are some good nutritional guidelines but you should check with your dietitian when you hear any nutritional advice:
- Watch your portion size. There's an old joke “I used to be on one diet, but now I'm on two diets because one diet didn't give me enough to eat.” Rest assured, unless you are a professional athlete and burn off huge amounts of energy in your day, the diet recommended by your dietitian is sufficient.
- Your plate should have color. Do you have “brown, white and green plate” syndrome? Being aware of the color of your plating not only means a better, more appetizing-looking meal, but also ensures that the food you are eating has variety.
- Whole grain foods. It used to be that people sneered at whole wheat bread, but now many people eat whole grain bread. Substitute whole grain foods for processed grain food. The extra fiber helps control blood sugar and glucose. You'll probably like whole grain foods anyway.
- Eat things that swim. Fish tastes great and they have a whole lot of healthy things that aren't found in things that crawl or walk. Include fish in your diet at least three or four times a week.
- Choose water or calorie-free drinks over drinks with sugar like soda, punch, and sweet tea. When people from other countries visit America, they marvel at how hard it is to go to a store and purchase a drink that doesn't have sugar. The tourists eventually find a tasty, non-sugar beverage and so will you.
- Don't have snack food when you snack. Think of things you like to eat that aren't traditional high-calorie snack foods. Snack on them. There's really nothing wrong with eating a small bag of whole grain cereal at your desk at work.
- Don't skip meals. Your body won't understand what's going on and try to compensate.
- Eat lean cuts of meat and avoid pork and beef. We know that chicken skin is tasty but you're better off removing it and tossing it to your dog. Your dog will love you more when you do this.
- Use liquid oils instead of solid fats for cooking. Extra virgin olive oil tastes better than lard for cooking, and it's low in saturated fat. You still have to watch the amount of any fat you use in your diet.
