Easy Diabetic Diet KISS - Keep It Simple and Sweet!
The
Simple Diabetic Diet is easy to understand and simple to follow.
Diabetes
requires your attention often...eating the right foods,
preparing balanced meals, what to do with high sugar foods, testing
blood sugars, and remembering your diabetes medicine... how can this
be simple? Keep reading and see how the KISS version of the
diabetic diet informs and enlightens you.
Diabetes
is about insulin
(learn
more): food
- most
of the glucose in your blood comes from the food you eat. The simple
diabetic diet identifies the foods that release the most glucose. The
body requires glucose to fuel the body, but too much glucose results in
high blood sugars. Activity
becomes a key ingredient. (learn more)
Simple
diabetic diet requires you to know and understand three things about
food:
- The calorie type of the food.
- How
the calorie influences your blood glucose level.
- How
the food changes your blood sugar (you find this out by testing your
blood sugar)
1
Know the
calorie in the food you are eating. There are three types
of calories in the food you eat.
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
Symbols
that we use to indicate the type of calorie within each food:
- Carbohydrate
- Protein
- Fat
- Free
Food
The
chart below shows examples of the foods along with the symbol used for
each food group.
2 Understand how the calorie
influences your blood glucose level.
The third
column of the chart has this symbol .
The red arrow shows the percentage of the calorie within the food that
turns to glucose. The red arrows that have 100% in the arrow are
the foods that supply the most glucose. These two groups are the ones
that you will need to eat the right amount but not too much. If you
overeat in the food groups that turn 100% to glucose, you may cause
your
blood sugars to rise too much. When the red arrow has a lower
percentage, you will see less glucose coming from these foods.
This
arrow indicates
there is almost no rise in blood sugar from the foods in this group.
|
| Food Group | Main
Calorie
Food Group | Percentage to Glucose | 
Fruit - fresh, dried, and
juice |
Carbohydrate
Natural
simple sugars - high in vitamins and minerals - great carbs and glucose
fuel for the body.
| 
Juice raises blood sugars within
minutes - (only drink 1/2 cup). Whole fruits digest slowly - better
choice. | 
Starches
-
Whole grains, starchy
vegetables, pasta, rice
|
Carbohydrate
Select
whole grains, starchy vegetables - great carbs and fuel for the body.
Select the starches that are natural and less processed. |
Starches digests within 2 hours of
eating - 100% turns to glucose and will raise blood sugars. | 
Milk
and Yogurt
|
Carbohydrate
+
Protein
+
Fat
Cheese,
cottage cheese and ricotta are in the protein group. |  | 
Desserts,
Candies, Snack Foods, Alcohol, Beverages with sugar
|
Carbohydrate
Lots
of simple sugars... not the healthiest carbs - eat less often
+
Fat - many
foods in this group are high fat | 
Caution: Simple
sugars cause fast spikes in blood sugar readings with a fast drop in
one hour so. | 
Low-Calorie Vegetables |
Low-Carb
Vegetables,
raw or cooked without sauces (not fried) |
Calories
are very low and will not change blood sugars. |
Protein Foods
Red
meats, poultry, fish, seafood, peanut butter, cottage cheese, ricotta,
nuts/seeds. |
Protein
+
Fat
Select
low-fat meats, eat fish 2-3 times a week, and occasionally use
non-animal proteins (nuts/seeds) in place of foods from animals. |
*If
the body need for glucose is supplied by carbs, very little protein
goes to glucose. If you eat low-carb, protein is turned into glucose;
however, protein digests over many hours and glucose trickles into the
blood. The body prefers carbs because it supplies more glucose in a
timely manner. |
3 Testing your
blood sugars daily.
This give you a window into
your body and let's you know how blood sugars change with the food you
eat.Test
blood sugars (if possible) 2 times a day. If testing is done
before the meal and readings are close to the normal range (learn more
about good blood sugars), most likely the meals are not causing the
blood sugars to go too high. If blood sugars are higher than they
should be, identify what is causing the higher blood sugars.
Remember: diabetes is about food,
insulin and activity. Food may
not be solely responsible for your high blood sugars. Contact us
at diabetic-diet-coach.com
if you need help improving your blood sugars.
Health
Tip -
It
is important to eat all three types of calories to fuel the body
properly. When you overeat on any 1 calorie type, you cause an
imbalance within the body and alter how the body works.
- Too
much protein in your diet for many years can cause bone loss, kidney
problems, and heart problems.
Learn more
about proteins. - Too
much fat in your diet may lead to high cholesterol and triglyceride
levels in your blood, weight gain and interference with insulin working
in the body.
Learn more
about fats.
- Too many carbohydrates in
your diet at meals can cause higher blood sugars.
Learn more
about carbohydrates.
|
 Join us in our support for diabetes research.
Sponsor one of our riders in the Tour de
Cure bicycle ride fundraiser for diabetes on June 22,
2008. To sponsor a rider go to our personal webpage named
diabetic-diet-coach. |
|
