You have diabetes -- diabetes doesn't have you. Don't let this disease control your life and prevent you from living free of kidney disease, nerve damage and heart disease. Learn how to change your eating habits. It might be overwhelming at first, but enlisting the help of your doctor and a registered dietitian will make it much easier.
Diabetes
Your body uses the hormone called insulin to break down all the carbohydrates you eat into glucose, which is the energy source every cell in your body uses to function properly. Diabetes is a condition wherein your body either doesn't make enough insulin or doesn't use insulin the way it should, which means it can't deliver the glucose, or sugar, in your blood to the cells of your body. If glucose levels are allowed to rapidly rise and fall, over time your diabetes may lead to kidney failure and heart disease.
HelpGuide.org says eating right is the key to controlling glucose levels. While no special foods or complicated diets are necessary, you do need to eat healthier foods -- a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. What you choose means the difference between a healthy life, or one riddled with health complications from blood sugar fluctuations.
Complex Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates break down quickly in your body, causing your blood glucose to rise and fall quickly. Simple carbs include foods such as table sugar, soda, candy, cookies, etc. This fluctuation is dangerous and over time, can result in health complications that lead to diabetes.
Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are digested slowly by your body, which keeps the sugar in your blood more level over a longer period of time. Healthy complex carbs are found in many foods, including starchy vegetables such as spinach, onions, okra, tomatoes, carrots, yams, broccoli and corn; whole-grain foods such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice and oatmeal; legumes such as navy beans, kidney, pinto and garbanzo beans, lentils and peas; and yogurt and skim milk.
Bad Fats
Beef, pork, lamb and organ meats contain large amounts of saturated fat, also known as one of the "bad fats."
Saturated fat increases your risk of high cholesterol and heart disease, both common complications of diabetes. Choosing lean meat as your source of protein reduces your consumption of saturated fats. Eat skinless, white meat poultry, or fish such as tuna, cod, salmon, halibut and mackerel. Fish contains less saturated fat and cholesterol than red meat and poultry; aim for two or three, 3-oz. servings per week.
High blood sugar increases your LDL -- bad cholesterol -- and decreases your HDL -- good cholesterol. Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels may prevent cholesterol complications.
Good Fats
Unsaturated fats such as walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios are healthy snack alternatives to potato chips or cookies, as are flaxseeds and sunflower seeds. Olives and avocados fall under this category, as do canola, olive, peanut and sunflower oils for cooking. These fats support brain and heart health, according to HelpGuide.org.
Also eat fish such as tuna, cod, salmon, halibut and mackerel. Fish contains less saturated fat and cholesterol than red meat and poultry; aim for two or three, 3-oz. servings per week.
Sweets
To satisfy your sweet tooth, enjoy frozen or fresh fruit, nonfat yogurt, sugar-free gelatin and pudding, a cup of sugar-free hot chocolate or a stick of sugar-free gum. This doesn't mean you can never have your favorite decadent desserts, but save them for special occasions. Allow yourself a few bites of dessert and take the rest home, or split a dessert with a friend. Substitute sugary treats for other carbohydrates in your meal: For example, if you'd like a chocolate chip cookie after dinner, don't eat the sweet potato side dish at that meal. Consult with your doctor or dietitian to learn how to exchange some foods for others and keep your blood sugar levels steady.
