Florey Miller, MS, RD/N, CDE
Diabetes Educator and Registered Dietitian
Diabetes Educator and Registered Dietitian
For a lot of people who have blood sugar higher than the normal range, the most challenging part of dealing with it is figuring out what to eat. It can be pretty confusing because there are a lot of myths surrounding healthy eating for people who have diabetes or may be at risk for diabetes. One thing we know for certain is that there is actually no one single way to eat for people with diabetes or at risk for diabetes. There is no “Diabetes Diet” that can be prescribed. However, The American Diabetes Association does tell us that eating healthfully is essential in overall blood sugar management. They recommend that each person with diabetes or prediabetes work with their health care team, including a Certified Diabetes Educator who is also a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, to develop an individualized eating plan. All eating plans should focus on what you want to do or not do andfit in with your schedule, your lifestyle and your food preferences.
There are three things experts agree that work for everyone to lower blood sugar levels.
1. Healthier pattern of eating overall
Healthy eating means including healthy whole foods, less processed foods, and reasonable portion sizes.
What are whole foods? Foods loaded with nutrients that usually have just one or a few ingredients (vegetables, fruits, beans, yogurt, lean protein, nuts, and whole grains.) Processed foods have made a trip to the factory and have several ingredients including stuff that might be added - not to keep you healthy, but to get you to eat a lot of their very delicious-tasting food products that may be high in calories, carbs, fat, sodium, artificial ingredients, colors and maybe all of these. Examples of popular processed foods are hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, chips, cookies, candy, ice cream, etc. I am not saying that you should give up all processed foods or even foods that we know are not healthy for us. I am suggesting thatone simple way to get started with a healthier eating pattern is to make better choices more often.
Continuing with that technique of making healthier choices more frequently, here are a couple suggestions for putting it in place. Try to be strict with
your eating habits Monday through Friday (or on your work days), and then allow 1 or 2 indulgent treats on the weekend. Giving yourself a cheat or a splurge meal once a week can keep you on the healthy path for the rest of the week. Focusing on one meal of the day can also go a long way to increasing healthy eating more often. If you put some energy into making your lunches more nutritious, for example, you will have made a one-third improvement in your eating style each day.
2. Carbohydrate balance
When we use the term “carbohydrate balance” we are really talking about eating more quality carbs and less poor quality carbs. Spreading carbohydrates fairly evenly during the day can be helpful. There are usually less spikes and more stable blood sugars with a more balanced carbohydrate intake.
What is a carb? If you know what a carb is, I guarantee you can lower your A1C by one percentage point or more. Most people think of bread and pasta when we hear the word carbs. But there are actually 5 carbohydrate food groups:
- Fruit
- Milk and yogurt
- Grains and starches
- Starchy vegetables (the vast majority of vegetables are not
- starchy and contain only a very small amount of
- carbohydrate.)
- Sugar and junk foods
- Look at this chart to see what might be quality carbs vs poor quality carbs. Quality carbs are good fuel for your body and do not raise blood sugar as much or as fast as poor quality carbs.
And maybe like a lot of Americans, the focus might need to be on eating less carbs overall. We all need to eat more vegetables, more fruits, more lean protein, and more healthy fats, as well as eating less starchy foods like pasta, bread, tortillas and rice and less junky snack foods and sweets. An easy way to visualize this is the One Great Plate.
Half your One Great Plate (or half of what you eat in a day), would consist of vegetables and or fruits. The remaining half would be divided between lean protein and good quality carbohydrates. This proportion helps prevent overeating of carbs. You can buy plates with compartments to help with portion sizes.
3. Weight management
This means getting towards your healthiest weight. It doesn’t have to be all the weight you think you need to lose. A 5% weight loss is shown to improve insulin resistance (plus improve blood pressure, joint pain, etc.)
Dieting has a negative association and is supposed to be a short-term thing. Have you heard the saying, “the best diet is the one you stay on”? It might help to think of starting a new healthy eating plan instead of struggling to lose weight. Many people either are super strict when they are trying to lose weight – to the point where they are no longer enjoying their food; or they are totally without any controls on their eating – whatever, whenever. Both of these are extremes and neither is a good place to be.
Rapid weight loss may feel satisfying, but keeping it off can prove difficult and end up as unsustainable. Slower weight loss (we are talking 1-2 pounds per week) results in a long- term outcome that is healthier and much easier to maintain because it becomes part of a routine or lifestyle that is practiced over time.
To summarize, these are the principles of a healthier eating style:
- Eat mainly good quality carbohydrates
- Save poor quality carbs for occasional treats
- Eat mostly whole grains and pair them with vegetables, healthy fat or protein
- Spread carbohydrates out fairly evenly during the day with a reduction after dinner
- More veggies, more veggies, more veggies and more fruits
- Protein should be lean (beans, fish, poultry, eggs, leanest beef/pork)
- Fat should be mono/poly unsaturated (nuts, olives, avocado)
Your eating plan should fit with your food likes and dislikes, your schedule, plus your behaviors and habits. I can help you with this if you are you interested. Contact me at 941.748.4501 x 6410 or fmiller@manateeyourchoice.com to schedule an appointment.
