PTI Tucson Blog

Here are the 9 most important foods to avoid if you have diabetes:

1. Sugary Foods: soda, sweets, dessert and the such; these cause huge spikes in blood sugar and lead to weight gain. Choose sweet fruits or berries instead!
2. Fruit Juice: all the sugar and none of the fiber. Eat the fruit instead!
3. Dried Fruit: again, the best choice when it comes to fruit is fresh fruit. Be careful with tropical fruits like bananas and mangos, as they are high in sugar for fruits.
4. White rice, bread and flour: the key here is white. Avoid these highly refined and processed foods. Opt for whole grains instead!
5. Full Fat Dairy: much higher in saturated fats that lead to weight gain and heart disease both of which diabetics are predisposed to.
6. Fatty Cuts of Meat: same story with saturated fats. Go for the leaner cuts and chicken, turkey and fish.
7. Packaged Snacks and Baked Goods: These are pretty much a big combination of everything bad for diabetics and then some: full of sugar, refined flour, saturated fat, sodium, preservatives and usually high in trans fats. Nothing redeeming about these foods. They are awful for diabetics…actually for anyone!
8. Fried foods: full of fat, at times trans fats and lead to weight gain and heart disease. Not good for anyone.
9. Alcohol: alcohol is pretty much sugar in its purest form. If you do drink, drink in moderation that is one drink for most women or two for most men.

Nothing in life is Free….

Sure eating more fruits is better for you. Most Americans do not eat anywhere near the amount of fruit that they should. Last year Weight Watchers changed their point system to make fruits “free” of points. WW adherents can eat as much fruit as they like without using up any of their valuable daily points. Reality is that nothing with calories is ever free. A nutrient rich banana has about 105 calories while an ounce of baked chips has bout 120. Sure, choosing the banana over the chips is a good choice from a nutritional value but just adding more fruit adds calories, albeit good nutritional calories. So, the bottom line is focus more on healthy food choices like fruit, but be mindful that no food with calories is free!

So you thought that by cutting out your snacking to help lose weight. I know it may seem counterintuitive but eliminating snacks usually hurts your chances of losing weight and leads to more hunger and fatigue. It is pretty tough to make it all the way from noon to dinner without eating anything. And when dinner finally get there you are so hungry that you make bad choices and tend to overeat! Any healthy eating plan accounts for 1-2 snacks each day. Snacks need to be something nutritious and satisfying though. Here are some good ideas: reduced fat cheese sticks, nuts, fruit or low fat yogurt (watch the sugars!). There are a variety of good protein bars out there as well. Watch your portions though, with many of these bars a snack would be half the bar! Snack healthy!