Here are the 9 most important foods to avoid if you have diabetes:
- 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!
- Fruit Juice: all the sugar and none of the fiber. Eat the fruit instead!
- 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.
- White rice, bread and flour: the key here is white. Avoid these highly refined and processed foods. Opt for whole grains instead!
- Full Fat Dairy: much higher in saturated fats that lead to weight gain and heart disease both of which diabetics are predisposed to.
- Fatty Cuts of Meat: same story with saturated fats. Go for the leaner cuts and chicken, turkey and fish.
- 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!
- Fried foods: full of fat, at times trans fats and lead to weight gain and heart disease. Not good for anyone.
- 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.
Try to fill your diet with lean meats, vegetables, fruits and good whole grains. That is the best recommendation for diabetics. It is an excellent recommendation for everyone for that matter!
Categories: General Interest, Nutrition Tags: alcohol, baked goods, dairy, diabetes, diabetics, dried fruit, food, fried food, fruit, fruit juice, lean meat, meat, snacks, sugar, vegetables, white bread, white flour, white rice, whole grains
Snacks are an important part of a healthy eating plan. Make sure you are getting good snacks though. To do this requires a little planning as we are surrounded by lots of bad snack choices. Snacks that contain protein will stay with you longer, make you feel fuller and help dampen the sugar crash often associated with snacks. Here are 6 easy, grab and go snacks:
- Jerky (turkey or beef) – this is a great snack that is low fat, lean, tasty, available in a variety of flavors and satisfies the chewy factor. 1 oz of jerky give you about 10g of protein for only 100 calories. Watch sodium and look for low sodium varieties if you can find them.
- Roasted Soy Nuts – an interesting change up from all the traditional nuts. Available in flavors. Check out wasabi flavored! 1/4 cup gives you 6g of protein for 120 calories.
- Cheese packs – not just for kids lunches! Try coupling one of these with and apple, pear or a bunch of grapes: reduced fat string cheese, Laughing Cow wedges/cubes or Babybels.
- Protein Bars – keep in mind there are snack bars and meal replacement bars. You want to look for bars that have 200 calories or less. Watch the sugars in some of these bars especially if you are diabetic!
- Hard Boiled Eggs – Put a little pepper on them and oh so good! Great portable snack!
- Fat free or Low fat Milk – great for post workout. Has carbohydrates and protein and is also good for rehydrating!
Make sure you are planning ahead so that you have good protein laden snacks handy! Let us know of other great portable snack you use!
Categories: General Interest, Nutrition Tags: cheese, eggs, healthy eating, healthy snacks, jerky, milk, protein, protein bars, roasted soy nuts, snacks
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!
As much as things change they stay the same. The advice our parents and grandparents gave us still holds true today. Here are some tips that were offered up by past generations to stay healthy.
1. Start your day with hot water and lemon juice
2. Never skip breakfast
3. Drink water throughout the day
4. Eat your vegetables, especially from the garden
5. Eat at least one bowl of vegetable soup a day
6. Have three prunes every morning at breakfast
7. Snack on fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the day
8. Stand up straight – better posture equals a better body
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- Fall Comfort Foods
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