Weight Gain
Diabetics need to watch calories to prevent weight gain. Carrying extra body fat reduces your ability to maintain a balance of healthy glucose levels. In addition, extra weight may cause a resistance to insulin.
Proportions
Keeping proportion sizes down to realistic amounts is critical when eating yummy foods like nuts, cheese, ice cream and pasta. Eating smaller amounts of sugary foods and carbohydrates reduces blood glucose spikes and saves calories.
Pairing Food Groups
To maintain healthy sugar levels, prepare meals by paring food groups together. For example, if you’re just dying to have some potatoes (carbohydrates), make sure you pair them up with a protein, fiber or fat. This slows the sugar absorption process and helps to maintain a balanced diet.
Eating Favorite Foods
The secret to eating favorite foods is controlling food portions, pairing food groups and putting limits on calories. Let’s look at some more foods that used to be considered forbidden.
Dark Chocolate
You can satisfy your craving for something sweet with dark chocolate. Pair it up with a protein and fresh leafy vegetables to strike a balance. Dark chocolate can reduce insulin levels in addition to improving insulin resistance.
Blueberries
Include blueberries with a balanced meal to lower glucose levels and help to flush fat from your body.
Nuts
Limit your intake of nuts to about a quarter-cup because they can be high in calories. However, nuts are extremely healthy and supply good fats, protein, fiber and antioxidants.
Macadamia nuts, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews and almonds are some great foods for everyone, including diabetics!
Avocados
If you thought avocados were one of those treats you just can’t have, think again. They’re loaded with polyunsaturated fat (good fats), low amounts of sugar, lots of vitamins and antioxidants.
Stuffed Celery
There’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy a treat like stuffed celery, so long as you use a reduced-fat cream cheese.
Ice Pops
Sugar-free popsicles may be the answer to your cravings for something sweet. They are not only low in calories, but they also do not have much of an effect on blood sugar levels.
Smoothies
Enjoy a smoothie, which may be the perfect complement to pair with roasted chicken and a healthy salad. Smoothies should be made with low-fat yogurt or milk and your favorite fruits like bananas, oranges, apples or pears.
Desserts
You can enjoy chocolate mousse, puddings, low-fat cookies and cakes by keeping serving sizes to a minimum and substituting artificial sweetener in place of sugar.
Of course, you should watch calories, carbohydrates and sugar intake in your diet when you have diabetes. However, with a little planning and pairing the right foods together, you can still enjoy a small slice of pie, pancakes or your favorite noodle dish.