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Diabetes Nutrition Tips

1. Use Free Exchange Foods
Add some zip to your meals without zapping your dietary plan with free exchange foods.

2. Go Veggie
A vegetarian diet can be compatible with diabetes.

3. Fat and Protein Slow Glucose Spike
High fat foods like pizza and ice cream can cause a delayed blood glucose spike.

4. What Sugar-Free Equals
A food label that says “sugar-free” does not mean it is also carbohydrate-free and calorie-free.

5. Toss the Salt
Reducing dietary sodium intake can help control high blood pressure — a leading complication of diabetes.

6. Try Low GI
Foods that have a low glycemic index (GI) may raise blood glucose at a slower and steadier level than those with a high GI.

7. Take these tricks out to dinner.
Dread the temptations of restaurant eating? Have a strategy for keeping control when dining out.

8. Bulk up your diet.
If you have diabetes, make friends with fiber.

9. Don't supersize it.
Portion control is the ticket to good weight management and diabetes control.

10. Don't neglect your B's.
If you're low-carbing it, make sure you get your B vitamins.

11. Tried soybean flour yet?
Make pastries and other baked goods with this low-carb alternative.

12. Have your cake and eat it, too (or most of it, anyway).
Ever feel deprived? These tips take the guilt out of indulging.

13. Other ways to get your C.
Oranges aren't the only way to get the C you need.

14. Boost your intake of health-promoting omega-3 oil with canned salmon, walnuts, and soybeans.
This nutrient is important in reducing heart disease risk factors.

15. Take Vitamin D for Pain
Taking extra vitamin D (the "sunshine vitamin") in winter may help prevent aches, pain, fatigue, and more.

16. Don't toss the insides of your pumpkin!
The meat and seeds inside your jack-'o-lantern are diabetes superfoods.

17. Get the Most Out of Your Yogurt!
Yogurt and other fermented foods pack a particularly helpful punch.


Reviewed by Susan Weiner, R.D., M.S., C.D.E., C.D.N. 3/08