Nutrition

It’s a myth that diabetics spend their life hungry or always resisting tempting food items. The best diet for a diabetic is the same healthy diet that’s best for everyone.

It’s important that diabetics regulate their sugar levels to avoid hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).

Eat right – removing all unhealthy foods from your pantry will make it easier to resist temptation.

Enjoy: Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, lean meats

Avoid: Processed foods, snack foods, sugary drinks, alcohol

With diet, consistency is key: to keep your blood sugar on an even keel, try eating the same amount of food with the same proportion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats at the same time every day. Follow this simple trick to make controlling portions easier, whether you have diabetes or not:

• Draw an imaginary line down the center of your plate.
• Draw a second imaginary line through one of the halves – you now have three sections.
• Load up the largest portion (or half the plate), with non-starchy vegetables, like salad, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower or tomatoes.
• Fill one of the smaller sections (a quarter of the plate) with a starchy food, like potatoes, pasta (preferably whole grain!), rice or corn.
• Fill the remaining small portion (a quarter of the plate) with protein, like a lean meat, fish, poultry, tofu or an egg white omelet.
• Add a glass of milk, yogurt or a small whole-grain roll with some pieces of fruit and voila – you have set the perfect plate!