Diet

What does diet got to do with my blood sugar?

Whether you have diabetes or not, most food turns into sugar before it goes into the bloodstream. This is important because your body uses sugar for energy. Sugar in the bloodstream is called “blood sugar” or “blood glucose.” insulin helps sugar move from your blood into your body's cells where it is used for energy. Your body gets the fuel it needs, in the form of calories, from the foods you eat. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are the nutrients that provide calories. They are the basic parts of your diet. Click on the links to read about Diabetes basics or Self monitoring.

Carbohydrate is the ideal fuel that provides energy for your body. Carbohydrates include foods such as breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables, and fruits. Carbohydrates affect the blood sugar more than protein and fat because all carbohydrates are broken down into sugar. Therefore, it is important that your meal plan be developed so that your carbohydrate intake, exercise, and medication, if needed, work together to keep your blood sugar levels in a normal range. For help understanding carbohydrates, portions, and how to calculate the amount of carbohydrates in specific foods, go to the Carbohydrate Counter.

Protein is the nutrient that helps with growth and repair of your body cells. Most protein comes from meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, nuts, milk, yogurt, and cheese. Some of the protein you eat is converted to glucose and your meal plan will consider this fact. Most protein - that which comes from animal sources such as beef, pork, poultry, fish, milk, or eggs - contains cholesterol.

Fat is found in oils, butter, margarine, red meat, milk and cheese, nuts, and some desserts. Your body needs only small amounts of fat each day to remain healthy. Although your body does not turn much of the fat you eat into glucose, it still gets stored as excess calories and weight. Extra weight makes insulin less efficient.

 

Facts about Fat

One of the most exciting advances of the past 10 years has gone largely unnoticed: low-fat mayonnaise. In taste tests, food researchers—people whose tastes are finely tuned—could not tell the difference between a leading brand's full-fat mayo and its light or low-fat counterparts. Instead of 11 grams of fat per tablespoon (1.5 of them saturated), the light version has just 5 grams of fat (1 saturated). And the low-fat version has just one gram of unsaturated fat.

This is cause for celebration! It's exciting for two reasons—partly because we can finally buy a low-fat product that tastes like the real thing (is there any reason to pick up regular mayo again?), but also because other items are sure to follow. Fat-free half-and-half is already on the market. You can use it in your morning coffee, as well as just about anything calling for cream—pasta sauces, homemade ice cream, you name it.

But please proceed with caution. If you whip up a tasty fat-free ice cream at home, you still have carbohydrates and calories to consider. A fat-free food is not necessarily a free food—it may actually have more carbohydrates than its full-fat counterpart. (In the case of the mayo, the light version has 1 gram of carbohydrate per serving, while the low-fat product has 4 grams per serving.)

Other ways to cut fat? Here are a few ideas...

Step down to lower-fat milk. Don't try to go from whole milk to skim milk in a day. Try weaning yourself from the full-fat version over time. Start by shifting to 2% milk. When you're used to that, switch to 1%. And so on. You can change your tastes. Next, think about how this step-down technique may apply to other foods you eat. Look for smart cooking substitutes. The web is filled with ideas for lowering the fat in recipes. A quick search will return many options. You'll find out how to use applesauce as a substitute for oil or butter when baking. You can make mashed potatoes and sauces with low-fat, low-salt chicken stock. And let plain or unflavoured yogurt stand in for sour cream. Virtually any recipe can be lightened up with a little thought. Before you deprive yourself of a favourite dish, challenge yourself to make it healthier.

Try different brands. If one tub of fat-free sour cream tastes terrible to you, try another brand next time. Flavors vary from brand-to-brand, so chances are you'll find something you like, eventually.

Get back to nature. The closer it is to its natural state when your food comes to the table, the easier it is to count and control the fat. Splashing olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a salad will likely save you calories over a creamy store-bought dressing. Freezing whole berries and grapes for a summer snack can be just as satisfying as a fudge pop on a hot day. Buying your veggies "straight up" and adding your own accents could potentially save you lots of calories, compared to vegetables frozen with butter or sauce.

Look around your kitchen and try to use your imagination. Starting with just these few broad ideas, you can start making smart changes today.

Good and Bad Fats

We've all been there. You're looking at the nutrition labels and you're thinking, "this little chocolate-covered, cream-filled snack cake doesn't have a lot more fat in it than a handful of peanuts. For an extra four grams of fat, I can really indulge."

Sure, the peanuts have 13 grams of fat. And sure, the snack cake only pushes that up to 17. But have you really seen the whole picture? Have you looked at what type of fats they'll deliver—and what effect they'll have on your body? This is where the good fat/bad fat discussion becomes important.

What are the bad fats?
There are two real troublemakers in the world of dietary fat—saturated fat and trans-fatty acids (also known as trans fats).

Saturated fats can contribute to higher LDL (bad) cholesterol, and has been linked to heart disease, strokes, and breast cancer. You'll often be able to identify saturated fats by looking at them—they tend to stay solid at room temperature. They're found in animal foods (butter, lard), as well as tropical oils such as coconut or palm oil, or cocoa butter.

Trans fats are used in many processed foods and commercial baked goods because they help keep foods from going stale. Some trans fats occur naturally, and some are created by bubbling hydrogen into vegetable oil to create "partially hydrogenated" oil.

Today, trans fats must be listed on nutrition labels, to help consumers make healthier choices. Some doctors believe that trans fats may raise LDL cholesterol even higher than saturated fats, and research is being conducted right now to know for sure.

What are the good fats?
Let's talk about good fats. And remember, even though they're considered "good," they're still fats—dense in calories and hard to work off your waistline. So you still have to approach them with a sense of balance.

Unsaturated fats include mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated varieties. Poly-unsaturated fats have been shown to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol, but may also reduce HDL (good) cholesterol. Mono-unsaturated fats can reduce LDL cholesterol without affecting HDL cholesterol. Where can you find them?

Poly-unsaturated Fats (Better for you)

• Corn, Sunflower, Soy, Safflower Oils

Mono-unsaturated Fats (Even better for you)

• Canola, Olive, Peanut Oils, Avocados, Nuts & Seeds
  

In addition, fatty acids are essential nutrients that help turn up your metabolism, lower cholesterol, and may reduce your risk of heart disease. There are two types—Omega 6 (which is found in many of the foods we eat, so most of us naturally get enough of it) and Omega 3.

Because Omega 3 is found in specific foods, many people don't get enough of it. It's in cold-water fish such as salmon and sardines, shellfish, canola oil, flaxseed, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, soybeans, and green leafy vegetables. Today, some eggs contain Omega 3, thanks to a specific diet fed to the chickens. The benefit? Certain egg yolks may reduce cholesterol.

So let's look at our snack choices again. In that ounce of peanuts, only two of those grams of fat are saturated, compared to 11 grams of saturated fat in a cake the size of a hockey puck! Knowing what kind of fat you'd be eating, choose the nuts instead.

Hidden Fats

If someone wanted to cut unnecessary fat from their diet, you might suggest soup and a deli sandwich for lunch, eating more salads, and choosing desserts that boast "low in saturated fat." Sound about right? Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The truth is, saturated and trans fats can lurk in lots of seemingly healthy foods.

So where should you watch for these sneaky fats? They're in...

Salad Dressing. All those crisp, delicious vegetables are great for you—they're high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. But at 20 grams of fat per one-tablespoon serving, full-fat dressings can work against all the benefits of salad eating—especially since many people use as much as three or four times the recommended amount. Can you imagine? 80 grams of fat on a salad. Opt for low-fat or no-fat choices instead, and measure your servings with a spoon.

Sandwiches. Before you order from the deli, think about the additions you really need—or even like. Deli workers often load on the mayo and salad oil—so ask yours to go easy, or skip them altogether and get mustard. Try to avoid prepared chicken or tuna salads. They're often made with loads of full-fat mayonnaise. Consider brown-bagging it with your own recipe, made from tuna or chicken packed in water (not oil), veggies, low-fat mayo, pickle relish, and if you have them, fresh herbs.

Ready Meals. Ready meals in particular are packed with fats, salt and sugar in order to make the food more palatable. Have a look at the food facts next time you buy that pre-made lasagna. 

Packaged Baked Goods. Any kind of commercial bakery or snack item is a potential source of trans fat. Pies, cakes, cookies, snack chips—even healthy-sounding wheat crackers. Why? Trans fat helps products stay fresh longer. So flip the box over and read the nutrition label before buying. These kind of goods often contain trans fats.

The bottom line? Look for foods that are low in saturated and trans fats, and try to cut down on both.

Creating Your Meal Plan

The goal of your meal plan should be to control your blood sugar, maintain a healthy body weight, and feel well enough to carry on your daily activities and work. Your Diabetes specialist nurse or dietitian can assist you in planning the right amounts of foods, types of foods, and timing o f meals.

As you begin to develop your own meal plan, you may want to start by thinking about the foods that you normally eat. You can do this by keeping a list of everything you eat for three days, the time you eat them, and the amount you eat. After you have completed this list, work with your healthcare team to analyse the results. As you analyse your diet, ask yourself the following questions:

• what are your favourite foods?

• do you have "problem foods," such as donuts or French fries, that are not healthy and that you probably eat too much of?

• what size are your food portions?

• how often do you eat?

• how often do you over-eat?

• do you have a time of day that is more difficult to follow your meal plan

After you analyse your diet, you should work with your healthcare team to develop a meal plan that makes sense for you. This plan should consider the foods you enjoy as well as your usual eating habits, age, sex, weight, level of physical activity, and medications. Your own meal plan will tell you the kinds and amounts of food to eat. Even with this plan, you'll still have to make daily choices about food.

What You Eat

There are three main factors to consider when planning a diet for diabetes: what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat.

Eat a variety of foods. This prevents boredom in your meal plan. In addition, a balanced meal keeps blood sugar more even. Remember that foods closer to nature are healthier for you. Also, research has proven that a plant-based diet maintains health better than a diet based on animal-source foods. An overall nutritional philosophy is to "eat more of the best and less of the rest!"

In general, you should limit your intake of certain foods. Specifically:

• use sugar in moderation

• use salt and sodium in moderation

• limit foods that are high in fat and cholesterol

Whenever you choose a food, always ask yourself, "Is there a better choice available?"

Foods to Avoid:	Foods to substitute:
Avoid fried foods, cold cuts, and higher fat cuts of red meat	Choose poultry, fish, loin or sirloin cuts of red meat, recommended broiling, grilling, or baking foods
Avoid food mixtures or casseroles	Choose plain potatoes, fruits, or vegetables
Avoid croissants, sweet breads, or "stuffed" breads	Choose pasta, whole grain breads and cereals
Avoid butter, sour cream, salad dressings, sauces, and gravies	Choose lemon or lime juice, flavoured vinegar, low-calorie salad dressings, spices or herbs
Avoid excessive alcohol and sugary drinks	Choose diet drinks and sparkling waters (without added sugar)

 

How much and when?

Eating larger servings will increase your blood sugar. Eating foods such as animal-source foods will increase your blood fats, plus these foods contain more calories. Foods such as grains, fruits, and vegetables contain more carbohydrates, which have the main effect on your blood sugar. Even though people with diabetes are often encouraged a diet based on these foods, people with diabetes need to control the amounts of these foods to keep their blood sugar from going too high. The GI method (Glycemic Index) is often used by people with diabetes. The glycemic index is a measure of the ability of a food to raise blood sugar levels after it is eaten and describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels.

Eat at regular times during the day. In general, you should eat every four to five hours. This gives your blood sugar a chance to come down before the next meal. Time can be a therapy, too. If your blood sugar is high before a meal, wait another hour or so before you test again or eat.

Tips for Exotic Eating

Download our Tips for Exotic Eating Booklet here

Click here to download (3.8MB)

 

Body Mass Index Calculator

BMI Calculator

The BMI Calculator is a useful tool for health care professionals treating patients with diabetes. The healthy weight range is based on a measurement known as the body mass index (BMI). This can be determined if you know your weight and your height.

Remember that weight is also related to build, and you should make allowances if you are stocky or of heavy build. Your BMI will vary slightly according to gender.

This simple tool calculates the body mass index (BMI), and then provides information on the risks and suggestions relative to the results.