Eating well with diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes; 90 per cent of people with diabetes have type 2.

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, healthy eating and exercise can help control your blood sugar. The good news is that a healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

DO THE RIGHT STUFF

Manage your blood sugars by having the right foods in the right amounts at the right times. Get help from your local Diabetes Education Center or a registered dietitian to find out what’s right for you.

BALANCE YOUR PLATE

Follow Canada’s Food Guide to balance the carbohydrate, fat and protein on your plate.

Foods with more fibre help you feel full and may help control blood sugars.

• Get enough fibre by eating more plant foods. Have a variety of vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains.

• Aim for 30 to 50 grams of fibre each day.

• Compare nutrition labels and choose foods with a higher percentage Daily Value (DV) for fibre. Five-per-cent DV is a little and 15-per-cent DV is a lot. Eat Your Vegetables and Fruit

• Fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit at meals. Fresh, frozen and canned all count. Buy the ones you will eat. Enjoy them cooked or raw.

• Eat your vegetables first, when you are most hungry. Not only will you eat more vegetables, you will have less room for larger portions of other foods.

• Add variety by changing how you cook your vegetables. Grill or broil peppers, zucchini or mushrooms. Roast squash, carrots, beets or parsnips. Sauté frozen mixed vegetables.

• Enjoy fruit without added sugar. Drain and rinse canned fruit in juice or syrup.

• Choose fruit instead of juice. Choose Whole Grains

• Fill ¼ of your plate with whole grains.

• Look for whole grain bread, rolls, pasta and cereal.

• Vary the grains in your meals. Try oatmeal for breakfast. Add pot barley, wild rice or corn to soup. Serve quinoa or brown rice with a stir-fry.

• Limit white bread, white pasta and lower fibre cereal.

THE POWER OF PROTEIN

• Fill ¼ of your plate with protein choices at every meal.

• Add variety to meals by choosing different proteins. In addition to meats, try meals that feature fish, shellfish, beans, lentils, tofu, soy, eggs, milk or yogurt.

• Plan a vegetarian meal a couple times each week. It doesn’t have to be fancy. A peanut butter sandwich counts! Other options could be a vegetable chili, stir-fry with tofu or minestrone soup.

• Replace part of the meat in recipes with beans or lentils. Add red lentils to spaghetti sauce, add chick peas to chicken curry or top your salad with white kidney beans and sliced chicken.

• Snack on small portions of unsalted nuts and seeds.

• Have fish at least twice a week. Try salmon, haddock, shellfish or tuna. Fresh, frozen or canned are all good choices.

• Make a breakfast parfait with Greek yogurt, fruit and nuts.

CHOOSE HEALTHY FATS

• Use added fats like oil and soft margarine instead of butter, coconut oil, hard margarine or shortening.

• Include foods with healthy fats, like avocadoes, nuts, seeds and fish.

• Limit higher fat foods such as French fries, chips, bacon, sausage and fried foods.

Like @Sobeysdietitian on Facebook and Twitter for more tasty tips and recipes or receive our schedule of events and Healthy Bits and Bites Newsletter directly to your inbox. Register at www.sobeyspharmacy.com/newsletter.

NUTRITION EVENTS

5 Secrets to Better Blood Sugars: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Get practical suggestions for better blood sugars by balancing your plate, reading labels and knowing which foods affect blood sugar. Even if you don’t have diabetes, this class gives practical pointers on making good food choices.

Call Jennifer at 902-895-7382 for information or to register. Jennifer Ferguson is a registered

dietitian with Sobeys in Truro.