Healthy Eating
Diet and nutrition play a vital role in overall blood glucose control and lipid levels, as well as in the prevention of secondary disease and complications associated with diabetes.
Therefore, a very important part of your diabetes management plan is to consider your food choices and eating habits.
We can eat many different foods together to make up a healthy eating plan. There are many foods and meals that we can enjoy while still maintaining a healthy diet. One thing is certain, there are no special foods that a person with diabetes should eat. There is no need to include any so-called ‘special’ foods to your diet. Do you know that the ‘Diabetic Diet’ is nothing more than a normal healthy eating plan? The correct diet for a diabetic person is, in actual fact, the way everyone should eat all the time. Your diet, created with the help of a dietician/nutritionist, will set an example of healthy eating for the rest of the family.
All food is made up of nutrients. The major nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and water. Carbohydrate containing foods have the most influence on blood glucose levels. Some of these carbohydrate rich foods are: starches such as bread, potato, rice and breakfast cereals; fruit and some vegetables; dried beans and lentils; milk and yogurt; and those with added refined sugars like ice-cream, cakes, honey, syrup and drinks containing sugar, as well as sugar itself.
In the case of a person with diabetes, carbohydrate intake needs to be monitored. This can be done by carbohydrate counting, portioning meal sizes or by the experience-based estimation of portions. It is highly important to take note of the amount of carbohydrates in every meal as the amount of carbohydrates will influence the amount of insulin required. However, the carbohydrate count is not the only thing that effects postprandial (after meal) glucose. Other factors that should be considered are the type of carbohydrates being eaten, how the meal is prepared, the degree of processing, ripeness and the protein and fat distribution of the meal. Your blood glucose levels, as well as your weight, may be controlled through consistency of carbohydrate intake, as well as spacing of meals and the frequency of meal consumption.
Healthy ways to quickly assemble a balanced meal
The Idaho Plate Method is a good place to start for a healthy meal planning
Step 1: Take a 22cm plate and divide it in half. Take one half and divide it in half again.
Step 2: At breakfast one quarter of the divided plate would have a protein, the other quarter of the plate would contain starch and the undivided half would be empty.
Step 3: At lunch and dinner – fill the undivided half with a variety of non-starchy vegetables (i.e. spinach, raw carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, gem squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, mushrooms, pepper etc.).
Step 4: For lunch and dinner, fill the quarters; fill one quarter with starchy foods i.e. whole grain bread, whole grain/high fibre cereal, brown/long grain rice, whole-wheat pasta, baby potatoes, “coarse mielie meal”, sweet potatoes, green peas, pumpkin, butternut, whole-grain crackers and some home-made popcorn.
Fill the other quarter with meat and meat substitutes i.e. skinless chicken/turkey, fish and other healthy seafood’s, lean cuts of beef or lamb, tofu, soya, eggs and low-fat cheese. Avoid processed meats like “russians”, cheese grillers, salami, polony, etc.
Step 5: If you are not lactose intolerant, add a glass of low fat or fat-free milk or 180ml fat free/sugar-free yogurt. Eat or drink at least 2 servings per day.
Step 6: Add a medium portion of fruit i.e. apples, oranges, pears or a small green-yellow banana or 2 small fruits i.e. plums, apricots, kiwi or a three-quarter cup of fresh fruit salad. Instead of eating fruit with meals – use as a snack between meals and keep up to 2-3 servings (portions) a day.
Step 7: Add a small portion of healthy fat such as little low-oil salad dressing, a small handful of nuts or seeds, olives or avocado, but use little or no fat in cooking. For good health and good glucose control the diet must only contain a small am
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