The Winter’s Best Diabetes-Friendly Foods
We not only spice up our wardrobes in the Fall and Winter, we usually change our meal choices, too. But fall and winter classics like apple pie and pumpkin lattes are loaded with carbohydrates, which will ruin your balanced diet─especially if you have diabetes. A pumpkin spice latte can have more than 50 grams of sugar. This will surely spike your blood sugar. This is just one example. By the end of the day, most people would probably forget they even drank it. Now add some other cool-weather comfort foods like mashed potatoes and gravy, hot bread, and cakes. You can easily set yourself up for failure to manage blood sugar levels.
Once the summer is gone, it’s entirely too easy to “forget” to exercise. You can quickly morph into a couch potato devouring snacks with reckless abandon. However, most of those delicious munchies are swimming in sodium, saturated fat, and carbohydrates. The good news is, you don’t deprive yourself just because you have diabetes.
By merely selecting smaller portions or placing a much healthier twist on some of those comfort food classics it ’s possible to enjoy the foods that you love without putting yourself in a diabetic coma. Gradually start substituting junk food for healthier options. Processed food and snacks are nutritional sabotage. According to health expert Jonny Bowden, the healthiest and most practical diet for humans is the paleo diet.[1]
Converting to a paleo diet will take time and effort. So, try starting with modifying traditional recipes, and still enjoy all your favorite seasonal meals. Up until now, we hadn’t mentioned all of those tasty drinks come along with the winter months. If you dare, try some herbal teas flavored with lemon spice, cranberry, or nutmeg instead of artificially sweetened drinks. You might be surprised how good the natural substitutes taste, not to mention the health benefits from reducing your sugar intake.
Try Cinnamon On Your Coffee
In the Winter people flood their favorite coffee houses. Of course, those yummy drinks are load with sugar and calories. This season try a new strategy. For instance, try a cinnamon latte produced out of low-fat milk. Research indicates that consuming just 120 mg (mg) of cinnamon can help reduce fasting sugar levels and LDL, or”bad,” cholesterol levels while still enhancing the HDL, or”good,” cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes.[2]
Give Brussel Sprouts a Try
This vegetable gets a bad rap, but it’s great for people with diabetes because it doesn’t spike your blood sugar level. It’s also available in abundance throughout much of the fall and winter. They would be great with a lean protein like organic boneless chicken breast for a meal that’s satiating and filled with fiber. Try it roasted, it is quite tasty.
An Apple Will Keep The Doctor Away, or At Least a Good Distance
According to Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, men who eat one apple a day lower their risk of heart attack by 32 percent. Apples are delicious, and they have a ton of health benefits. They only have 15 g of carbohydrate and have 4 g of fiber, and will hardly budget your blood glucose levels. By the way, if you decide to juice your apples, don’t forget the peel. It contains a potent antioxidant, according to national nutritional expert Jonny Bowden.
Trade White Potatoes for Jicama
Jicama and diabetes make a fantastic pair! The flexibility of the root vegetable enables it to be in several foods without blowing your carb allowance. To prepare, just eliminate the skin using a vegetable peeler and slice or cube. You might like it raw as a hummus dipper or even a crispy topping for sandwiches.
Try Spaghetti Squash
This smart-choice side will be able to help you make you feel full, and keep you from piling up the bowl pasta. To prepare, just slice the squash in half, then scoop out the seeds, and then bake it. Once tender, then use a fork to take out the flesh of the skillet, and you’ve got a low carb”pasta” prepared to proceed.
Give Cannellini Beans A Shot
If you like chili, toss cannellini beans into your next batch to take advantage of their high fiber count, which may help to promote healthy blood-sugar levels. According to Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., increasing fiber in your diabetes diet can help reduce fasting glucose levels.
Bake Sweet Potatoes to Get Better Skin and Infection
In case you believed potatoes were off-limits in your a diabetes-friendly diet, then consider again: Spicy potatoes are great for diabetes since they give a range of health benefits as part because of their deep orange color. The phytochemical beta-carotene that is responsible for its orange color of sweet potatoes is converted into vitamin A in the human body, which will help to promote wholesome skin and eyesight, according to Bowden. An analysis published in May 2012 in Human Genetics indicates a diet full of beta carotene could be protective for those who possess a hereditary predisposition to develop type two diabetes.[3] When you warm with sweet potatoes this year, do not neglect to include things like skin too.
OK, Here’s a Recipe
Italian Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
2 large spaghetti squash, halved
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 c. shredded mozzarella
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°. On a large baking pan, rub the squash with olive oil then add salt and pepper.
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Bake it for 1 hour. Remove from oven and heat broiler.
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You can spread the spaghetti squash with a fork.
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Meanwhile, cook sausage until browned.
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Pour in the tomato sauce and sausage, add cheese.
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Broil until cheese is browned and the squash is warmed through 4 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.