Maintaining a Healthy Diet with Diabetes
For individuals managing diabetes, adopting a healthy eating plan offers numerous advantages:
- Promotes overall well-being
- Assists in regulating blood glucose levels
- Helps achieve target blood lipid (fat) levels
- Supports maintenance of healthy blood pressure
- Aids in achieving and sustaining a healthy body weight
- May help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes-related complications
Following a nutritious diet with diabetes doesn't necessitate separate meals or special foods. So, embrace healthy eating as a family activity.
Physical Activity and Diabetes
In addition to a balanced diet, physical activity plays a pivotal role in diabetes management. Integrate various forms of activity into your routine, aiming for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Regular exercise offers numerous benefits:
- Regulates blood glucose levels
- Lowers cholesterol
- Reduces blood pressure
- Alleviates stress and anxiety
- Enhances mood and self-esteem
- Improves sleep quality
- Strengthens muscles and bones
If weight loss is a goal, aim for at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. If this seems daunting, break it into shorter sessions of 10–15 minutes throughout the day.
Resistance training is highly recommended, especially for individuals with diabetes. An exercise physiologist can help design a safe resistance training program. Aim for resistance exercises at least twice weekly, which may include:
- Body weight exercises like push-ups, squats, or lunges at home
- Utilizing dumbbells and resistance bands (e.g., Thera-Bands™) for home workouts
- Incorporating household chores involving lifting, carrying, or digging
- Participating in gym sessions focusing on weights or resistance exercises
Moreover, strive to reduce sedentary behavior throughout the day, whether at work, home, or elsewhere. Incorporate small activities to minimize prolonged sitting:
- Opt for stairs instead of elevators
- Park farther from your destination and walk
- Exit public transport one stop earlier and walk the remaining distance
- Stand up to hydrate regularly, at least once per hour
- Complete chores while watching TV, such as ironing
- Engage in active play with children or grandchildren at the park
- Initiate face-to-face conversations with colleagues instead of emailing
Essential Dietary Guidelines for Diabetes
For individuals with diabetes, adhering to a simple and nutritious eating plan is vital. Here are some fundamental guidelines:
- Consume regular meals throughout the day.
- Emphasize vegetables, aiming to fill at least half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables or salad at lunch and dinner.
- Consider reducing meal and snack sizes to facilitate weight management and simplify diabetes control.
- Include small portions of high-fiber carbohydrates in each meal, such as wholegrain bread, oats, muesli, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, quinoa, fruits, and starchy vegetables.
- Opt for reduced-fat or low-fat dairy products with minimal added sugar, such as Greek yogurt with fresh fruit.
- Select lean meats and alternatives like skinless poultry, fish, eggs, legumes, tofu, and nuts.
- Limit intake of unhealthy saturated fats found in full-fat dairy products, butter, cream, fatty meats, fried foods, pastries, and foods containing palm or coconut oil.
- Substitute saturated fats with healthy unsaturated fats like olive, canola, or sunflower oil, and include monounsaturated or polyunsaturated margarines, oily fish, avocado, seeds, and nuts.
- Incorporate oily fish into your diet regularly for heart health, aiming for 2 to 3 servings per week.
- Reserve baked goods and desserts for special occasions.
- Avoid sugary candies and beverages such as soft drinks, cordials, sports drinks, flavored waters, and energy drinks.
- Refrain from adding salt during cooking or at the table, and minimize consumption of high-sodium foods.
- Use herbs and spices to enhance the flavor of your meals.
- Limit alcohol consumption to 2 standard drinks per day, with alcohol-free days incorporated weekly.
Example Meal Plan for Healthy Eating with Diabetes
Select foods that you enjoy and that keep you satisfied, while incorporating small servings of carbohydrate foods in each meal or snack to help manage blood glucose levels. Your primary meal can be consumed at either lunch or dinner.
Breakfast
Breakfast options include:
- 3/4–1 cup of high-fiber breakfast cereal with low-fat milk and a piece of fruit
- 1/2 cup of natural muesli or rolled oats with milk or reduced-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 slices of wholegrain toast with thinly spread peanut butter, baked beans, grilled tomato with avocado, poached or boiled eggs, ricotta cheese and tomato, or sardines
- Water, tea, or coffee
Light Meal
Options for a light meal:
- One sandwich made with wholegrain bread or one roll or 6 small high-fiber crackers with thinly spread avocado
- Assorted salad vegetables
- 65–80 g of lean meat or skinless poultry, 100 g of fish or other seafood, 2 eggs, 40 g of reduced-fat cheese, or 1 cup of cooked legumes (such as beans or lentils)
- Water, tea, or coffee
Main Meal
Main meal possibilities:
- 1/2–1 cup of cooked rice or pasta or one to two small potatoes
- An abundance of other vegetables
- 65–80 g of lean meat or skinless poultry, 100 g of fish or other seafood, or one cup of cooked legumes (such as beans or lentils)
- Water, tea, or coffee
Between-Meal Snacks
Not everyone requires snacks between meals. Consult your diabetes educator or dietitian if uncertain. If including snacks, opt for healthy choices such as:
- Fresh fruit
- A small serving of reduced-fat natural yogurt with fruit
- A glass of low-fat milk
- One slice of wholegrain bread with toppings like thinly spread peanut butter, ricotta or cottage cheese and tomato
- One slice of fruit bread
- High-fiber crackers with similar toppings as mentioned above
Consulting a dietitian is advisable for individuals with diabetes to tailor appropriate dietary recommendations to their specific needs.