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Nutrition and Diabetes

Nutrition is very important in managing diabetes. Not only what you eat, but how much you eat and when you eat influences your blood sugar. Meals should be at regular times with planned snacks. They should be low fat, high fiber foods with a limited amount of simple carbohydrates. Here are meal plans, recipes and advice on managing nutrition.
Healthy Lunch Choices with Diabetes
Sometimes figuring out what to eat for lunch is hard, especially if you have type 2 diabetes. All of a sudden, the things you used to like to eat, are on the forbidden list. What are some healthy lunch choices? Can you eat well with diabetes?
Counting Carbs? Know the Carbs in Your Fruit
The "big guns" of a healthy diet include lean protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Calories and fat grams in food choices also play a part when you're trying to eat healthier. If you have diabetes, you are probably also watching your carbohydrate intake as well.
What to Eat for Breakfast When You Have Diabetes
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sometimes it also the hardest meal to put together, especially if you work. Add diabetes to the mix, and figuring out what to eat can be downright impossible. What are the healthiest choices?
What to Know About Healthy Eating When You Have Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the only diseases where your food plays a part in the treatment. Eating too much can make you overweight, which raises insulin resistance. The kinds of foods you eat can affect your blood glucose levels. Taking good care of yourself means learning how to manage food and meals.
Effortless Weight Loss Can Be Yours
Dropping 5 to 7% of your body weight can lower your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol, but who says you have to go on a diet? Here are eight simple changes to make that will help you drop weight without really trying.
The Right Balance of Fatty Acids Reduces Your Risk
When it comes lowering your risk for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, eating foods that cause the least amount of inflammation might be the best diet of all. High levels of inflammation lead to vascular damage and insulin resistance. Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are found in many foods.
Calories Still Carry Weight When Dieting
There are a lot of diet plans out there: some recommend low-fat eating, some say that eating low-carb/high-protein is the way to go. Other diets say you should eat the "right" carbs and proteins in the "right" combinations. The one diet concept that seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle sometimes is the lowly calorie.
Lunch in a Restaurant for Under 400 Calories and Under $9.00
Americans are dining out more than ever before. It's not unusual to go to a restaurant for meals several times a week. Big portions, hidden fat, high calorie counts and lots of unhealthy choices can really derail diet plans. How can you cut calories at a restaurant?
Meal Plans for Diabetes Management
The Exchange Plan, the Counting Carbs Plan, and the Continuous Carbohydrate Plan are the three main meal plans that people with diabetes use to manage their eating. It's important to eat the same amount of carbs, proteins and fats everyday to maintain better control of blood glucose levels. Find the one that fits your lifestyle.
Quick Facts to Know about Eating and Diabetes
What are the recommended amounts of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for balanced diabetes meals and snacks? Why is the glycemic index important?
What Does a Healthy Diet Really Mean?
Think of the word "diet" and what springs to mind? Restrictive meal plans? Best-selling books by skinny celebrities? Guilt producing health nuts who make us feel like anything that we might want to eat is not only bad for us but will ultimately cause our unfortunate demise and it will be all our fault because we didn't listen to them and follow their diet?
Can Artificial Sweeteners Make You Gain Weight?
A recent study tested the theory that eating sugar substitutes instead of the real thing may actually lead to weight gain, instead of weight loss.
Healthy Eating After the Holidays
The holiday season can derail the best of healthy intentions. When you have type 2 diabetes and have to watch what you eat, it can be tough to stay focused. Now that the holidays are behind us, it's time to put the brakes on. Getting back to simple, healthy food and exercise can help get us back on track.
Cholesterol and Diabetes
Cholesterol is a type of lipid (or fat) that, among other important functions, builds cell membranes in the body. People with diabetes often have high levels of “bad cholesterol” and low levels of “good cholesterol.”
Fruits and Vegetables on a Budget
Eating more fruits and vegetables lowers your risk of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and some cancers. That's all well and good but what if money is tight? What economical strategies can you use to get more veggies and fruits in your diet?
Artificial Sweetener Reference Chart
Sugar substitutes, can reduce calorie intake and help weight loss efforts. Sugar substitutes are so much sweeter than sugar that very small amounts are needed to create a sweet taste. That is what keeps the calories of the substitutes at a minimum. They also contribute almost no carbohydrates to foods, so diabtetics can enjoy more sweet foods without affecting blood glucose levels. There are five FDA approved artificial sweeteners; Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-k, sucralose, and neotame.
Fiber and Diabetes
Experts recommend eating between 20 and 35 grams of fiber every day. Sometimes it’s hard to get enough fiber, especially when so many foods today are processed for the sake of convenience.
Where Is The Sugar Hiding?
Sugar is everywhere in your supermarket! It's in plain sight in many foods, such as cereals, cakes, cookies and candy. Table sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cane sugar, turbinado, and raw sugar, honey and maple syrup. There are other sugars that also end in "ose" just like sucrose does. Glucose, (aka dextrose), lactose, maltose and fructose are in many products. You may have seen sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol and maltitol listed in the ingredients for these and other products.
Free Online Fitness Tracker
Free Online Fitness Tracker can help you keep track of the food and calories you eat and also the calories you burn through exercise. To be used only as a supplemental guide in addition to your own health care advisor's advice.
Healthy Diets and Healthy Meal Plans
The American Diabetes Association recommends that a good meal plan is the one that fits your lifestyle the best.
Choose to Live Challenge
Manage your blood glucose to decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and other complications.
A Good Meal Plan Is One That Works For You
Blackwomenshealth.com is dedicated to health and wellness of today's African American woman and spreads the message that "it is important to remember that proper nutrition is also equally critical in diabetes care."

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