Eating with Type-2 Diabetes: Food is Your Friend

Living with or preventing type-2 diabetes doesn't mean your days of good eating are over. In fact, food is your friend, and is arguably one of the best ways you can treat — and prevent — the disease.

Article By: Nick Divito

Eating with Type 2 Diabetes Food is Your Friend

"Diet and exercise is the best thing you can do to prevent type-2 diabetes or manage your blood-sugar levels," says J. Mark Beard, MD, a member of the American Academy of Family Practitioners who specializes in diabetes. "The first thing we tell patients if they're diagnosed with type-2 diabetes or are concerned about getting it is to lose weight with a proper diet and exercise."

Leslie Fink, WeightWatchers.com recipe editor and nutritionist, says to look for foods that are good sources of the following:

Look for foods that include:
Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, breads and pasta, but avoid white flour. Complex carbohydrates are broken down slowly after consumption, leading to a slower release of glucose into the bloodstream. (Simple carbohydrates, meanwhile, are broken down quickly and can lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar.) Lean protein, like chicken, fish, beans, eggs and lean red meat. Protein builds and maintains muscles. It also keeps you full and makes you feel satisfied. Fiber, from vegetables and fruit. A study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that a high intake of dietary fiber can improve glycemic control. Small amounts of healthy fat, from oils like olive, canola and flaxseed; avocado; small amounts of nuts; and fatty fish like tuna and salmon. Studies have indicated that healthy fats can improve blood pressure, cholesterol and heart health.

Look for foods that include:

Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, breads and pasta, but avoid white flour. Complex carbohydrates are broken down slowly after consumption, leading to a slower release of glucose into the bloodstream. (Simple carbohydrates, meanwhile, are broken down quickly and can lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar.)
Lean protein, like chicken, fish, beans, eggs and lean red meat. Protein builds and maintains muscles. It also keeps you full and makes you feel satisfied.
Fiber, from vegetables and fruit. A study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that a high intake of dietary fiber can improve glycemic control.
Small amounts of healthy fat, from oils like olive, canola and flaxseed; avocado; small amounts of nuts; and fatty fish like tuna and salmon. Studies have indicated that healthy fats can improve blood pressure, cholesterol and heart health.

So don't despair. There are several options out there to keep things interesting. Fink offers several savory options to consider, including:

Baked Potato Skins With Creamy Spinach and Turkey Bacon.
The potato balances a big source of carbohydrates with low-fat and lean protein from the turkey bacon. Make sure to eat the potato skin too, which is high in fiber and can help control blood sugar. Spinach also adds more fiber.

Egg and Bacon Breakfast Burritos.
Eggs and egg whites are a great source of protein. Whole-wheat tortillas are a good complex carbohydrate, and Canadian bacon makes a good, lean source of protein. The avocado adds a healthy source of fat.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Broccoli, Red Peppers and Cashews.
This combination pairs a low-fat protein (chicken) with high fiber vegetables and healthy fat from the nuts.

BLT Dip with Poppy Seed Tortilla Chips.
The simple carbohydrates from the regular flour tortillas and a low-fat dip made of turkey bacon and low-fat mayonnaise or sour cream are a good addition to the fiber-rich vegetables. (Wheat tortillas also work well.)

Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta.
Another good example of complex carbohydrates (from the whole-wheat pasta) paired with the lean protein of turkey sausage and high-fiber vegetables.

Chicken Fried Rice.
Yet another pairing of a complex carbohydrates (brown rice) with lean protein (chicken) and fiber-rich vegetables (carrots, peas, scallions)

About the Writer Nick Divito is a Las Vegas-based freelancer who has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, Newsweek, The Associated Press and others. He has successfully lost weight with WeightWatchers.