When you learn you have diabetes, you can initially worry that your life is over. This is viewed as a disease that takes over your life since it controls what you eat and don’t eat.
While you will need to make a slight change to your diet, you’ll find that your diet and lifestyle are much healthier than before. You’ll find that with the right diet you have more sustained energy, better mental health, and much more.
People with diabetes need to follow a low-sugar diet. More specifically, you want a low-GI diet. This is a low glycemic index diet. The GI of food is determined by the way the glucose reacts within your body. Food that causes a spike in the blood sugar and insulin levels will have a higher GI than those that offer sustain, normal blood sugar levels.
The great news is that with some simple planning you can fit in a low GI diet into your normal lifestyle. Nobody has to know that you are following a special diet to control your diabetes. It’s all about meal planning and thinking ahead. Here is your ultimate guide to meal planning and managing your diet as a diabetic patient.
Prepare for a Healthier Diet
Start with some preparation tips in your home. You want to go through your fridge and cupboards to make sure you only have the food that is going to be good for you. The main focus right now is eating the right foods on a daily basis; the foods that won’t cause a spike in your blood sugars.
The first stuff to get rid of in your home is the refined sugars and processed foods. You want to get rid of chocolate, biscuits, cakes, cookies, and more. If they remain in your house, they will constantly call out to you. They become a temptation that you reach for quickly when your willpower slips. If they’re not in the house, while you may have cravings you’re less likely to reach out for them.
Talk to a registered dietician. While your doctor will try to help, doctors aren’t necessarily trained in the perfect diet. A registered dietician will know all about the best diets for diabetes patients. They’ll be able to help you learn more about the sugars in foods. You may be surprised to learn that some natural sugars may be off limits, especially foods that are high in natural sugars.
Once you have all the bad stuff out of the house, stock your cupboards full of high fiber, high protein, and low sugar foods. Look out for vegetables and some fruits, legumes and nuts, and whole grains. Lean meats are your friends, and you’ll want to keep an eye out for foods that have healthy, unsaturated fats.
It will take time to get used to this new diet. The best thing to do when you start is making a list of your goals. What do you want to achieve from following this diet? Most diets are about losing weight, but you may just want to prevent your diabetes from getting worse. With the right diet, you could find you rely less and less on medication for your insulin levels. Could this be your goal right now?
