If you have type 2 diabetes, what you eat determines whether your blood sugar levels remain stable. A diabetes-friendly diet not only regulates blood sugar, but it also helps you maintain a healthy weight, may reduce the need for medication, and lowers the risk of related health issues such as hypertension and heart disease. Here, review diet tips to make part of your customized diabetic care program.

Do:

Increase your vegetable intake.

Enjoy raw, steamed, or grilled vegetables such as spinach, green beans, cucumbers, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts to provide your body with nutrients and fiber.

Vegetables fill you up without the extra calories, making them ideal for diabetes weight management. Prepare them with natural oils such as olive and sesame instead of hydrogenated and saturated fats, which provide little to no nutritional value.

Consume complex carbohydrates.

Avoid starchy carbohydrates since the body turns them into sugar, and focus on complex versions that give you energy as well as nutrients. In addition to vegetables, eat complex carbs such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, and oats.

Consume fruits such as bananas, apples, and oranges. However, discuss how many servings you should have per day with your physician. Diabetes care requires monitoring your consumption because fruit contains sugar.

Don’t:

Eat a lot of dairy or processed meats. 

Choose low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources over full-fat dairy, processed meat, and fatty meat. Full-fat dairy and fatty or processed meats increase the risk of heart disease and can make you gain weight.

Instead of consuming whole milk, whole cheeses, beef, and pork, opt for low-fat cheese, eggs, and yogurt, as well as fish such as mackerel, tuna, sardines, and salmon. These fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids to promote heart health.

Also, stick to skinless chicken over fried versions for your source of protein. Beans and tofu provide healthy protein as well if you are a vegetarian.

Make Refined Grain & Sugar Choices

Refrain from purchasing white bread, candy, cake, white pasta, and other refined grain and sugar selections. Blood sugar spikes and crashes quickly when you consume these highly processed foods, which can cause diabetic shock symptoms such as confusion, seizures, muscle tremors, headaches, fainting, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and coordination problems. 

Maintain your diabetic care regimen with assistance from Moogerfeld Internal Medicine in Statesboro, GA. Dr. Moogerfeld is a primary care physician offering a wide range of medical care services to residents throughout the region, including physicals, women’s health care, and hypertension health care. Make an appointment today or learn more about diabetic care services online.