Essential Nutrition Tips for the Control of Diabetes

If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, you absolutely must change the way that you eat. The alternative is literally an early death from diabetes. Eating right doesn’t mean that you have to eat foods that you hate or foods that taste bad. It simply means eating the right foods, and avoiding or limiting the foods that only serve to have a negative affect on your blood sugar levels.

Let’s start with what you should be eating. Fruit is very good for you, but because it does contain natural sugars, you should not eat a great deal of fruit at one time. Fiber, such as cereals and nuts are also good. When eating cereals, however, you must be careful about using milk and sugar. Vegetables – especially fresh vegetables eaten raw or prepared with the diabetic in mind – are wonderful. You can dress up vegetables and meats with a wide range of herbs.

Whole grains, such as brown rice and wheat products are usually good for the diabetic; however you need to read labels to ensure that sugars have not been added to the product. Chicken, fish, and seafood are good, and while red meat is okay, you should eat more chicken or fish than anything else. When eating dairy products, you must use care. If you drink milk, it should be skimmed milk. Cheese and yogurt should be low fat. You can eat egg whites, but not the yolks.

Foods that a diabetic person should avoid include any type of sugar or sweetener, except for the sugars that occur naturally in foods, such as fruits – and again, even these foods should be limited. Many artificial sweeteners are okay, but you should ask your doctor before using any of them. Also note that just because you cannot see the sugar, it is still there, and it will still have a negative impact on your blood glucose level.

While fruits are essentially okay, your doctor will most likely warn you away from certain fruits that contain a great deal of natural sugars. These fruits include melons, grapes, and mangos.

Foods that include glucose, dextrose, or fructose should be avoided, as these are essentially all different types of sugars. You should also avoid many baked goods, such as breads, pasta, and biscuits. If weight is a problem, there are also certain high carb vegetables that you will need to limit, such as potatoes, peas, and carrots. You should also stay away from foods that contain saturated fat.

Your doctor should give you a thorough breakdown of the foods that you should eat, as well as the foods that you should avoid. If he or she doesn’t, ask about these foods. If you aren’t sure that you are getting good information from your doctor, hire the services of a nutritionist so that you can learn about the foods that you need to eat, and the foods that you need to avoid for controlling your diabetes.