Prevent or Delay Diabetes

Introduction

Pre- diabetes is a serious medical condition that can be treated. The good news is that the recently completed Diabetes Prevention Program study conclusively showed that people with pre-diabetes can prevent the development of type 2 diabetes by making changes in their diet and increasing their level of physical activity. They may even be able to return their blood glucose levels to the normal range.

While the DPP also showed that some medications may delay the development of diabetes, diet and exercise worked better. Just 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, coupled with a 5-10% reduction in body weight, produced a 58% reduction in diabetes.

Make Healthy Food Choices :

Knowing what to eat can be confusing. Everywhere you turn, there is news about what is or isn't good for you. Some basic principles have weathered the fad diets, and have stood the test of time. Here are a few tips on making healthful food choices for you and your entire family.

• Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Try picking from the rainbow of colors available to maximize variety. Eat non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, broccoli, cabbage or green beans with meals.
• Choose whole grain foods over processed grain products. Try brown rice with your vegetables or Dal(lentils) or whole wheat Chappati with your favorite vegetables or non-vegetarian items.
• Include dried beans (like kidney or pinto beans) and lentils into your meals.
• Include fish in your meals 2-3 times a week.
• Choose lean meats like cuts of beef and pork that end in "loin" such as pork loin and sirloin. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey.
• Choose non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.
• Choose water and calorie-free "diet" drinks instead of regular soda, fruit punch, sweet tea and other sugar-sweetened drinks.
• Choose liquid oils for cooking instead of solid fats that can be high in saturated and trans fats. Remember that fats are high in calories. If you're trying to lose weight, watch your portion sizes of added fats.
• Cut back on high calorie snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream.
• Eating too much of even healthful foods can lead to weight gain. Watch your portion sizes.

Diabetes meal plans & a healthy diet

Whether you need to lose weight, gain weight, or stay where you are, your meal plan can help. A  healthy diet is a way of eating that that reduces risk for complications such as heart disease and stroke.

Diabetes Food Pyramid Guide

The Food Guide Pyramid divides food into 6 food groups and emphasizes eating a certain number of portions from each food group.

It is less popular compared to both carbohydrate counting and the plate method for diabetes management.

The Diabetes Food Pyramid divides food into six groups. These groups or sections on the pyramid vary in size. The largest group – grains, beans, and starchy vegetables – is on the bottom. This means that you should eat more servings of grains, beans, and starchy vegetables than of any of the other foods. The smallest group – fats, sweets, and alcohol – is at the top of the pyramid. This tells you to eat very few servings from these food groups.

The Diabetes Pyramid gives a range of servings. If you follow the minimum number of servings in each group, you would eat about 1600 calories and if you eat at the upper end of the range, it would be about 2800 calories. Most women, would eat at the lower end of the range and many men would eat in the middle to high end of the range if they are very active. The exact number of servings you need depends on your diabetes goals, calorie and nutrition needs, your lifestyle, and the foods you like to eat. Divide the number of servings you should eat among the meals and snacks you eat each day.

The Diabetes Food Pyramid is a little different than the USDA Food Guide Pyramid because it groups foods based on their carbohydrate and protein content instead of their classification as a food. To have about the same carbohydrate content in each serving, the portion sizes are a little different too. For example: you will find potatoes and other starchy vegetables in the grains, beans and starchy vegetables group instead of the vegetables group. Cheese is in the meat group instead of the milk group. A serving of pasta or rice is 1/3 cup in the Diabetes Food Pyramid and ½ cup in the USDA pyramid. Fruit juice is ½ cup in the Diabetes Food Pyramid and ¾ cup in the USDA pyramid. This difference is to make the carbohydrate about the same in all the servings listed.

Following is a description of each group and the recommended range of servings of each group.

Grains and Starches

At the base of the pyramid are bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. These foods contain mostly carbohydrates. The foods in this group are made mostly of grains, such as wheat, rye, and oats. Starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, and corn also belong to this group, along with dry beans such as black eyed peas and pinto beans. Starchy vegetables and beans are in this group because they have about as much carbohydrate in one serving as a slice of bread. So, you should count them as carbohydrates for your meal plan.

Choose 6-11 servings per day. Remember, not many people would eat the maximum number of servings. Most people are toward the lower end of the range.
Serving sizes are:

• 1 slice of bread
• ¼ of a bagel (1 ounce)
• ½ an English muffin or pita bread
• 1, 6 inch tortilla
• ¾ cup dry cereal
• ½ cup cooked cereal
• ½ cup potato, yam, peas, corn, or cooked beans
• 1 cup winter squash
• 1/3 cup of rice or pasta

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