Diabetes Diet: Expert Tips for Managing Blood Sugar

Diabetics must be very conscious of the food they eat to remain healthy. If you have diabetes, eating small, frequent meals, avoiding certain foods and combining foods carefully will help you avoid the high blood sugar levels that can lead to health problems.

Structuring Your Meals

• Diabetics should eat small and frequent meals. Eating a small meal will prevent overly high increases in blood glucose, giving your body time to process the carbohydrates in your food. Frequent meals help to avoid hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, that sometimes result from insulin injections. Healthy protein-based snacks, such as nuts, are a good way to bridge the gap between meals.

Avoiding Foods

• Refined, overly processed breads, as well as treats containing sugar, will cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. In order to avoid high blood sugar spikes, which would require an additional insulin injection, eat whole grains and other complex carbohydrates, rather than white bread or foods made with refined flour. Sugar should be avoided as much as possible, but you can substitute artificial sweeteners in your treats, or try fructose, which has been shown to have a slower effect on blood sugar than glucose.

Healthy Combinations

• When you eat carbohydrates, include proteins and fats with them. As carbohydrates are turned into sugar within the body, they are absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in higher blood sugar levels. Eating fats and proteins with the carbohydrates slows the digestion process, which slows the absorption of the sugar into your bloodstream. Combining carbohydrates, such as breads, fruits and even vegetables, with protein and fat is a simple way to ensure proper nutrition while keeping your blood sugar balanced. A great snack---and a healthy combination for a diabetic---is a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter.