Think Before You Eat: 15 Foods to Avoid with Diabetes

Think Before You Eat: 15 Foods to Avoid with Diabetes



I'll be showing 1 of the 15 foods to avoid along with an healthier alternative recipe. Another of many great articles and recipes from one of my favorite web sites, Diabetic Living On Line.

Think Before You Eat: 15 Foods to Avoid with Diabetes

By Lori Brookhart-Schervish
These top food offenders contain high amounts of fat, sodium, carbohydrate, and calories that may increase your risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, uncontrolled blood glucose, and weight gain. The good news is you can indulge in your favorite foods and still eat healthfully with our satisfying and delicious alternatives.

#9 Regular Soft Drinks

Sugar-laden soda is a quick derailer to your diabetic diet. Every 4 grams of sugar equals 1 teaspoon, so if your drink has 30 grams of sugar, that's equal to 7.5 teaspoons of sugar.

Drinks with high sugar and carbohydrate contents not only add calories and carbs to your meal plan, but they may also raise blood glucose and cause weight gain.

Of course, there are diet versions of many drinks that are made with artificial sweeteners.

Get more on drink choices that won't add to your waistline:

So what should you drink? The best choice is water. Next, select straight coffee or tea (hold the milk, cream, sugar, or syrups or keep it light with fat-free milk and low-calorie sweetener). Another smart option is fat-free milk because it's rich in calcium and vitamin D. If you must have a carbonated soda or pop, choose diet drinks with low-calorie sweeteners rather than regular sodas filled with calories from high-fructose corn syrup.

Should you choose a higher-calorie beverage on occasion, go for something nutritious -- juice with vitamin C and calcium instead of a regular soda, for example -- and drink a small portion. What's small? A 4- to 8-ounce serving.
Diet Sodas

Headlines have broadcast negative news about beverages with low-calorie sweeteners such as aspartame (NutraSweet or Equal) and sucralose (Splenda). But, over the last 20 years, as the connection between low-calorie sweeteners and weight control has been studied, the scale tips in favor of low-calorie sweeteners.

Only a few studies show a relationship between diet drinks and weight gain or increased appetite, but these have often been flawed or not well designed. Most well-conducted studies and reviews conclude diet drinks can help you consume fewer calories and lose a few pounds. But by no means are they magic bullets. Diet drinks only help if you watch calories elsewhere, too.
Fruit Juices

If you can afford the calories, it's OK to drink small amounts (4- to 8-ounce servings) of 100 percent fruit juice, sports drinks, alcoholic beverages, and other calorie-containing drinks.

Nutrition expert Popkin sees no reason to drink fruit juice, however, citing the U.S. dietary guidelines that promote the benefits of consuming whole rather than juiced fruit and vegetables. He suggests fruit juice be limited for all Americans to no more than 4 ounces daily. But if calcium-fortified juices help you get needed calcium, do factor them into your calorie count.
Sports Drinks

Drink calorie-sweetened sports drinks sparingly if you aren't an endurance athlete or opt for the lower calorie options, such as Propel or G2, sweetened with less or no sugar and low calorie sweeteners. If you're exercising for less than an hour, you probably don't need the calories, sodium, and electrolytes in the sports drink. Water quenches thirst and hydrates your body just fine.

Don't be led astray by the word "natural," or hype about athletic performance on beverage labels. Instead, trust the nutrition facts and ingredients list. Before you gulp the contents of a container, check the label for:

1. Serving Size: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stipulates a serving size is 8 fluid ounces. This may not match other guidelines. The American Diabetes Association's Diabetic Exchanges specify 4-ounce (one-half cup) servings of most juices, for example.

2. Number of Servings in the Container: According to the FDA, beverage manufacturers may soon have to tell you the nutrition facts for a whole container if the drink is likely to be consumed at one time.

3. Calories and Carbohydrates Per Serving: Make sure these numbers are close to zero, indicating the beverage is not sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

"Calorie-laden beverages are loaded with carbohydrates, but drinking low-calorie beverages can move your blood glucose south," Roszler says. She encourages people with diabetes to get fewer of their daily calories from beverages. "I've seen these changes result in decreases in both weight and blood glucose."

Alert: High-Calorie Beverages
Look for these high-calorie sweeteners on the beverage container label. The sooner the ingredient is listed, the greater the amount is used in the product.

    * High-fructose corn syrup
    * Dextrose
    * Fructose
    * Glucose syrup (found in sports drinks)
    * Fruit juice concentrates
    * Honey

http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/food-to-eat/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-with-diabetes/?page=10