3 ways to break your sugar habit

I was at the coffee machine yesterday when my co-worker Carolyn asked me about the new sugar recommendation from the American Heart Association. Co-authored by EatingWell nutrition advisor Rachel K. Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., the recommendation says to reduce our intake of added sugars to help your heart and waistline. 

As we talked, I doctored my coffee: first some milk, then sugar….wait, should I even add sugar to my coffee?

Carolyn was thinking the same thing—she adds sugar to her coffee, and there’s already so much sugar in soda and many packaged foods. We aren’t the only ones eating too much sugar—a recent survey suggests that Americans consume 355 calories, or 22 teaspoons, of added sugar a day! And although there isn’t a direct scientific link, it’s likely that the weight gain in our population is related, in part, to our increased intake of added sugars. 

“How much sugar can I eat and how can I try to eat less?” she asked.

Diabetic Diet: FAQs

Your diabetes questions answered

Is it true that cinnamon helps reduce blood sugar?

Indeed, some research suggests that spicing up your diet with cinnamon may improve blood-glucose levels. In a 2003 study of 60 men and women with type 2 diabetes published in Diabetes Care, consuming as little as 1 gram (approximately 1/2 teaspoon) of cinnamon daily, for 40 days, was associated with significantly lowered (up to 29 percent lower) blood-glucose levels. Cinnamon intake also was linked with reduced levels of blood triglycerides, total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol.

5 Simple Ways to Eat More Fiber

Try these easy tips for getting more fiber into your diet.

Eating enough fiber is important for helping to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Research also suggests that consuming fiber-rich foods might boost weight loss by helping you to feel fuller after you eat. But most of us eat only about half as much fiber as we should. Nutrition guidelines recommend 25 to 38 grams per day; the average American consumes only about 14 grams. It’s not hard to boost your fiber intake. Do it easily with these 5 simple tips.

Diabetes 101: Essential Facts

How insulin regulates glucose.

To get an understanding of diabetes, it’s helpful to know what happens when you eat, say, an apple. Through digestion, your body breaks down the apple into usable components that travel in your blood. One of these components is glucose, a form of sugar your body’s cells need for fuel. But to get into most of your cells, glucose requires an escort: insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Think of insulin as the “key” that unlocks the door to your cells to allow glucose inside.

When all is well, beta cells in your pancreas make the correct amount of insulin whenever your blood-glucose level rises—usually after a meal—so that the glucose can get to where it’s needed. But with diabetes, your body can’t make enough insulin, or becomes less able to use the insulin you do make. The result? Glucose stays in the bloodstream rather than getting into the cells where it belongs, and the glucose level builds up in your blood. This condition is known as hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose.

Diabetic Diet Guidelines

Tips to keep your blood sugar in check and help prevent diabetes.

Nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes and one-third of these people don’t even know it. What’s more, an additional 54 million people in the U.S. have blood-glucose levels that fall into a risky “prediabetes” range.

Basically, diabetes is a health condition characterized by high levels of glucose—a form of sugar that fuels our body’s cells—in the blood. Our bodies break down the foods we eat into glucose—but the sugar can’t get into cells without an escort. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, ushers the sugar in. But in people who have diabetes, the beta cells of the pancreas don’t make enough insulin (type 1 diabetes), or the body’s cells don’t respond effectively to the hormone (type 2 diabetes). The result: glucose stays in the blood, where it accumulates. Over time, this high concentration of blood glucose—a condition called hyperglycemia—weakens blood vessels and then can damage the eyes, kidneys and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease and stroke.

4 Easy Tips for Eating Low on the Glycemic Index

Following the glycemic index (GI) system can be confusing—“but only if you spend too much time crunching numbers and not looking at the big picture,” says Joyce Hendley, EatingWell’s nutrition editor and author of The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook (The Countryman Press). Knowing a few overall principles can make low-glycemic eating much simpler, she explains:

1. Bigger is better.

Large food particles take longer for the body to break down and absorb, so they move more slowly through your digestive system. So in general, the more intact and less processed a food is, the lower its GI. Think whole rather than refined grains, whole fruit rather than fruit juice, steel-cut oats rather than instant oatmeal and stone-ground rather than plain cornmeal. When buying whole-grain bread choose stone-ground, sprouted or cracked-wheat types; the grain kernels should be visible.

Eating to Manage Diabetes

The Basics of Carbohydrate Counting and Exchanges

We all eat to live (and, indeed, live to eat), but for someone with diabetes, that adage isn’t just academic. It’s a matter of staying well and living longer. Because diabetes is a disorder in how your body processes foods, every choice you make to eat or drink is important. The benefits of eating well are powerful, helping to keep your blood glucose, blood fats and blood-pressure levels under control and helping prevent complications of diabetes. Most of all, eating right helps you feel in control.

But that doesn’t mean eating has to be like taking medicine. Eating is one of life’s most fundamental pleasures, and it’s part of our social fabric. Food plays a central role in family celebrations, holidays and business deals; special foods are part of the traditions that define us. Food shouldn’t lose all that importance just because you have diabetes.

WHAT'S YOUR HEALTHY WEIGHT? PART II

In this secyion

• Different eating patterns for weight loss
• Other diets
• Commercial weight loss programmes
• Physical activity
• Top tips
• How do you know if you need to lose weight?

Different eating patterns for weight loss

There are a lot of eating plans or ‘diets’ for weight loss, but just a few of them have undergone rigorous research to determine whether they are safe and effective for people with diabetes. Most of the weight loss diets that have evidence for use in diabetes have been studied in people with Type 2 diabetes.

WHAT'S YOUR HEALTHY WEIGHT? PART I

We know that a lot of adults in the UK are overweight or obese and those extra pounds can cause problems with our health, whether we have diabetes or not. Excess weight is linked with heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers – as well as Type 2 diabetes. 

Achieving a healthy weight, and maintaining it, is often easier said that done and it’s one of the hardest things to do for some people. Whether you want to lose or gain a few pounds – or are a healthy weight already – there’s lots of evidence to show that being a healthy weight will benefit your health. These benefits include better blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels and reducing your risk of developing any long-term health problems. And, most people say they also feel better about how they look. 

Diabetic Diet Quick Tips

9 helpful tips for diabetes you can try right now.

By 2020, 1 in 2 Americans could have diabetes. But there's good news: what you eat can help prevent and manage diabetes. Eating well and moving more helps prevent the condition—even if your blood glucose level is already in what’s considered to be a “pre–diabetes” range. (And if you have diabetes already, a healthy diet helps keep glucose levels in check.) These 9 quick tips help you take control of your eating, one step at a time.

1. Compare Carbs

Research shows that it is the total amount of carbohydrate of a meal or snack that most affects blood glucose levels, not whether the source of the carbohydrate is starch or sugar. And sugar–free does not mean carbohydrate–free. Compare the total carbohydrate content of a sugar–free food with that of the standard product. If there is a big difference in carbohydrate content between the two foods, you may want to buy the sugar–free food. If there is little difference in the total grams of carbohydrate, choose the one you want based on price and taste.

10 Tips for Managing Diabetes

Diabetes is a lifelong, total-body problem. Manage blood sugars and overall health with these smart tips.

Get your team together.

Although your primary-care physician may have been the one to order blood-glucose testing, you need a team of professionals to guide you through all of diabetes' medical details. Ideally your team will include your primary-care physician, an endocrinologist (a hormone specialist who understands the intricacies of insulin), a registered dietitian to help you fine-tune your eating plan, an ophthalmologist (an eye specialist who can look for diabetes-related signs of damage to the retina), a podiatrist (a foot-care specialist who can help prevent complications from diabetes-related nerve damage and skin sores), and a dentist to keep periodontal disease and other infections under control.

GETTING ACTIVE AND STAYING ACTIVE

Being active can make you feel better, reduce your stress levels, keep your weight down and protect your health. Whether you have diabetes, or are taking steps to reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes, there are many reasons to get more active:

• Being active will help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight
• It increases the amount of glucose used by the muscles for energy, so it may sometimes lower blood glucose levels
• Being active helps the body to use insulin more efficiently, and regular activity can help reduce the amount of insulin you have to take
• Losing any weight that may be necessary and maintaining a healthy weight will improve management of Type 2 diabetes
• Being active strengthens your bones
• You’ll be more mobile, less out of breath and you’ll sleep better
• Daily physical activity has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

LIVING WITH DIABETES

Being diagnosed with diabetes, or knowing someone who is diagnosed with the condition, may throw up many questions about how it fits into your daily life, from how it makes you feel to managing diabetes at work, or whilst you are driving. This section provides information about how diabetes can fit around you and your life.

Being diagnosed with diabetes and living with diabetes can sometimes feel overwhelming – this is quite normal. In this section of the website you can find out more about how diabetes may affect your emotions and how you feel.