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Old 04-21-2011, 08:33 AM
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Default Diabetes Food Suggestions

There was another thread where someone requested to know of foods that are good for people that have been diagnosed with diabetes. I hope you will consider following this letters advice but please check with your doctor as to whether your diabetic condition will allow these suggestions especially with Splenda as it contains an ingredient that gives some diabetics side effects that are less than perfect.

I want to state that you must follow what your doctor recommends as each condition of diabetes is different.

I was diagnosed with a mild form of diabetes mellitus four years ago with an A1C reading of 7.1. After three months, I lost 20 pounds and my A1C dropped to 5.8 and I have been in control since. I did slip once to a reading of 7.1 but got it back into control in a couple of months. I was eating some things that were not good and did not realize it. In addition to thinking I was bulletproof and cheating too much. Cheating begets cheating that leads to putting things in one’s mouth without thinking of the consequences.

The following has worked for me:
1. Oatmeal, (not the packets that contain a lot of sugar).
2. Egg-Beaters.
3. Multi-grain bread.
4. Lean Cuisine dinners.
5. Apples or pears. Summer fruits have a ton of natural sugar.
6. Yogurt Light, (fat free).
7. Almonds, (a handful is possible)
8. Healthy Choice Soups.
9. Sandwich with plain tuna and no mayo or almost fat free cold cuts
10. Barilla Multi Grain Pasta, (omega 3 type).
11. Sugar free jelly with Splenda.
12. Sugar free syrup with Splenda.
13. Water with meals.
14. Fiber One cereal, (bran is best).
15. Fat Free milk.
16. Multi-grain English Muffins.
17. Mills organic pancake mix.
18. Triscuits with Healthy Choice Soup.

A Day of food is:
1. A bowl of oatmeal with a packet of Splenda. Large water for breakfast or two slices of multi-grain toast with one slice that has egg beaters and the other sugar free jelly or a bowl of Fiber One cereal with a slice of multigrain toast with sugar free jelly.
2. Two cups of coffee, (black with no sugar).
3. Yogurt at 10 AM for a snack or a piece of fruit.
4. Lunch is a Lean Cuisine dinner with an apple, large water. You can tell I’m single. I like the “Chicken Primavera”, “Chicken Mediterranean” and “Shrimp with Angel Hair” pasta choices, (low in fat and sugar content).
5. Almonds at 3 PM for a snack.
6. Dinner is a can of Healthy Choice soup with a sandwich of tuna or lean almost fat-free cols cuts, (turkey or ham). A substitute for a sandwich could be an apple or pear or Triscuits.
7. A cup of tea with fat-free milk and two slices of multi-grain toast with sugar free jelly for a snack at 10 PM if needed.

Warning:

Some sugar free choices including bran cereal will taste lousy at first but you will find that you will get use to the taste after eating it for a while the foods that have a lot of sugar will taste really yucky like processed cake.

Guidelines:
1. Eating in small amounts lets your body burn some calories off and gets you to the next snack.
2. It’s all about portion control.
3. It’s a lifestyle change in eating habits, not a diet. IMHO - Diets fail as it hints that you are depriving yourself of certain foods.
4. I try not to eat anything that has more than 10 grams of sugar on the label.
5. I try to not eat anything that has more than 30% fat total for every 100 calories.
6. Meat should be as lean as possible, (ground beef at 93% is much better than 70 or 80%).
7. It is recommended that you exercise three times a week, (minimum).

I got my last test results back today and my A1C is 5.7. My sincere hope is these suggestions help someone to eat healthier and control their diabetes. Doctors have a ton of literature that explains a lot about food choices. You owe it to yourself to stay healthy and control this insidious disease as the alternative is not pretty.

Best Wishes for everyone’s future health.