Having diabetes necessitates living a more regimented life. It includes thinking about food choices, exercise regimens, stress management, testing your glucose levels and maintaining a healthy A1c. Actually, living a healthy existence, with a higher quality of life, requires most of the aforementioned recommendations. Some people with diabetes have lower levels of certain nutrients due to […]
The new FDA nutrition guidelines have changed from the food pyramid to the plate method of eating. As a nation, we are trying to decrease our ever growing rate of obesity which can lead to multiple chronic diseases. Trying to eat balanced meals of small portions and nutrient dense foods are a challenge for almost everyone. […]
Most of us are exposed to information via the internet, magazines, newspapers, the news and overhearing other people’s conversations. At this point, we are aware of the foods that may harm our health and the foods that may help to strengthen us. Yet, most of us continue to eat without a conscience. We don’t think about […]
Party time can be stressful when you have diabetes. You wonder what will be served, if you will overindulge in some of your favorite “fun” foods and how it will affect your glucose levels. The last thing you want to do is allow stress to hinder your enjoyment or be at the forefront of your thoughts […]
Maintaining a healthy weight can be challenging because we tend to omit the foods we enjoy. Human beings do not like being deprived of things and that is why diets are short-term solutions to long-term problems. Extend products allow you to enjoy decadent tastes that you crave, with fewer calories, and that digest slowly so you […]
Extend products such as bars, shakes, crisps, and drizzles come in various flavors, are delicious and allow the person with diabetes to satisfy their craving for a sweet, salty, or crunchy snack food without the possible adverse effects while helping to control their blood glucose levels.
Finding our way around the kitchen can be challenging whether you have diabetes or not. There are healthy choices, not so healthy choices and unhealthy choices. We all need to be cognizant of the amount of saturated or trans fat (those artery clogging, cholesterol producing fats), sodium (can be harmful to your heart, blood pressure and kidneys), and processed sugar we allow into our bodies.
Each week I meet with my patients to discuss the impact of their food choices on glucose control. The top 5 most common questions I have about reading a food label.
Sugar free items or no sugar added items remove the processed sugar (sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, etc.) and replace it will a slower digesting carbohydrate known as "sugar alcohol”. Some familiar names of sugar alcohols are sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol and lactitol. Most of them end in "ol” just like alcohol. These sugar alcohols will still have an impact on your blood sugar, however, because they digest more slowly you may see less of a spike.
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It can be very challenging to keep portions in control. At times it seems nearly impossible not to eat everything on our plate. Didn’t our parents encourage us to “clean our plates”? We now know how important portion control is for blood sugar control as well as weight/calorie control. Yet, we still need a little help!
Here are some examples of portion controlled items that we carry to help you stay within your calorie and glucose “budget”: