We all know the kind of food we should be eating… Plenty of fresh vegetables, healthy fats, protein and limited carbs. That’s the ideal diabetic diet. But sometimes our diets are so far from the ideal that it’s hard to know where to start.
Diabetic diet replacements
It can help to ease into a healthy diabetic diet slowly so that it becomes sustainable: part of a new lifestyle rather than a diet that can be picked up and put down. One way of doing this is to look at the foods we’re eating that we know are wrong for us, and instead of cutting them out completely (which is sometimes too difficult), replace them with healthier options. We asked dietitian Leanne Kiezer, Danone's head of corporate affairs, to give us some healthy replacement ideas. Here’s what she said:
Instead of cordials and cold drinks
Try sugar-free cordials and cold drinks or water with sliced berries or lemon for flavour.
Instead of jams and marmalade
Try low sugar or sugar-free alternatives.
Instead of granola
Try Swiss muesli or granola with no added honey or sugar.
Instead of fruit juice
Try fruit juice diluted with sparkling water.
Instead of canned fruit in syrup
Try canned fruit in natural juice, fresh fruit or stewed dried fruit.
Instead of traditional desserts
Choose a fruit sorbet rather than ice cream. Grilled nectarines make a healthy dessert. Homemade dessert recipes can be made with far less sugar. Share a dessert if you are out.
Instead of flavoured milk
Use less powder when making milky drinks at home. Look for sugar-free alternatives. Use cocoa, fat-free milk and sweetener for a delicious hot chocolate.
Instead of sweetened yoghurt
Plain, low-fat yoghurt with added fruit or fruit puree.
Instead of energy bars and granola bars
Try dried fruit bars with no added sugar. Homemade trail mix. Low-sugar digestive biscuits. High-fibre crackers with peanut butter.
Instead of rusks
Try low-sugar rusks.
Instead of muffins
Choose homemade muffins with added banana, raisins or apple puree and less sugar in the recipe.
Instead of white bread
Choose wholewheat or seed bread.
Instead of white pasta or rice
Try wholewheat pasta or brown rice.
Instead of plain maize meal
Try maize meal with lentils, or samp and beans.
Instead of high-energy, low-fibre snacks
Make homemade popcorn.
Instead of mash or potatoes without skin
Choose potatoes with skin, baby potatoes or sweet potato.
Instead of breakfast cereal without fibre
Choose a high-fibre breakfast cereal.
Also read: A guide to understanding the symptoms of diabetes
Click here to book a diabetes screening at a Clicks Clinic
This article first appeared on Sweetlife.org.za and was republished with permission.
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