Ask a Dietitian

Getting the diagnosis Your body gets energy by making glucose from foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, milk and fruit. To use this glucose, your body needs insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body control the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood. Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which your pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or your body does not properly use the insulin it makes.
If you have just been diagnosed with Type II diabetes or if you are “borderline” diabetic, it is time to start making some changes to your diet. Here are some first steps in assessing your food intake and taking stock of what you eat and how you eat. Next, find ways to make easy changes to your meals and snacks to help control your blood sugars.

First, write a food log for 3 days including the time you eat, what you eat and how much.
Timing: Your goal with diabetes is to eat regularly throughout the day without skipping any meals. Start by eating breakfast within 1 hour of waking and eat again every 3-4 hours. If you are not hungry for your next meal or snack after 3-4 hours then your previous meal may have been too big. Consider cutting it down tomorrow.
Type of food: Highlight all foods that contain higher levels of carbohydrates such as fruit, grains, root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, beets, turnip) and starch vegetables (peas, corn), sweetened dairy products, jam, honey, syrup, juice, beverages with sugar, candy, sweets and desserts. These are the foods that will increase your blood sugars and you need to limit.
Portions: Look at how much of all the foods you ate that contained carbohydrates.
Your goal is to cover 50% of your plate with vegetables and have 3-4oz of lean protein and 3-4oz whole grain at lunch and dinner. Try to limit the portion of grains at any given meal to no more than ½-1 cup cooked and stick to high fibre whole grains.

Dietary Control of Diabetes

1. Reduce your simple sugar intake from foods such as sugar, jam, honey, candy, chocolate, desserts, ice cream, cookies, cakes, sugar beverages and regular pop.
2. Reduce foods that have a high glycemic index (the speed at which a food becomes sugar in your blood). These foods include; raisins, grapes, carrots, over-ripe bananas, corn, peas, potato, white bread, white rice, white pasta, crackers, cookies, white buns, low fibre cereals (less than 2grams of fibre per serving).
3. Increase your fibre intake: Vegetables and whole fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Fibre will slow the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. The more fibre the better.
4. Include protein with your meals. Protein will help slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream. Examples:

Add turkey to your sandwich
Add beans or lentils to pasta sauce
Add chicken or tofu to a stir-fry
Use hummus as a dip for carrots
Include nuts with dried fruit
Add yogurt or soft tofu to a fruit smoothie
Add peanut butter to your crackers.

1. Look at the total sugar and starch on food labels. Choose foods with no added sugar more often.
2. Choose lower fat foods from the dairy group, lean meats and alternatives and avoid fried foods. Limit your added fats to 2-3 Tbsp per day or less and use liquid oils and non-hydrogenated fats.
3. Reduce alcohol consumption. Alcohol should be limited to a maximum of 1-2 drinks per night and should be consumed with food. Due to the way alcohol is metabolized it can result in a low blood sugar if consumed in excess and if not consumed with food. Avoid alcohol after heavy exercise.
4. Be active daily. Doing activity after a large meal can help control blood sugars. Consider going for a walk after dinner.

Additional Tips:
Vegetables and Fruit
Eat as many green vegetables you like but when it comes to the root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beets and parsnips eat a maximum of ½ – 1 cup of these at a time and consider skipping or reducing the pasta or bread portion of the meal. Fruit also contain carbohydrates in the form of fructose so 1-2 medium sized fruit at a sitting is plenty. Aim for 7-10 servings of vegetables and fruit each day. 1 serving is ½ cup cut up or one medium sized piece of fruit. When the pickings are slim in the winter, visit the frozen foods section for unsweetened fruit, berries and mixed frozen vegetables and the canned foods aisle for canned fruit in its own juice and canned tomato products.

Grain products
Choose primarily whole grains as these have a lesser effect on blood sugar levels. Include foods such as oatmeal, whole grain cereal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and breads. Other foods found in the bakery section such as pastries, pies, cookies, muffins and cakes are higher in sugar and fat and are made with refined flours so should be limited and enjoyed only on occasion.

Milk and Soymilk
Because milk, soymilk, yogurt and cheese are mixed foods containing fat, protein and carbohydrates they can easily be included in a diabetic diet. Aim for 2-3 servings per day. Limit portions of higher fat milk products such as cheese and ice cream and look for yogurts with a lower milk fat percentage (0.1-2% M.F.) and less sugar. Yogurts with artificial sweeteners are acceptable such as Source made with Splenda.

Meats and Meat Alternatives
This food group contains protein, which when combined with a meal, can help regulate blood sugar levels. Aim for 2-3 servings a day such as a 2.5 oz ounce serving of meat, fish or poultry, or ¾ cup beans or tofu, 1/4 cup nuts or 2 Tbsp nut butters or 2 eggs. Also look for dried and canned beans and canned fish in the aisles. Lean deli meats and BBQ chicken can also be included as a protein source for convenience.

People with diabetes should follow Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide

• Eat at least 1 dark green and 1 orange vegetable each day; have vegetables and fruit more often than juice
• Make at least half of your grain products whole grain, each day
• Drink lower-fat milk or fortified soy beverages
• Have meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu often
• Eat at least 2 servings of fish each week
• Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight by being active
• Enjoy foods with little or no added fat, sugar or salt
• Satisfy thirst with water

The Bottom Line:
Eating well for diabetes is simply a healthy eating pattern of eating regularly, filling up on fibre from vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains, including lean proteins and limiting high fat and high sugar foods.