Making the Best Choice at the Grocery Store

Meal planning is a chore. When you have special dietary requirements it is even more of a chore. Making the best choice can make a difference to your diabetes health and cuts down on your overall carbohydrate and sugar intake. Stop bad choices at the grocery store and you will be ahead of the game in planning your dietary health. Here are some images that will make yourfood choices easier.

Choose the light version rather than the no sugar added. There is about 2/3 less sugar in the light version Ocean Spray Cranberry juice.










Choose the light version of yogurt rather than original. The strawberry banana has half the sugar that is in the original 27/14. Amazing difference!









If you like flavors such as cinnamon with your waffles add it yourself to the syrup or directly on the waffles. You will not have the added sugar.






















Barbecue sauce is a big problem and if you choose original versions you will get too much sugar. Choose the light version.





Take the time to compare products when you shop. A little planning at the grocery store will make the difference in your meal planning. You will avoid the confusion that goes alone with meal planning for the special diet.


If you have any special requests please let me know I will find out as much as I can for you.

Tips and Tidbits for Healthy Diabetes Living

Fruit...The Original Fast Food!



Before the days of MacDonald's and Jack-in-the-Box fruit was the favorite snack food. It was easily accessible and available whenever you needed a snack.

Dieticians recommend fruit as a healthy choice for a diabetic diet. In fact, a healthy target should be about 3-4 servings daily. The question becomes...what is a healthy portion?

Serving sizes:

• Tennis ball sized apple, orange, peach
• 16 grapes
• 1/2 large banana
• 1 cup fruit pieces
• 1 cup berries
• 1 cup melon
• 1/2 mango
• 1/2 cup juice

Tips For Daily Living

Don't smoke
Maintain Healthy weight and Blood Pressure
Monitor Blood Glucose

4 Times Year

• A1C
• Foot Exam

2 Times a Year

• Dental Cleanings

1 Time a Year

• Cholesterol, HDL/LDL, Microalbumin
• Dilated Eye Exam
• Flu shot

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the bark of a tree within a family group of trees. True cinnamon originates in Sri Lanka but another variety of cinnamon called cassia is widely available in China where it has been used in Chinese medicine for several thousand years. Other species of cinnaman come mainly from Asia and Madagascar.

Studies have shown that cinnamon may have the benefit of lowering cholesterol as well as assisting in blood glucose control and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes. While there may be no benefit for type 1 diabetes, cinnamon is still valuable in lowering LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides.

HOW MUCH CINNAMON IS ENOUGH?

Traditional amounts of cinnamon used in cooking are considered safe. Up to 1/2 teaspoon used at one time is also considered safe. Cinnamon is commonly used in baked goods and this is the use with which most Americans are familiar.
However, you can sprinkle cinnamon on low-carb toast, put it in your coffee, or top yogurt, cottage cheese, or ricotta with it. Follow these links to check out more low carb options with cinnamon.

• Cincinnati Chili
  
• Flax Meal Peanut Butter Cereal
  
• TVP “Oatmeal”
  
• Chelsie’s Cinnamon Flax Cranberry Muffins
  
• ”Doughnut” Muffins
  
• Apple Flax Muffins
• Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
  
• Five Minute Sweet Spiced Pecans
  
• Microwave Apple Almond Dessert
  
• Cranberry Walnut Cookies

Tomorrow I will include savory dishes that include cinnamon.