Having a diet with healthy diabetes food is not easy if you do not know what to get.

Buying the wrong products can worsen your diabetes or even make you insulin dependent. The right products, on the other hand, can completely reverse your type 2 diabetes.

In this blog you will learn 13 tips to get the right diabetes nutrition at home. You will also learn how to reverse your type 2 diabetes.

How to eat healthy if you have type 2 diabetes

What are the right foods to eat if you have diabetes? What does proper and healthy diabetes food look like with which you can cure diabetes?

To speak of ‘forbidden foods’ in diabetes is going a bit far. But it is better to avoid certain sugars, for example. And other foods are best eaten in moderation.

More importantly, eat foods that are tasty and help stabilize your blood sugar levels on a daily basis.

 I could give you a diet list, like the Nutrition Center or the Food Triangle do. Or give you a list of nutritional supplements that magically lower your blood sugar.

But I think it’s more important that you know exactly what is and what is not healthy. So that you can make the right decisions based on your new knowledge regarding your diet as a type 2 diabetes patient.

#1: Understand what bad diabetes food is

Healthy diabetes food and ‘forbidden’ diabetes food can’t really be confused with each other…

…provided you know what is good and what is bad. To know this, you actually need to know what kind of food is causing your type 2 diabetes. Knowing this will make curing your type 2 diabetes with nutrition a breeze.

All you have to do is avoid these unhealthy diabetes foods. You will automatically end up with the healthy food. Having said this:

• So what kind of food should you avoid?
• The Dangerous Foods That Cause Type 2 Diabetes
•  Processed food.
• That’s the food you should avoid. You should never bring everything that we as prehistoric humans could not find in nature. Processed food has several properties that our bodies are not made for:
• Contain relatively many sugars
• Contain virtually no fiber
• Are made of unhealthy fats that lower your insulin sensitivity
• Are addictive (manufacturers do it on purpose)

Almost all products that are ‘made’ in a factory have one or more of these properties.

Click to Watch this simple video on: How to Cure/ Manage Diabetes Without Drugs

Use the prehistoric question to recognize healthy food

You can easily recognize these products:

• They are products that you would never encounter in nature in their current form. You could come across apples when you walk through a forest, so there is nothing wrong with eating apples.
• Apple juice doesn’t hang on a tree. So you should NOT eat this.

Despite the original source being healthy, food manufacturers have squeezed the healthy fiber from the apples, losing their healthy quality. What remains is a glass of apple juice which is nothing more than water, a lot of sugars and a little fragrance and coloring.

So, while shopping, always ask yourself: “Can I come across this product in its current form in nature?”

If the answer is “no”, then this does not belong in healthy diabetes food. Otherwise, improving your blood sugar levels will be impossible.

More tips to lower your blood sugar levels with fruit can be found HERE.

#2: The list of foods that will change your life forever

In the next 11 tips you will learn tips and techniques to ensure that you suffer less from your diabetes despite eating well.

It’s important to go through all of these because you’ll get a comprehensive explanation of why some foods are better than others.

Before I do that, I’ll give you an overview of healthy diabetes nutrition. You can use that as a cheat sheet, if you forgot it for a while.

Bad products:

• Candy (wine gums, cookies, liquorice)
• Milk or white chocolate
• Plate of pasta, rice or potatoes
• Bread and other pasta (pizza, cookies etc)
• Fried snacks (chips, fries, croquettes)
• Fruit juices and soft drinks

Is replaced by:

Fruit

• 75%+ chocolate
•  Piece of meat, fish or cheese with vegetables and a fatty sauce, plus a little pasta, rice, potatoes or bread
• Whole wheat bread with butter with preferably an egg or chicken fillet
• High-protein snacks that are not fried (egg or meatball)
• Water, coffee/tea, pomegranate juice, coconut water

#3: Focus on one thing at a time

Looking at the food list above, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Especially if you do everything “wrong” and eat a lot of foods that are actually not so good if you have diabetes.

You can try to change your entire diabetes diet at once, and replace almost any food. Unfortunately, this is quite a lot of work, and doomed to fail.

Why?

It will be fine for a few days. But after that you will notice that you fall back into old habits. For example when you are a little tired. Before you know it, your hand is in a bag of licorice while sitting in front of the TV.

Maybe then you can put down that bag of licorice on sheer willpower. But if afterwards a friend comes by and asks you if you want a piece of cake, it gets even more difficult. The more temptations pile up, the more likely you are to tack.

That’s why it’s good to tackle your food habits one by one. Only if you don’t make a single mistake with one habit will you move on to the next.

Rome wasn’t built in a day

 And often changing your habits takes longer than you think. Some studies even indicate that it can take 60 days for your habit to be completely changed.

#4: Stock these three delicious snacks as healthy diabetes food

You can make resolutions whatever you want. If you’re hungry and someone arrives with a tasty cake, those resolutions easily go out the window. And the cake in your mouth.

That is why it is good that from now on you always have one of the following three snacks with you. If you find yourself feeling a little hungry, eat enough of these snacks until you’re full.

This makes it much easier to say “no” to your colleague who brings you a cake.

The three musketeers you can snack with

 The three snacks are:

• Nuts: Pistachios, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, or any combination. Unsweetened and possibly with a little salt. The fresher, the better (go to the nut bar).
•  Nuts are full of healthy fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Those are fancy words to say that they are filling, give you energy and barely raise your blood sugar. After a few handfuls of nuts, your appetite will disappear in no time, which makes them the ideal snack.
• Dark chocolate: 75% cocoa or more. This can be with nuts, or white chocolate. As long as it contains less than 25% sugar.
•  You might think: “25 grams of sugar per 100 grams in a bar of chocolate? That can never be healthy.” But luckily that’s okay. Dark chocolate is powerful and satisfies hunger well. You don’t need to eat much of it to feel full.

If you are a chocolate lover: pay attention if you find yourself wanting to eat 40 grams or more in one sitting. This is an indication that your chocolate is not of good quality or contains additives to stimulate your appetite.

I dare say that you can measure the quality of a bar by how little you can eat and still feel full. Good quality chocolate is nutritious and gives you a pleasant and energetic feeling due to the naturally occurring chemicals it contains.

Which fruits can I eat with diabetes?

 As you can see in my table at tip 2, fruit juices are not healthy. Fresh (or frozen) fruit is. It is full of fiber, which inhibits the absorption of the fruit sugars. As a result, most people with diabetes can safely eat some fruit without worrying.

Still, I recommend that you don’t let fruit be your favorite snack. Nuts (and then chocolate) are much more filling.

 You need less of it to last a while.

But for people who really don’t like nuts or chocolate, fruit is also a great option. Provided that you pay attention to how much you eat in a row. Do you find yourself eating a lot more than a few pieces? Then consider having an extra, small meal to satisfy your hunger. To know if you are eating too much, it is best to keep a diabetes diary or count your carbohydrates.

In this my article on Which Fruit Can You Eat With Type 2 Diabetes? Explanation + 13 Healthy Tips for more detail overview on which fruit to eat as a diabetics

Bonus tip: combine the snacks

 Some dark chocolate, white almonds and banana are a delicious combination. Or if you take pieces of fresh fruit and top them with a melted chocolate bar, you have a delicious treat for a few people. Healthier than a pastry, and delicious too.

#5: Go through your kitchen cupboards with the garbage bag

Now that you have healthy snacks on hand and take them with you on the road, it’s time to throw out all the unhealthy food you have around the house. You don’t need it anymore because you always have a healthy snack ready. And most of the things on this list are really unhealthy.

But if you don’t have it at home, you can’t eat it. And if you make sure you’re full before you hit the road (or at the very least grab a snack for the road), there’s no need to buy anything unhealthy along the way either.

So: what can you throw away?

• Sweets
• Cookies
• Deep-fried snacks such as chips and cocktail nuts (not the healthy nuts I mentioned earlier, but the fried variety that does not occur in nature)
• Sweet spreads (jam, sprinkles, chocolate spread)
• Everything that is savory and secretly contains a lot of sugars. Think savory cookies like Sultana’s
• Soft drinks, fruit juices or sweet dairy products
• Chocolate under 75% cocoa
• 
  

All of these products are not good for you if you have diabetes. Fortunately, they are easy to replace. It is only difficult to build the habit with the new snacks if you still have the old ones at home.

Don’t think, “Oh, I’ve got two packs of cookies left. I think that’s a shame.”

This is about your health! Give them to your neighbor or the newspaper boy. They are very happy with it and it is a lot less harmful for them than it is for you.

Go through your kitchen cupboards every month

 It is important to check once in a while that no unhealthy food has slipped into your kitchen cupboard. This way you avoid eating it sooner or later.

Throwing out all the unhealthy food every month will save you a lot of trouble.

#6: Use this super breakfast to stabilize your blood sugar

There are not many foods that have a medicinal effect on their own.

At least, a medicinal effect that is not negligible. There are plenty of examples of “superfoods” that are not so “super” at all, because the effect they have is downright small.

But if you have diabetes, there is one food you should not miss. Partly because it is perfect for breakfast.

It is filling, healthy (because of the vitamins it contains), has the ideal balance of nutrients such as proteins, fiber and sugars and has a stabilizing effect on your blood sugar.

I’m talking about oatmeal, of course.

“Oatmeal? That’s what my grandma used to eat.”

 Well, very good. Your grandmother was right because it is very healthy.

Especially if you have diabetes because it ensures a stabilizing effect of your blood sugar during the day.

A breakfast with oatmeal ensures that you are much less bothered by any fluctuations — and that is of course good.

The stabilizing effect of oatmeal on your sugar level has been extensively researched by an entire army of scientific researchers.

Making oatmeal the night before turns the carbohydrates into healthy fiber!

This claim has been proven so many times that the EU has allowed oatmeal producers to put it on the packaging.

That is rare because the EU does not just give permission for the printing of these kinds of claims. Especially not when it comes to such a serious one (“Stabilizing your blood sugar”). Oatmeal should replace bread in your diet.

#7: Never drink juice again

I probably don’t have to explain to you that soda isn’t good for you. Even if you don’t have diabetes, it’s not a good idea to gulp down large amounts of soda.

Even small amounts of soft drinks are not a smart idea.

But what is less well known is that fruit juices are just as unhealthy. It is not part of a healthy diabetes diet.

That may seem a bit strange. Most people think, “Fruit is healthy and deliciously sweet. So squeezed fruit, with just the sweet juice, will probably be just as healthy.”

Fruit juice and soft drinks hardly differ

First of all, fruit juice is not as healthy as normal fruit.

That’s because all the good stuff in fruit — pulp, fiber, vitamins and minerals — is lost in the processing process.

In addition, manufacturers add additives to keep the juice good for longer, but also to make it taste more intense.

That can be a flavor enhancer or pure sugar. You don’t really taste the juice, but rather the additives that are made to make you like it.

Fruit juice is therefore not comparable to a ripe piece of fruit.

It’s not nearly as healthy and not nearly as tasty.

Perhaps more importantly, fruit juices raise your blood sugar much faster and more violently than a fresh piece of fruit. And that can give you a lot of trouble. So I don’t advise you to drink fruit juice. It is not healthy and makes your type 2 diabetes worse.

#8: The Drinks That Can Reverse Diabetes

Not all drinks belong to unhealthy and prohibited diabetes foods. Some are allowed. In fact:

Some are highly recommended for their healthy benefits.

The best liquids that you can drink as a type 2 diabetes patient are those with a lot of antioxidants.

Antioxidants in food and drinks are just curious substances. They are slightly toxic substances that plants produce to protect themselves against insects and animals. These substances are often bitter in taste.

But for us humans they are not poisonous. At least, not enough to make us sick. They work the other way around for people: they make you healthier.

Increase your insulin sensitivity with antioxidants

 The antioxidants ensure that your body and immune system get a positive boost. It all wakes up and then works better.

Everything regarding your blood sugar level and insulin production is also shaken up. It turns out that drinking antioxidant-rich liquids increases your insulin sensitivity. As a result, your body needs less insulin to process sugars.

So ideal! But which liquids are best to drink? Unfortunately there aren’t that many:

• red tea
• ginger tea
• Black coffee
• Pure cocoa drink (pure cocoa powder boiled in water without sugar)

Making pure cocoa drink is quite a lot of work. In addition, it is very bitter (which makes it healthy) so few people will drink it. Can you do this? Then especially enjoy yourself.

For the average Americans, a cup of green tea or black coffee is more likely to be drunk. As long as you drink this without milk and sugar, you will experience all the benefits.

Worried about ‘too much’ coffee or tea

Studies show that you need to drink between 3 and 5 cups a day to experience the health benefits of green tea and coffee. So don’t be afraid that you drink too much quickly.

#9: Rice, potatoes and bread are less important than you think

In United State it is normal to have breakfast and lunch with bread. And to end the day with potatoes or pasta with a sweet dessert after it.

That’s all nice and nice. But it’s not the most sensible thing to do if you have diabetes.

 Because bread, potatoes and rice are full of sugars. And while these foods also contain fiber, they still raise blood sugar.

At the same time, there are a lot of other foods that are healthier, which we traditionally don’t eat much of in the Netherlands. Why actually? There doesn’t seem to be a good reason, other than that it’s a tradition built up over the last century.

Healthy food is no longer expensive

 But more has changed in the last century. Even people with not that much money can eat vegetables or a piece of meat every day, without having to spend their last savings.

If you do your shopping smartly, you can eat much healthier than your grandfather. And that for a much lower price.

That is why you should eat less bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. These food sources are mainly sugar and are not the healthiest thing you can get.

Beans are the best substitute for bread and pasta. They contain a lot of fiber, proteins, vitamins and relatively few carbohydrates. Eating 100 grams of beans is a lot more difficult than eating 100 grams of pasta, potatoes or rice.

#10: Enjoy a piece of meat or fish

If I can name one food that is extremely healthy, it is fresh fish. And especially the oily ones, such as mackerel and salmon. This belongs to a healthy diabetes diet.

The great thing about oily fish is that it is extremely satiating. A small piece is much more filling (and for a longer time) than a large bowl of pasta. So if you put this on your plate a little more often, it’s not just enjoying yourself…

…you also avoid eating more carbohydrates.

You need more protein than carbohydrates

Because the proteins in fatty fish (or other types of meat and fish) ensure that your muscles and brain remain strong and can make the connections they need.

They ensure that your body can maintain itself.

That is quite different from the role of sugar in your body, which is used more as fuel in the short term.

But as a diabetic, your body can no longer handle those sugars well. Your body can still process proteins well. And by taking in a little more protein, you emphasize what your body can do instead of what it can’t.

And to top it all off, fish and meat are packed with vitamins and minerals that are much harder to get in other ways.

The same substances are simply not found in pasta and potatoes. You need both, but don’t be afraid to eat that tasty piece of fish for fear that you are unhealthy.

#11: Why a nice sauce is good if you have diabetes

If you go to a restaurant and order a piece of meat or fish, nine times out of ten it comes out of the kitchen with a greasy sauce.

Unfortunately, restaurants often add sugar to their sauces, but if you cook yourself, you don’t have to.

Good sauces to consider are:

• Gravy (made from the fat of meat with some added water and spices)
• Cheese sauce
• Sauce based on butter and white wine
• Sauce based on coconut oil or coconut milk
• Every now and then a sauce based on olive oil

Sauces are unhealthy… right?

You may be wondering why I call this “healthy”.

Aren’t these kinds of sauces full of fat? Don’t these make you fat?

Well, that’s all right. My first concern when you have diabetes is that your evening meal will make your blood sugar spike. And fatty sauces help you perfectly to keep these in balance.

The fat mixes with the carbohydrates of the rice, potatoes or pasta. As a result, they are broken down more slowly. Because your body should not only worry about the sugars but also the fat. As a result, your blood sugar level does not rise nearly as quickly.

And if you add a bit of sourness to the sauce — as happens in almost every restaurant — you make the process even more gradual.

And speaking of getting fat: if you make sure there is a piece of meat, vegetables and a little potatoes on your plate, you can get away with a sauce.

Sauces from packets, on the other hand, don’t help you. And they’re full of additives that will make you eat more than you intended. That is why it is better to make your own sauce than to conjure one out of a package.

#12: Go around the block

Maybe you think:

“What does walking have to do with diabetes nutrition?”

Exercise in diabetes is actually indispensable. So also indispensable in a lifestyle with healthy diabetes food.

Because exercise at the right times ensures that your blood sugar does not get a “peak”. The best time is after eating, when your body is busy dealing with all the sugars you just ingested.

Exercise is indispensable for a healthy diabetes diet

When you walk a bit, your body receives the right stimuli.

And if you do this after every evening meal, your blood sugar levels will be a lot more stable throughout the week.

In addition, exercise and sports also increase your insulin sensitivity.

Walking also helps you maintain a healthy weight.

You don’t have to exercise vigorously if you want to burn calories. Walking is less strenuous mentally and physically and it burns only slightly less energy than running or fast cycling.

It is better to walk 15 minutes after dinner every day than to walk for 45 minutes twice a week. Both for weight loss and for stabilizing your blood sugar level. Consistency is key.

Just like you want to eat healthy every day, you should actually exercise every day.

#13: Live a diabetes-free life

With the right diabetes nutrition, more is possible than you think.

It has recently been discovered that it is possible to reverse type 2 diabetes. You can find everything you need in the supermarket.

You turn it around with one powerful method. It’s what I call “The Diabetes-Free Secret.” About this secret I wrote a few pages that will change your life forever. You will learn in it:

Why You Got Type 2 Diabetes

 What mechanism can you use to reverse diabetes

 The best tips to be diabetes-free in a few weeks

Enter your best email address to get the Free E-Book, Click Here…

Originally published at https://khalories.com on September 7, 2021.