Did you know that around 25% of older adults, ages 65+, have some form of diabetes? Living with diabetes requires some lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, and more. Diabetes is especially affected by our diets. Learning how to maintain a diabetes friendly diet can help you or your loved ones live more comfortably with diabetes! Here are a few tips on transitioning into a diabetic friendly diet.
Go Slowly: The cold turkey method does not work well for most people. Start by making small changes to your diet such as switching out white breads for whole grain breads. Consider switching one meal a day to make this transition less shocking. If you usually eat bagels with jam for breakfast, maybe switch to an omelet with vegetables or an unsweetened yogurt with fruit instead!
Drink plenty of Water: Changing one’s diet can confuse our digestive systems at first. Our digestive systems work well when we are properly hydrated. Drinking lots of water during this transition can help your digestive system adapt to your new diet a little quicker.
Use a Nutrition Calendar/Notebook: A diabetic diet requires someone to keep track of the amount of carbohydrates, sugars, sodium and more that they are consuming. This could be easier to do with a nutrition calendar, notebook, or even a phone app. A diabetic person can be more conscious about their eating decisions if they write it down and truly see what their body needs more or less of.
Read Labels Carefully: This one is extra important for people with type 2 diabetes! Many packaged foods contain more than one serving, knowing this could prevent you from overeating. The labels on packaged foods also tell you the exact amount of carbohydrates, sugar, sodium, and more. The most important ingredient to look out for though, is sugar. Packaging may say a product has no sugar in it, but sugar has many different names that companies choose to use for it. This includes Dextrose, Fructose, Galactose, and more you can find here https://www.virtahealth.com/blog/names-for-sugar .
Meal Prep: A lot of us struggle with controlling our portions! Portion control is extra important for people with diabetes. Meal prepping can allow you to portion out your food so that you are more inclined to only eat what you have planned for that mealtime. It also helps you eat the correct foods and makes it easier to limit fast foods! By having food prepared at home, a person is more inclined to forgo the takeout options.
Senior Helpers offices across the country can assist seniors with transportation to and from doctor’s appointments, medication management, healthy meal preparation and more. Contact your local Senior Helpers today.