With the hot and humid days of summer upon us, water needs are on the rise. Staying hydrated is key to supporting energy levels and many bodily functions. For example, water supports skin and digestive health, and it helps eliminate toxins from the body.

According to Kathy West, MS, RD, LD, Manager, Healthcare Education Services at Abbott Nutrition, “Physical activity is one of the best ways to help manage blood sugar levels, so it is very important for people with diabetes to keep their water needs top of mind as they increase their outdoor activity levels during these hot summer days...

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When it comes to snacking, do you have control? Snacks are an important part of meal plans and can help control your blood sugar levels. But for some, the word “snack” conjures up images of junk food. It doesn’t have to! Take a look at how you can make snacking healthier.

What Makes a Good Snack?

Foods containing a variety of nutrients such as vitamins, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein are all excellent snack choices...

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Serving size? Dietary fiber? Polyunsaturated fat? Nutrition labels might seem complicated at first, but they offer essential information to help people with diabetes make better food choices to help control blood sugar and maintain a healthy weight

Test your nutrition label know-how with the SparkPeople® Nutrition Quiz.

 

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http://www.eatright.org/nnm National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association). The campaign focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
It has been the goal of the Registered Dietitian (RD) to make the National Nutrition Month theme come alive for individuals. Your Registered Dietitian serves as an integral part of your healthcare team and provides an individualized healthy eating plan for you to manage your diabetes.

The 2012 National Nutrition Month Theme is “Get Your Plate in Shape.” This theme goes hand in hand with the MyPlate initiative (which replaces MyPyramid.) MyPlate is a great new illustration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans...

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Nutrition–conscious shoppers are bombarded with claims on packages these days. How do you make sense of it all?

Luckily, the food industry and the government have helped standardize and define labeling claims for most foods. Check out the nutrition labels guide from SparkPeople^® to get a better understanding of what everything on the label means.

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Learn why legumes are important to a healthy diet.

Nutritionally speaking, legumes are important to a healthy diet. Including more legumes in your meal planning is a way to get more fiber, especially soluble fiber. Substituting legumes for meat in a meal at least once per week will reduce the amount of fat and saturated fat you consume, too.

Several varieties of legumes are available precooked and canned. Using canned legumes in meals is easy...

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Holidays provide an opportunity to enjoy your family’s favorite foods. Managing diabetes can be a challenge when presented with such an abundance of tasty treats. Don’t worry, with proper planning, you can still enjoy a holiday dinner while also keeping your blood sugar in check! Here are a few tips to help you manage your day:

• Holiday meals are often large and consumed at different times of the day. Your meal may not fall at your normal meal time. You may need to consume a snack at your normal meal time to avoid a low blood sugar reading. Try a Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Snack Bar!
   
• Keep the carbohydrate contents of your meals and snacks the same as your current diabetes management plan...
  
  

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As the holiday season begins, it sometimes can seem like you're facing a never-ending parade of off-limits snacks and candies. Before you start to feel left out, consider how you can enjoy some of the rich, sweet tastes of the season in moderation — and still stick to your plan.

Sample in Moderation

Going cold turkey on sugary treats might only strengthen the temptation and can lead to binge snacking. Instead of depriving yourself, enjoy treats in moderation, carefully choosing only the sweets you want the most.

Strike a Sweet Balance

If you want dessert tonight, you'll have to cut carbohydrates earlier in the day...

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Managing fat intake and reducing saturated fats are essential for weight control and a healthy heart. Try these ideas to reduce the amount of total fat and saturated fat you use in your cooking.

• Make the switch. Trade 2% milk for fat-free milk. During a week's time, a person who drinks 2 cups of milk per day would take in 60 fewer total fat grams and 36 fewer saturated fat grams.
   
• Forget the skin. Remove the skin from a 3-ounce roasted chicken breast and save nearly 4 fat grams, one of which is saturated fat...
  
  

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Whether you’re traveling out of town or are out and about for the day, use these tips for eating healthy when you're on the go.

Take It With You

If possible, pack your own food. For a suitcase-friendly snack, try whole-wheat crackers with low-fat cheese or peanut butter, or Glucerna® Snack Bars. If you have room for a cooler, bring fresh fruit, sliced vegetables, or Glucerna Shakes. It’s also a good idea to carry a juice box, some hard candy, or glucose tablets to treat low blood sugar if necessary.

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The holidays are here and along with them they bring joyous times to catch up with friends and family. Unfortunately, the holidays also bring about stress with changes in schedules, traveling and just trying to fit everything in. If you have diabetes, the holidays can add an additional stress with the focus on food. Stress also has the ability to increase blood sugars. Use some or all of the following tips to help defeat stress and stay healthy so you can fully enjoy this holiday season and many more to come!

1. Simplify: Be sure you don't overextend yourself during this already busy time. Avoid taking on any extra duties (hosting too many parties, offering to cook several meals, etc.).
2. Organize: Get started early on holiday shopping. If crowds at stores and malls are a stressor for you, plan to do most of your shopping online...
   
   

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Losing weight is not always easy, but understanding how critical it can be to both preventing and controlling type 2 diabetes is a step in the right direction. Here are some essential facts to get you started. Remember: Slow and steady wins the race.

Losing Excess Weight Can Improve Blood Sugar Control

People who carry excess body weight have extra fatty tissue. This fatty tissue produces substances that are thought to interfere with the body's ability to control blood sugar levels. This can contribute to insulin resistance, the condition in which the body must produce higher-than-normal levels of insulin to move sugar out of the bloodstream and into cells...

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There's something to be said for whole-grain foods. With their exceptional fiber, mineral, and vitamin content, whole grains outperform their white flour, rice, and pasta counterparts. Best of all, with practice and familiarity, whole grains are easy to incorporate into a weekly meal plan — and the health benefits are significant.

One popular approach is to cook large batches of whole-grain dishes once per month and then freeze them in 1-cup or 1/2-cup portions. Cooked grains store well for up to three months without losing flavor, provided they are tightly sealed.

When you're ready to enjoy one of the frozen portions, defrost it in the refrigerator and enjoy it cold on top of salads, or heat and use for a side dish.

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How to Read the Food Pyramid

• Grains: Make half of your grains whole.
• Vegetables: Vary your veggies.
• Fruits: Focus on fruits.
• Oils: Know the limits on fats, as well as sugars and salt (sodium).
• Milk: Get plenty of calcium-rich foods.
• Meat and Beans: Go lean with protein...
  
  

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By keeping a written account of what you eat on a regular basis, you can begin to discover your habits, become more aware of what, when, and why you eat, and make the connection between the foods you eat and your moods.

How to Start Your Diabetes Food Journal

• Keep a record. Document what you've eaten, how long it took you to eat, and how hungry you were at the time.
• Be yourself. Write in the style that feels most comfortable to you - in your own words.
• Be creative. Journals are not just for writing...
  
  

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The human body needs more than just calories to survive. It also needs a complex mixture of vitamins and minerals called micronutrients. Micronutrients are essential and need to be consumed in the diet because the body cannot make them.

Nutrients work together in a delicate balance to keep the body working normally. It’s important to remember that more is not always better when it comes to nutrient supplements. For example, taking too much of one nutrient cannot substitute for missing the recommended amount of another. Also, taking more of a supplement than is recommended can interfere with how other nutrients work in the body...

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It's time to kick back, relax, and fire up the grill for a summer picnic. Summertime is the perfect time to take advantage of the bounty of seasonal foods and add flavor to your favorite dishes while eating healthfully. Try these scrumptious ideas at your next grill out.

Perk Up Your Protein

Herbs, spices, and light marinades are a tasty addition to grilling lean meats, poultry, and pork on the grill.

• Choose lean cuts of meat with the lowest percentage of fat, like top round, sirloin, tenderloin, and top loin.
• Prior to grilling, trim visible fat from meats and cut large portions of meat into smaller portion sizes. The size of a deck of cards is a good meat portion...
  
  

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If you’ve recently been diagnosed with diabetes, you may wonder what food choices you should make. You’ll be happy to know that many foods can fit into a diabetes meal plan.

When planning your daily meals and snacks, it’s important to choose more healthful options, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, non-fat dairy products, beans, and lean meats.

Divide Portions and "Rate Your Plate"

When planning your meals, it may be helpful to "Rate Your Plate" as the American Diabetes Association^® states. A quick way to be sure you're consuming a variety of healthy foods is to draw an imaginary line through the center of your plate. Then draw a line to divide one of those sections into two...

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Healthy eating practices don't have to go out the window when you walk through a restaurant door. Check out this helpful Guide to Dining Out from SparkPeople®. You’ll see how a nutritious meal, including dessert, can be yours to enjoy — even when you're eating out.

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