5 diet rules for diabetics

1. EAT EVER
This usually means three meals a day - but maybe a little snack in between to better control your blood sugar, such as a handful of raw nuts and cup of rooibos or vegetable and slice of lemon. This makes it easier to keep portions small and do not overdo you with food. Don't try to eat at night.


2. CAUTION FOR TOO MUCH PROTEIN
Eat moderate portions of meat, eggs and cheese and limit processed meat (eg bacon, cold meats and biltong). It usually contains a lot of salt. Protein and salt can play a role in damaging your kidneys, a possible problem with diabetics.


3. CHECK YOUR CARBON DRIVE
(It's the collective name for sugars and starches.) Choose unrefined and unprocessed products. It's usually the product with the shortest list of ingredients and the preparation requires more time and effort. Keep portions small and eat throughout the day with a balanced plate of food - not all at once, even if it is called low GI. (It's not necessarily the healthier choice.) If food is processed and refined (so something that you could hardly produce in your kitchen eg instant cereal), it is so much easier to eat more because it requires less cumin. If you eat slowly and chew food well, it in itself helps keep blood sugar levels in check. Some diabetics will need to check carbohydrates more tightly than others.


4. STACK YOUR TABLE WITH VEGETABLES
All the colors of the rainbow. Especially green leafy vegetables (such as spinach, curled cabbage and cabbage), and also cross-flowering vegetables (eg broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts). Combine it with a nice dressing of "good" fat (olive oil, etc.). Remember: starch vegetables (potato, sweet potato, butternut, maize), rather than starch, because they are more concentrated sources of carbohydrates.


5. MAKE SLIM FAT CHOICES
It still has an effect on blood sugar, although less acute than e.g. sugar or starch. It also affects conditions that go hand in hand with diabetes, such as heart disease. Preferably use unprocessed vegetable fats (eg olive oil, avocado and oil, nuts and nut oils), rather than saturated fats from animal and plant products (fatty meat, coconut oil and palm fat). Choose lean cuts of meat and preferably add some olive oil to your salad.