Food is culture, food is love, food is comfort, food is celebration, food is fuel.
When diagnosed with an elevated blood glucose your first thought may be, “I’m never going to get to eat _________ again.” If you have ever been told you should not eat a certain food again, then you’re likely talking to someone who has a very rigid approach, who will advocate for abstinence. The truth is cutting off your favorite thing ‘cold turkey’ rarely will lead to long term success. Making small changes over the long term typically leads to lasting change. It’s important that these changes honor your culture, incorporate things you enjoy and also help you work towards your goal of improving your blood sugar and overall health.
The purpose of this article is to give you some principles to apply to what you eat on a daily basis to start making long term change. First and foremost, minimally processed foods should be the heart of your meals: whole vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and lean protein. Think; if it looks like it’s just been taken out of the garden or just come out of the butcher case, then it’s likely minimally processed. It hasn’t had a lot of spices or things added to it, so you know what’s in it when you look at it.
Every food we consume is made up of either one, two or all of three different macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate and fat. Carbohydrates are typically the macronutrient that gets the most discussion when talking about elevated blood sugar, since all sugary things themselves fall into this category. (Carbohydrates when consumed then are broken down into either glucose, fructose or galactose. AKA simple sugar molecule.)
Protein is something I want to highlight, because it’s something that is very helpful in helping you feel full, building or repairing muscle tissue and a nutrient people tend to not eat enough of. A simplified target for daily protein intake is 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.
Lastly, try to significantly reduce any liquid sugar items: soda, juice, sugar in coffee, caramel, mocha lattes, alcohol. If these are things that are a part of your daily routine, reducing them to a special weekly treat, working on good replacements. For me, it was replacing coca cola with la croix. I ended up discovering what I really enjoyed about the drink was the bubbles, so you may be surprised on your journey!
Coach Sarah, FNP-BC, MSN