A Sweet Life » Food & Nutrition

Light Up The Grill

A Sweet Life Staff — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:37:17 +0000

Grilling season is upon us and this tip is to remind you that grilling is not just about meat. A mix of grilled vegetables like zucchini, carrots, onions, and tomatoes makes a wonderful lunch or dinner. To prepare all you need to do is coat the veggies with a little bit of olive oil. You can chop and skewer them, or just place them straight onto the grill. Enjoy them on their own, as a low-carb side-dish or on a bed of lettuce leaves topped with your favorite dressing. Our favorite dressing for a grilled veggie salad is lemon and mint.

High Protein Snacks

A Sweet Life Staff — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:33:53 +0000

Until my diabetes diagnosis, I was a big snacker – a few pretzels here, an apple there… Now I find snacking to be a complicated issue, not something that is fun and mindless. Since I’m on the go all day with my three sons, I don’t have time to prepare anything in between meals, and sometimes I need more than just coffee!

I find that high-protein snacks are good at satisfying hunger, and so I do my best to have them in the house. Below are some of my quick snack ideas that should fill you up without doing much to blood sugar levels. If you have anything to add to the list, please let us know!

-A handful of almonds

-A hard boiled egg

-A spoonful of peanut butter spread into a stalk of celery

-String cheese

Cherries: Healthful (and cute)

A Sweet Life Staff — Sun, 23 May 2010 11:47:24 +0000

When it comes to cute, cherries are up there with kittens and tiny Japanese erasers. Cherries have always been one of my favorite things to eat, and as a former champion of Ms. Pacman, I have fond memories of fleeing ghosts in hot pursuit of bouncing cherries and bonus points.

Cherries, it turns out, have real-life bonus points too. A recent study out of the University of Michigan indicates that eating one and a half servings of tart cherries could significantly boost antioxidant activity in the body.

Previous studies in animals have demonstrated that a cherry-enriched diet can lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce triglycerides, reduce body weight, and the belly fat which is associated with increased heart disease risk and type 2 diabetes.

And here’s more good news about cherries for athletes and long distance runners like my husband, Mike: Research from Oregon Health & Science University revealed that runners who drank cherry juice twice a day for seven days prior to and on the day of a long-distance relay had significantly less muscle pain following the race than those who drank another fruit juice beverage. Researchers believe cherries’ post-exercise benefits are likely because of the fruit’s natural anti-inflammation properties.

Most importantly for diabetics, cherries are low in carbohydrates. One cup of fresh cherries has 20-25 grams of carbohydrates (depending on how sweet they are). They also have a low glycemic index. Summer is peak season for cherries, so open-wide like Ms Pac-Man and indulge. Cherries make a perfect snack or dessert. No sweetener necessary.

Eat What You Know

A Sweet Life Staff — Sat, 15 May 2010 11:44:11 +0000

Don’t hate me for saying this, but eating the same thing over and over again has its benefits for diabetics. If you know the carbohydrate content of your food, how your body responds to it and how much insulin you need to cover it, chances are you won’t have a postprandial surprise.

This doesn’t mean that eating has to be boring. You can mix and match your meals, just like you do your shirts and pants. Have oatmeal for breakfast sometimes, other times have it for dinner. The idea here is finding things that work for you, and sticking with them. Routine, for me, has become a synonym for healthy, rather than for dull.

All that said, diabetes being diabetes, can be totally unpredictable. Catherine Price documented this for us in her day-by-day account of a banana with peanut butter breakfast. My safest meal is an omelet with a cucumber salad, and a slice of low-carb bread. No matter what time of the day I eat it, or how much activity (or lack of activity) I’ve had, my post meal blood sugar will be under 120.

Do you have safe foods that you rely on to keep your blood sugar level stable?

Carbs in my Coffee

A Sweet Life Staff — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:59:55 +0000

I had some dreams they were carbs in my coffee
Carbs in my coffee, and… You’re so vain…

Mike makes fantastic cappuccino every morning, which I love (and need). The problem, however, is that the cup of warm, foamy milk which he pours into the coffee sometimes causes my blood sugar to jump to 160 or higher – that’s without any breakfast (and -of course – without any sugar in the coffee). And then I start singing carbs in my coffee, carbs in my coffee… My singing is never a good thing, especially not early in the morning. So for the sake of my blood sugar and my marriage, I’ve done some experimenting with coffee. For the last two days instead of drinking cappuccino, I’ve switched to black filter coffee with just a splash of milk. Guess what? My blood sugar has barely budged.

According to NutritionData, one cup of whole milk has 13 grams of carb. This is a fact I should have long-known.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Open Sesame

A Sweet Life Staff — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:07:41 +0000

Sesame seeds are rich in copper, maganese, calcium, magnesium, iron, dietary fiber, and more. And the good news for us is that they don’t have much impact on blood sugar levels. Eating tahini, a paste made from crushed sesame seeds, is an easy way to incorporate sesame into your diet.

Tahini is protein rich, has a somewhat nutty flavor, and it’s extremely versatile. It can be used as a dip, in salad dressings, as a sandwich spread, and of course – to make hummus. It’s also the main ingredient in the dessert food, halva.

A serving of two-tablespoons of tahini has approximately 3 grams of carbohydrate, and 8 grams of protein. If you’re looking for organic tahini, you might want to try Arrowhead Mills Sesame Tahini.

Real Eggs Have no Carbs

A Sweet Life Staff — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:42:18 +0000

If you’re putting together an Easter basket for a child with diabetes, try replacing sugary candies with colorfully dyed hard-boiled eggs. If that seems too boring, add in a few inedible toys — like a stuffed animal or a small game. Remember: “fun” doesn’t have to mean “sweet,” and this is true for adults as well.

Here’s a gift idea for an adult diabetic – Easter Basket Cheese – a mild cheese that tastes like a combination of ricotta, pressed cottage cheese and very fresh mozzarella. It’s a sought-after Easter food among Italian families.

*Click here to see fellow d-blogger Kerri Sparling’s Easter eggs – probably the most impressive ones we’ve ever seen.

Passover Food

A Sweet Life Staff — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:08:41 +0000

Passover food isn’t low-carb. If you’re going to a Seder this year, there is likely to be more than enough matzo to go around. Matzo, a bread substitute, has over 20 grams of carbohydrate per slice. Our advice – have a bite or two and then move right on to the gefilte fish.

Another danger at the Seder table is potato kugel. A vegetable kugel makes a nice low-carb alternative. We like this recipe for squash pie -or kugel – from Elana’s Pantry. See here for more Passover recipes from Elana. And check-out Mike’s Matzo Ball Soup.

Plan Ahead: Make a Shopping List

A Sweet Life Staff — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:44:35 +0000

Make a shopping list before you go to the supermarket and then buy only the items you’ve written down. If you allow yourself to roam the aisles in a store, you’re much more likely to buy food products you don’t need and that aren’t good for you. Entering the supermarket with a plan will save you time, money, and help you keep your blood sugar levels in check.

Here are some suggestions for your next grocery run:

Apples

Avocados

Blueberries

Brown Rice

Cauliflower

Chicken

Cottage cheese

Cucumbers

Eggs

Nut Butter

Peppers

Spinach

Tuna

Whole grain bread

Just a Spoonful of Vinegar

A Sweet Life Staff — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:22:19 +0000

In 2004, a study published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, found people with diabetes or insulin resistance who consumed a vinegar solution before a carb-heavy meal, had a lower rise in blood sugar than those who consumed a placebo. And a new study reported in Diabetes Care shows that consumption of vinegar reduces post-meal hyperglycemia in type 1 diabetics by almost 20%. While the mechanisms by which vinegar reduces post-meal blood glucose levels are obscure, for those of us looking for ways to reduce blood sugar spikes, going heavy on the vinegar in your salad dressing might not be a bad idea.