Monterey, CA Type 2 Diabetes Tips

Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition, and one of the major aspects of dealing with it is managing your diet properly.  An assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. William Sullivan, gives some good nutritional advice to readers.  It’s best to avoid:

Soda, smoothies and café drinks:

Although avoiding sugared sodas seem to be a no-brainer (a 12-ounce can of soda has 40 grams of sugar, the equivalent of 10 teaspoons), most people think smoothies are extremely healthy.  In fact, they can be loaded with sugar.  Fruit, ironically, is loaded with natural sugar and many places that make smoothies add additional sweeteners to make the smoothie taste good.  The same goes for those delicious Starbucks drinks, they are often loaded with sweeteners.

Fried foods:

Since these are typically breaded, you are getting the double whammy of carbohydrates and fat.  If you must eat breaded foods, Sullivan recommends baking them instead.

Fatty red meats:

This is a fairly obvious no-no.  It contains high levels of fat.  Cold water fish, nuts, avocado, chicken and tofu may lead you to feeling just as satiated.

Refined carbohydrates:

Such as bagels, donuts and pastries should be eaten in moderation.  Foods high in white-flour are not good for you.

Processed foods:

These are typically highly salted and should be avoided.  Salt is also a big contributor to high blood pressure, which contributes to heart disease (the #1 cause of death in America).  Pass on hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese is the advice of the doctor.

Biscuits and sausage gravy:

This was the one food which was singled out which surprised me.  But the combination of the white flour in the biscuits paired with the high fat and sodium in the gravy is a brutal combination, according to the doctor.  He recommends peanut butter for protein, while cautioning that it should be limited to 2 tablespoons per day.

Sorry for all of the bad news on foods that you probably love, but I thought this was worth passing along.