How to Manage Diabetes with Pure Plates
Your food choices become more crucial when you have diabetes. Food consumption is an important factor that you need to consider, especially with managing sugar levels. What you consume, how much you consume, and even the times at which you’re eating can all impact blood sugar. The goal here is to make sure your eating habits are contributing a balanced blood sugar level that stays within the needed range to keep you healthy.
Keep reading if you want to learn how you can manage your diabetes with Pure Plates!
Fiber and complex carbohydrate intake
The first and most important thing we want to address when it comes to blood sugar management is to try and avoid simple carbs that come from refined sugars. Simple carbs get broken by our bodies a lot faster than complex carbohydrates do. For someone with diabetes, this often leads to a faster rise in blood glucose levels, known as hyperglycemia.
The quality of carbs being consumed is important for blood sugar management. Complex carbohydrates are high in fiber and are known for their ability to control blood sugars. Fiber goes through the gastrointestinal tract undigested, and therefore, consuming it won’t spike up blood glucose the way simple carbs do.
Some foods high in fiber and are also complex carbs are oats, brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat, and barely. Pure Plates offers a variety of delicious and healthy options specifically aiming to control blood glucose levels for individuals with diabetes. Make sure to check out one of our best-selling dishes. The Black Bean Quinoa Burrito is an incredible alternative for the traditional burrito made with white rice. This is the ultimate high-protein lunch with a low glycemic index!
Some simple carbs that we recommend limiting are cookies, candy, soda, and chips.
Portion Sizes Matter
Eating the right amount of food is critical when it comes to diabetes management to control both blood glucose levels and weight.
Two important things we want you to keep in mind are portion and serving sizes. Considering how many serving sizes are in a portion of a meal will allow you to get a better understanding of how much carb, protein, and fat you’re consuming. This is where label reading comes into play. Nutrition labels always list the number of servings in a meal/snack. For example, if a cup of yogurt contains 3 serving sizes, and you consume the whole cup; you are essentially consuming triple the amounts on the label.
Making sure you are aware of this will help you limit the amount of carbs you consume to reduce blood-sugar spikes. One serving of carb is about 12-15g of carb. For those with diabetes, it’s recommended to consume only a few servings (12-45g) of carb at once to manage blood sugar levels. Remember, we still need carbs to energize our bodies, so don’t completely avoid them! Think: quality (complex carbs) over quantity.
Don’t get us wrong, we don’t want you to count your calories and all that jazz. We understand that figuring out portion and serving sizes can be tricky when you’re eating at home and making your own meals. Here are some ways that we think can help you get a better idea of the amounts of macronutrients you consume:
- Use your palm to estimate portion sizes- One serving of meat or poultry equals this
- Serve food on smaller plates- If you reach for seconds, you now have a better idea of how much you’re consuming
- One 3-Oz fish is the size of a checkbook
- One medium-sized baked potato is the size of a computer mouse
- Don’t eat straight out of the bag- This will cause you to overeat. If you are looking to snack, we recommend dividing your snacks into smaller bowls to control your portion sizes
With Pure Plate’s meal plan delivery service, you don’t have to worry about any of this! We have a special menu that offers a 5-Day Diabetic Meal Plan that controls portion and serving sizes to control your diabetes and make sure your blood glucose stays within range.
The Key Takeaway..
Eating a balanced and nutritious diet, while keeping in mind portion and serving sizes is extremely important for managing diabetes.
Making sure you are avoiding refined carbs, increasing intake from fiber, and following the strategies we mentioned to keep portion sizes in check and be more mindful of the amounts of food you’re consuming will help control your blood glucose levels, reduce unwanted spikes, and to maintain your weight.
We are so excited that Pure Plates offers a wide variety of options to help manage diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels within the needed range to keep you healthy.