Books and Articles by Toby Smithson

Some foods are just big-time healthy, and with diabetes so closely connected to food and nutrition, these are the foods you want to incorporate into your daily eating habits.Oats are a whole grain, so they are a great start toward healthy right off the bat.Oats are most noted for bringing a specific soluble fiber called beta-glucans to the rescue.

Much about managing diabetes can be costly, but food doesn’t need to be one of them. A diet that’s right for diabetes is a diet that’s right for virtually anyone, and there are enough foods that fit the bill for blood glucose control and heart health that your budget can remain flexible, and your choices are still many.

An elevated body mass index (BMI), where body weight to height falls into the overweight, obese, or even higher category on that scale, is very common among people with type 2 diabetes, and it isn’t just a coincidence. Excess weight is a distinct risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, and excess weight makes blood glucose more difficult to control after diabetes is diagnosed.

There is an impressive body of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of a vegetarian diet in weight management, A1C improvement, increased insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular health indicators. But, can you really get adequate nutrition from plants? According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

You can choose foods from different categories to create a lunch that fits into your diabetes meal plan perfectly. The number of servings from each group will depend upon your daily calorie levels, but you can do this with your favorite foods for breakfast or for dinner, too. This little exercise demonstrates perfectly how simple it can be to put healthy meals together when you think about the components separately.

Diabetics don’t really require any special health foods, but grocers often place some very useful foods in a location that suggests they’re special. Here’s what you might find in the health food aisle. Alternative milks, for those who are lactose intolerant, can help add a dairy-like touch to cereals and hot chocolate.

Coffee and tea may be best known for delivering the stimulant caffeine, but evidence is mounting to support significant health benefits for both. On the caffeine point, coffee takes the prize, delivering about two to five times as much per cup. That’s good news for sleepy heads, but most of the health benefits of coffee and tea seem unrelated to the caffeine.

Chefs have preferred oils for cooking based upon the particular smoke point or other characteristic, but in everyday life the vegetable oils commonly available are fine for managing diabetes. Oils are liquid fat at room temperature, so they’re all more or less the same in calories and fat grams. Oils are about 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon, period.

At first glance, the American concept of Asian food would seem to be extremely healthy — stir-fry dishes are like a healthy salad that’s simply been cooked. It’s clearly possible to make or find very healthy Asian food. The theme is much the same with Asian food as with other ethnic cuisines — it’s what gets added that can make the most difference.