Better Nutrition with Your Dietitian: Diabetes
Kenny Tomek, RD, LN,
dietitian at Yankton
Hy-Vee, often gets
asked about diabetes
and diet. There’s sure a
lot I don’t know when it
comes to this topic. He
helped me in my efforts
to better understand
how to adjust your diet
to help prevent or help
control diabetes.
What’s weight got
to do with it?
Excess fat around
the waist is associated
with Type 2 diabetes.
This extra fat creates insulin resistance, those extra fat
cells hindering insulin-producing hormones from working
at their best level. Insulin’s role is to take sugar out of the
bloodstream and carry it to cells where it can be stored or
used for energy. Without enough insulin in the blood, sugar
can’t get to these cells, and blood sugar levels remain high.
There are two different measures of how much body fat you
have.
• Body Mass Index – Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a
calculation using your height and weight, a normal range is
considered less than 25. Your health care provider can help
you determine your BMI score.
• Measure your waist – With a tape measure, measure
your bare abdomen just above your hip bone, as you relax
and breathe out. If you are woman with a waist measurement
over 35 inches or man with a measurement over 40 inches,
talk with your health care provider about reaching a healthier
weight.
What’s diet got to do with it?
Carb counting is a topic often thrown around but you may
not understand the logic behind it. “Carb counting,” short
for carbohydrate counting, is important to those managing or
preventing diabetes because it can help in getting the right
balance in what they eat and managing their blood sugar
levels. If this is something you wish to consider, your health
care provider can help determine the proper daily carbohydrate
intake for you.
Tomek states, “As far as what types of foods to eat, there
are quite a few people who think that they need to avoid sugar
and carbohydrate foods completely. However, this is not the
case. Some carbohydrate foods that are good (in moderation
of course) are 100% whole wheat breads, crackers,
cereals, fruits, and beans, just to name a few. Another
thing to remember is that sugar free does not always mean
carbohydrate free; Ritz crackers have very little sugar in them,
but still are high in carbohydrates.”
How do foods differ in carbohydrate count?
•Protein – Meat and products such as soy products and
cheese are great sources of protein.
•Meats do not contain carbohydrates therefore they do not
affect blood sugar levels, though breaded meats and plantbased protein foods such as soy do contain carbohydrates.
•Dairy – Though dairy products differ in their carbohydrate
count you should include dairy in your diet. Some great options
are fat-free or low-fat milk, plain non-fat yogurt and nonfat light
yogurt without added sugar.
•Vegetables – Not all vegetables are the same, some
are considered starchy and others are non-starchy. Starchy
vegetables contain more carbohydrates and can increase
blood sugar levels. There are numerous non-starchy vegetables
to pick from, Tomek listing over 20 options including:
vNUTRITION continued on page 12
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1023 W 9th Street
Yankton, SD 57078
Bus: 605-665-4411
rhonda@rhondainsuresyou.com
1311023
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