Consistency over time, not perfection at every meal
What you eat and how much you should eat are important to keep in mind for living a healthy lifestyle. If you have diabetes, this is especially important to remember. What we put in our bodies affects not only our blood sugar, but also our cholesterol and blood pressure.
Lifestyle blogger
If you check various blogs, Instagram or other media, you will probably get different answers, and if you follow the dietary advice from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, it sounds like this:
"Healthy everyday food and a varied diet give you a good foundation for good health, and help you get the nutrients you need. Have a varied diet with lots of vegetables, fruit and berries, whole grains and fish, and limited amounts of processed meat, red meat, salt and sugar."
This is very general and does not say much about what food you should eat or eating habits.
But for many, this is good enough and useful to have with you when planning your diet in everyday life.
If you are living with diabetes, there are a few things you really need to pay attention to in your diet. Your diet will have a big impact on your blood sugar levels, and even more so if you don't have diabetes. However, I would say that a diabetes diet is likely to be beneficial to most people's health.
For people with diabetes, diet is an important part of self-care. If you have type 1 diabetes, the first thing you need to pay attention to is your blood sugar. If you have type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular considerations often also play a role. It also involves blood pressure and fats in the blood (cholesterol and triglycerides).
As mentioned, the Norwegian Directorate of Health has prepared dietary advice for the general population, based on extensive research. These also apply to everyone with diabetes. It is not a given that all the advice is suitable for you. You must adapt your diet to both your life and your diabetes. But it is important to make choices that are good for your health, both short-term and long-term. It is also important to have a diet that gives you the best possible quality of life here and now – a life that you can enjoy.
As for the rest of the population, the dietary guidelines are a good starting point for you with diabetes:
In addition to the general advice from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, there are four points that you with diabetes should be a little extra aware of:
Regular meals are a piece of advice that I think many people, even those without diabetes, should be more aware of: don't just eat when you're hungry, but eat at regular times, often and in smaller portions, rather than a few large ones.
So regular meals work for many people. That way, each meal is a little smaller, and it's easier not to have too much carbohydrate intake at once.
Divide your food into three to four main meals and up to three snacks.
Again, there are no “right” or “wrong” principles here. For some, eating less often works better. This may apply to you if you find that every meal is a risk for overeating – you “can’t stop.” If fewer, larger meals work better for you, that’s fine too.
But if you eat few, large meals, it is even more important to look at the total amount of carbohydrates.
And in any case, this applies: If you eat carbohydrates together with proteins and fats, the rise in blood sugar will be smoother and slower.
What should be included in a healthy diet can vary from person to person, depends on what your goal is, losing weight, diabetes, allergies..., for me in my diet with focus on diabetes I have found some I have focus on to use:
Different nuts have different content of vitamins and minerals, most contain high content of B vitamins, magnesium, iron and zinc, they also contain lots of healthy fats, proteins, vitamin E and dietary fiber.
Nuts are great as snacks and toppings for yogurt.
Avocado is full of healthy fatty acids, while it is also rich in folate, iron, vitamin C and calcium
Use avocado as a side dish, in salads and guacamole, preferably with lots of chili and garlic.
Broccoli is one of the most nutritious vegetables we have, with a high content of vitamin C, vitamin K, antioxidants, calcium, iron, dietary fiber and folate
Use broccoli as a side dish for most things.
Root vegetables such as Carrots, Parsnips, Celery Root, Beetroot, Sweet Potatoes… are rich in vitamins and good dietary fiber, dietary fiber contributes to stable blood sugar, which provides good intestinal flora and slow carbohydrates, use root vegetables as a substitute for potatoes, rice and pasta.
In addition to tasting good, chickpeas are healthy. They provide a good feeling of satiety while also providing the body with nutrients.
According to Matvaretabellen.no, run by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, 100 g of dry chickpeas have 21 g of protein and 46 g of carbohydrates. When cooked, chickpeas grow to 2-2.5 times their dry weight. When cooked, they will therefore have approx. 7-10 g of protein and around 20 g of carbohydrates per 100 g.
Chickpeas also contain a number of vitamins and minerals, and are widely recognized as very healthy. A natural part of a varied and healthy diet.
Love spicy food? Go for chili, chili contains capsaicin, a substance that helps lower levels of unhealthy cholesterol. This happens, among other things, because chili speeds up the blood circulation and thus reduces the chance of cholesterol sticking to the inside of the blood vessels.
Ginger has been used as medicine since the dawn of time, there is no reason to limit the use of ginger to rare occasions, you should use ginger at least once a day, either in food or drink. Ginger is good for the heart, the stomach, has a positive effect on cholesterol and can help prevent high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.
Fruits and berries are good sources of antioxidants, vitamins and dietary fiber
Fruits and berries can be used as between meals, dessert and snacks.
Eggs are a nutritional bomb, and are referred to as nature's vitamin pill, because the only vitamin you can't find in eggs is vitamin C. In addition to the high vitamin content, eggs are rich in minerals, protein and healthy fats.
Use eggs boiled, fried, baked. For breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, eggs can be used for most things.
Fish and shellfish are a very good source of protein, while you also get vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and iodine. Fatty fish, such as salmon, trout and mackerel also have a high content of omega 3 fatty acids.
Use fish and shellfish for dinner, spreads and salads
Chicken and turkey is an excellent part of a healthy, varied diet as it is lean, high in protein (about 20g per 100g) and filling. It contains more unsaturated than saturated fat, as well as important nutrients such as niacin, vitamin B6, potassium and selenium.
It’s hard to avoid oil in our modern diet, and thankfully we don’t have to. There are plenty of oils that offer heart-healthy fats, antioxidants and vitamins.
Oil is a type of fat. And fat, despite all its controversy, makes food taste good. Plus, we need fat in our diet – well, healthy fats. Cooking oil also adds flavor and texture to our dishes and keeps food from sticking to pots and pans.
I could write a book about oil for use in cooking and diet, so I will write a separate article about it later on, but my favorites are Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil and Rapeseed Oil.
My experience is to have a varied diet, and use as many colors as possible according to what is available for the current season. Have a good mix of carbohydrates, fats and protein, start the day with a good breakfast, eat lunch, dinner and supper, and some snacks, with fruit and mixed nuts, eat often but small portions. Avoid processed and semi-processed foods as much as possible, minimize sugar and sugary drinks, fruit over candy.
But let yourself have some outbursts from time to time, life must be worth living, so don't punish, but reward.
