If you live with diabetes, you know that what you eat is critical to successfully managing your blood glucose levels and feeling well.
As the holidays approach, though, it seems that a whirlwind of family events, office parties, and other festivities conspire to throw your diet — and your blood sugar — off track.
The good news is there are plenty of ways you can structure holiday meals so they’re healthy rather than “sinful” for your blood sugar levels.
At Nu Wave Medical Center, Dr. Gurprit Sekhon is your partner in care as you manage your diabetes. She offers diabetes education, monitoring, and treatment, as well as medically supervised weight loss, advice on exercise, and other lifestyle practices that support your health.
Insulin is the growth hormone your pancreas produces that’s instrumental in bringing glucose (your body’s main energy source) that’s derived from the food you eat into your cells. When your body isn’t able to use insulin the way it should, the glucose stays in your bloodstream and becomes elevated.
If diabetes isn’t treated and managed well, serious complications occur, including:
Whether you live with type 1 diabetes, which is typically diagnosed in children and adolescents, or type 2 diabetes, which is often diagnosed in middle-aged individuals, the responsibility of properly keeping track of your diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors is yours.
There’s also gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy, but it usually resolves after delivery. For the purposes of this post, we’ll be talking about people living with type 2 diabetes — who account for 90-95% of the over 34 millions Americans affected by diabetes.
Eating to manage your diabetes can be challenging enough when you’re moving through your day-to-day routines, but when your meal patterns are turned upside down by the holidays — and you’re offered party trays of rich foods and sumptuous holiday meals and treats, it can be quite difficult to keep your blood sugar in a healthy place.
In other words, something that’s usually a somewhat delicate balancing act can leave you overwhelmed when you throw in turkey and dressing, holiday cookies, and New Year’s cheer.
When cooking to support the health of an individual living with diabetes (or yourself), it’s essential to emphasize using certain good-for-you foods while avoiding others.
On the “naughty” list? Simple carbohydrates, or sugars, which abound in holiday baked goods (think glazes and icing), processed meats that are high in saturated fats, and fatty dips and sauces.
Instead, make dishes qualify for the “nice” list by making smart substitutions. Use less sugar in recipes, and instead opt for adding cinnamon or vanilla. For savory dishes, experiment with herbs instead of relying on heavy sauces and butter.
With meat, go for lean poultry (but make sure it’s low in sodium), and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, for example, when making holiday dips.
You can also remake traditional holiday favorites, like mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, in diabetes-friendly ways.
For instance, sub mashed cauliflower for the potatoes, and swap out fatty and sodium-loaded canned cream of mushroom soup and fried dried onions for real mushrooms and sauteed onions, a bit of olive oil, gluten-free breadcrumbs, and garlic in your casserole.
When it comes to alcoholic holiday libations, instead choose bubbly water or unsweetened iced tea.
You can eat, drink, and be merry this holiday season and enjoy your meals just as much as everyone else — even if you live with diabetes.
Call our Panama City Beach office at 850-493-6948 to make an appointment with Dr. Sekhon, so you can work together to manage your diabetes and maintain your good health.
