Diabetics are always hearing that they need to watch their diets by eating more protein, more fiber, and less fat and sugar.While that is good advice, it is sometimes difficult to visualize what foods are really considered bad for you.
If you have similar problems, start your diet adjustment by cutting down on these six foods.
1. Soda Pop
From restaurants to the household refrigerator, that ubiquitous soda pop is everywhere. It is also sneaky, causing sudden blood sugar spikes in diabetics. Most carbonated beverages are loaded with sugar. People don’t even think about it when they go for another glass of bubbly soda on a hot day.
2. Bread & Pasta
All things made with refined wheat flour are going to raise your blood sugar quickly. This includes white bread and pasta. These products are full of carbohydrates that tend to be digested and enter the bloodstream all at once.
3. Cookies & Candy
Any kind of sweet treat like a chocolate chip cookie or candy bar is mostly simple sugars and fats. These types of sugar are quickly absorbed by the intestines and can leave you with that too much sugar feeling all day.
4. Alcohol
Most people don’t realize that alcohol is not only high in calories, but most of them come from simple carbs and sugar. Just like soda pop, the sugar from this drink can cause a spike. Alcohol also affects the liver, which is involved in blood glucose regulation. For many diabetics, this spike leads to hypoglycemia, leaving them feeling shaky and nauseous for a few hours.
5. Fried Foods
Although fried foods are extremely tasty, they are also kind of bad for you. Foods like French fries, hush puppies, and fried pies are soaked in fats, which add a lot of calories to your diet. These fats are usually hydrogenated oils, a type of fat that does a number on your heart. Since diabetics are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, fried treats present a bigger hazard for them compared to other people.
6. Full-Fat Dairy
Some dairy can be good for you and helps satiate your appetite, but it’s loaded with calories, and it’s way too easy to overeat. When you’re adding whole milk to breakfast, a 1/2 cup of cheese to those tacos at lunch, and noshing on a bowl of chips and dip in the evening, the fat calories add up. This can lead to weight gain which tends to increase your blood glucose levels.
[expand title=”References“]
Best and Worst Foods for Diabetes. URL Link. Accessed April 4, 2017.
Alcohol. URL Link. Accessed April 4, 2017.
Dairy and Diabetes. URL Link. Accessed April 4, 2017.
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