When you are Hungry in Between Meals

There are going to be times when you have finished your meal or snack and you are hungry again long before your next meal is scheduled or right before bed.  Depending on how much time you have to go before you are supposed to eat again and what your blood sugar levels are at you may want to move your meal time up or indulge in some free food.

If this happens frequently it is time look at your eating schedule and meal plan.  If you have recently added more physical activity to your daily routine, you will also have to increase your food intake to compensate for the extra energy your are using up.  If this isn’t the case and you are unsure why your appetite has increased or your current meal plan is no longer working, speak to your dietician to see if there are some revisions that can be made to prevent this from happening.

When you have gestational diabetes, it is recommended that you have a snack before bedtime to tide you over until the morning.  It will also be important to have a bedtime snack if you are taking an insulin injection prior to bed so that your blood sugar does not become too low overnight.  If neither of these scenarios applies to you, you can have some free food before bed if you are finding that you are hungry at night time.  A bouillon (beef or chicken broth) might stave off hunger pangs and allow you to fall asleep.

If you are hungry at night time and your blood sugars are low, do have something to eat to raise your glucose level.  If this is a frequent occurrence, you may not be eating enough food at dinner time. Try adding a protein or carbohydrate to see if this makes a difference.

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When to Eat when you have Diabetes

When you are a diabetic sometimes when you eat is just as important as what you eat. Keeping a steady stream of food in your system without causing high blood sugars can be hard to do.  But once you figure what works for you, you will have more flexibility and better control of your diabetes.

It is recommended that diabetics eat many small meals throughout the day or three main meals and three snacks in between.  A typical day may go like this:

• Wake-up and have breakfast
• Mid-morning snack
• Lunch
• Mid-afternoon snack
• Dinner
• Bedtime snack

The timing in between each meal or snack should be two to three hours.  This variation will depend on what you have eaten at the previous meal, how active you have been and what you feel like.  If you are feeling hungry or light-headed and you normally wouldn’t have eaten for another 30 minutes – don’t wait.  Test your blood sugar and move up your meal.  The time it can take for you to wait the 30 minutes can be the time it takes for your blood sugar to drop dangerously low.

The only time you may want to wait a longer period of time is between dinner and your bedtime snack.  Most times dinner is the biggest meal of the day and you will not need food again for a longer period of time.  Another reason to wait longer is to ensure that you have enough food in your system before you go to bed to last you through the night without your blood sugars dropping too low.

If eating this many times in a day is too much for you, consider eating smaller means and smaller portion sizes.  Eating this way (less more often) makes it easier for your body to regulate blood glucose levels.

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Using the Food Pyramid in Diabetic Diets

In grade school everyone was taught the food pyramid and the different food groups that
make it up.  It is recommended for a balanced and healthy diet to vary your diet and
follow the food serving suggestions from the pyramid.  As adults, people rarely pay as
much heed to it if any at all.  But once you have been diagnosed with diabetes it is time to
take a refresher course on the different food groups.

There is a food pyramid that is available specifically for diabetics known as the Diabetes
Food Pyramid.  It is divided into six food groups just like the standard version.  The way
the two pyramids differ is that the diabetic version lists foods together that have the same
or similar carbohydrate content instead of the regular version that does it by food groups
alone.  This lay out makes it easier for diabetics to make food choices based on
information that can have a negative impact on blood glucose levels.

Some of the differences you will notice are that cheese is placed in the meat group
instead of the dairy group as a protein and the serving size will be equivalent to other
proteins in the same group.  You will find starchy vegetables such as potatoes and corn in
the bread and grains section because they act in a similar manner by raising blood sugars.

Another difference is the actual serving sizes, especially in the bread and grains group.  A
diabetic has to monitor the carbohydrate intake at each meal and it has been found that
smaller portion sizes are a good way to manage this.

You can get a copy of the Diabetic Food Pyramid from your dietician, doctor, or diabetes
educator.  It is a good reference material to have on hand when you are planning your
meals.

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Tips for Revamping Favorite Recipes

Everyone has their favorite dishes, ones that mom or grandma used to make or new ones
that you have discovered on your own.  Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes,
you may feel that you can never enjoy these dishes again (or not without harming your
health).  But there are ways that you can change old family favorites keeping the flavor
but reducing or eliminating the amount of sugar or carbohydrates they contain.

For most substitutions that you are going to make to your recipes, you are looking for
ways to reduce the fat content.  Here are some standards that you can use.  When your
recipe calls for:

• Whole milk try substituting with 2% or 1% instead
• Whole eggs try substituting with an egg substitute or use 2 egg whites for every whole egg called for in the recipe
• Sour cream use low fat sour cream or plan yogurt
• Baking chocolate try using cocoa powder mixed with vegetable oil (3 tablespoons with 1 tablespoon of oil will equal 1 ounce of chocolate)

In addition to the above suggestions, always use light or lower fat versions of ingredients.
Sometimes trial and error is necessary to get the recipe just right, but do keep trying the
end result will be worth it when you create a cake or other dessert that you love and is
diabetic friendly.

Alternately, you can purchase a diabetic cook book that is full of desserts to make that
will work with your diet.  This way you can create new favorites for you and your family
to fall in love with.  Don’t feel that just because you are a diabetic you cannot enjoy
variety in your foods.  Keep trying new things while keeping a close eye on your blood
sugar levels to add new foods to your growing repertoire.

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The TLC Diet for Diabetics

The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet was developed with more than diabetics in
mind.  It is a diet that is recommended to people with high cholesterol, heart or other
cardiovascular diseases and those that have been diagnosed with diabetes.

This diet consists of a set of guidelines that provide percentage ranges of what a patient
should eat from each food group.  The aim is to provide flexibility in choices while
ensuring that the choices made are helpful to the condition that is being treated.  In the
beginning it is a good idea to partner with a dietician to ensure the calculations that you
are making are accurate and that you are making the best food choice decisions.

The TLC diet provides the following eating guidelines:

• The total amount of fat that is eaten in a day should add up to less than 25-35% of the calories that are consumed
• Of the 25-35% fat intake it should be broken down into the following categories: saturated less than 7%; monounsaturated less than 20%;  polyunsaturated 10%
• 50-60% of a day’s worth of calories should be derived from carbohydrates
• Eat at least 20-30 grams of high-quality fiber each day
• The protein consumed should equal 15-20% of the calories for the day
• Cholesterol should be limited and kept under 200mg per day

As the diet is a set of guidelines that do not include the calculations necessary to
determine if you are meeting the requirements you should book an appointment with a
dietician to understand what you need to do.  Once you have been shown how to make
the calculations and have been given a sample meal plan you can use those as a template
to create many variations of the TLC diet.  You can also glean much of this information
by reading the food labels on packages.

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The Role of Fiber in a Diabetic Diet

The role of fiber in healthy diets is very important – it aids in digestion and keep your
colon and other organs healthy and functioning properly.  It is also a wonder element that
should be a large part of any diabetic’s diet.  You will reap many benefits from including
fiber in your diet.  If you are pre-diabetic it can assist in delaying the diagnosis of
diabetes or if you are already diabetic it can help keep your blood glucose under control.

Fiber will keep you feeling fuller longer – it slows the conversion of carbohydrates in
your body which in turn can keep your blood sugars stable.  The type of fiber that a
diabetic needs to eat to gain these benefits is soluble fiber (dissolves in water).  Some
good sources of soluble fiber include:

• Choosing whole grain or whole wheat products instead of white (flour, breads, and cereals)
• Eating fresh fruit and vegetables instead of processed or drinking them in liquid form
• Beans, use dried beans in your favorite recipes like chili for a wholesome, high-fiber meal

To ensure that you are getting the most benefit from eating increased amount of fiber,
make sure that you are drinking at least eight glasses of water a day.  Remember, this
fiber dissolves in water and you need to stay hydrated for it to work properly.

If you are on a carbohydrate counting diet and are using 15 grams of carbohydrates for
one serving you can increase the amount you are eating if that item has high-fiber
content.  You can subtract the number of grams of fiber in a serving from the number of
carbohydrates.  For instance if you are eating an item that has 20 grams of carbohydrates
(over the one serving limit) but it has five grams of fiber you can subtract the five from
the twenty and it is now only a 15 gram serving.

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The Glycemic Index and Diabetic Diets

The glycemic index diet is one that many diabetics find useful.  The diet is based on
assigning foods a ranking that indicates that food’s effect on blood sugar levels.  This can
be a valuable tool for diabetics, especially ones that have been newly diagnosed as it can
take some of the guess work out of meal planning and what foods to eat.

The glycemic index (GI) diet indicates foods that have a low GI value meaning they will
take a longer time to have an affect on blood sugars and ones that have a higher value –
they will act quicker to raise blood sugars.  A diabetic is still going to have to use another
means to decide what foods to eat though – such as the food pyramid or an exchange list
as not all items on the GI diet are as healthy as they could be.  Meaning a food that has a
low index does not mean it is a better choice for you than some foods that are on the
higher end of the scale.

Using the GI diet as your sole source of meal planning is not recommended not only
because the values are not indicative of the healthiest choice but also because not all
foods are listed.  If you are basing your diet on this method and want to add other foods
that do not have GI rating you are not going to be able to properly plan.  Until more
information is researched on the diet or it is made more comprehensive it should be used
with an approved diet for diabetics such as the exchange diet or the carbohydrate
counting diet.

If you want more information on how to incorporate the GI diet with your current meal
plan, consult with your dietician or a diabetes educator.

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