19 Mar 2011 Diabetes diet myths

by Kellie Dye

One of my many pet peeves when it comes to nutritional myths involves the abundance of false information when it comes to eating and diabetes.

Don’t eat anything white.

Avoid bread, corn, carrots and potatoes.

Take the bun off of your burger.

Only use diabetic cookbooks.

You can eat as much sugar free foods as you want.

Look at the grams of sugar on the food labels.

You should eat only meat and vegetables.

You can never eat cake or cookies again.

All of these statements couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s right. Ignore all of the above so-called advice. If you get diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, run, don’t walk to your nearest registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator.

Getting a diagnosis of diabetes can be very overwhelming. By the time I see someone to help them with their eating plan, they are often starving because they have listened to all of the mythical advice. They are eating eggs and bacon for breakfast and grilled chicken salads for lunch and dinner. They are afraid of all things carbohydrate. They arrive for their nutrition consult hungry, frustrated and totally fatigued from how they have been eating. They leave the consult, however, feeling happy, hopeful and ready to eat a greater variety of foods. It gives me great pleasure to clear up the diet myths and formulate an eating plan that they can actually live with.

Allow me to clear up some of those myths above. Believe it or not a diabetic diet is NOT a low carbohydrate diet – it is a carbohydrate balanced diet. Balance is the key word. Carbohydrates should never be avoided; they should be spread out and eaten in a balanced way. Most people with diabetes count carbohydrate grams, not sugar grams. The idea is to spread out carbohydrate grams evenly and not to consume too many at one time. The portion of the carbohydrate food is the most important aspect of the diabetic diet. A registered dietitian can help you determine a carbohydrate balance that is appropriate for your needs and weight goals.

Carbohydrates should be whole grains, beans, peas, fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy. You should not have to exist on salads and meat. Diets that contain the proper amount of fiber from whole grains, not low carb diets, have been shown to help prevent diabetes.  

People assume that because meat does not contain carbohydrates that they can eat meat without limits. Wrong! Diabetes and heart disease go hand in hand. If you over consume meat in addition to a low fiber diet, your risk for heart disease increases further.

A diabetic diet is not about restriction and deprivation. It’s about balance and moderation. Most all foods can fit in a diabetic diet if you know how to make it work. Bypass the diet myths and seek the advice of a nutrition expert.