Healthy Eating Rules

1. Eat low-GI, carbohydrate-rich meals

Eating 4-6 smaller carbohydrate-rich meals and snacks, spread over the day, rather than 2-3 large meals will help control blood glucose. Ask your dietitian for advice about scheduling food intake around medication and activity patterns. Monitoring your blood glucose will also help you find out when and what you should eat, or if you've eaten too much.

2. Limit total fat (particularly saturated fat)

Eating too much saturated fat can cause weight gain, poor blood glucose control and high blood cholesterol, all of which are known to increase the risk of heart disease. Try to use low-fat cooking methods and choose low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and low-fat spreads.

Limit your intake of fried and fast foods, biscuits, pastries and cakes. Use small amounts of canola or olive oil when cooking and eat oily fish 2-3 times each week to make sure you get enough healthy essential omega-3 fats.

3. Increase fruit and vegetable intake

Aim to eat at least 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables each day. They will help you feel full, and in addition they contain many healthy nutrients, including antioxidants that can help protect tissues from being damaged by excess blood glucose.

4. Limit sugar and sugary food intake

Sugar doesn't cause diabetes and people with well-controlled diabetes don't have to avoid sugar completely but it should be treated with caution, especially if you need to lose weight. Adding a little sugar (or, better still, fresh fruit) to a bowl of porridge or bran cereal won't raise blood sugar very much, but having a soft drink or lollies in between meals will send it soaring. Reduced-sugar products are readily available and provide sweetness without too many calories or raising blood sugar.

5. Limit salt intake

Excess salt raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart and kidney disease. Avoid adding salt to meals and look for reduced- or no-added salt versions of canned and packaged foods. Use herbs, spices, lemon juice and vinegar for flavour.

6. Limit alcohol intake

Alcohol is high in calories so avoid it if you are trying to lose weight or have poorly controlled diabetes. Health authorities recommend drinking a maximum of 1-2 standard drinks a day, with alcohol-free days each week.

Choosing low-alcohol beer or diluting wine and spirits with soda water or a diet soft drink are better choices. If you take diabetic medication, you must eat some carbohydrate (such as bread or low-fat crackers) whenever you drink alcohol to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia.

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Dr Susanna Holt (PhD, dietician)