Eating Well with Diabetes

People with diabetes need to eat their meals spread throughout the day.

Some people may need snacks during long gaps between meals to avoid getting too hungry.

Eat some high-fibre and slow-digesting starchy food at each meal, e.g. potatoes, rice, pasta or bread to give your body fuel.

Enjoy a variety of nutritious foods every day:

Vegetables and fruit

Try to have some vegetables at two or more meals each day.

Put your vegetables on your plate first so you can fill half the plate with them.

Limit yourself to one serving of fruit at a time. Avoid making smoothies or juices from your fruit.

Grain foods

Eat mostly wholegrain and those naturally high in fibre, e.g. wholemeal bread, oats and Weetbix.

Milk and milk products

Stick to low- and reduced-fat milk, e.g. lite milk or trim milk. (On the label, look for less than 2 grams fat per 100 ml.)

Cheese

Is high in fat — limit to 30 grams per serving.

Poultry and Meat

Aim for 150–180 g (raw) per person.

Skim, skin and trim — skim the fat off casseroles and minces, skin the chicken. and trim the fat off meat.

Eggs

Are OK — you can have up to 7 per week.

Legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood

Include some legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood for a balanced diet.

Oils

Oils and fats are high in kilojoules (kJ). If you are trying to manage your weight, limit the amount of fat. This is regardless of whether the fat is saturated, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated.

There are different types of oils and fats and some are more heart-friendly than others.

When choosing a cooking oil select those which are mostly monounsaturated.

Good sources of monounsaturated oils are:

  • olive oil

  • canola oil

  • rice bran oil

  • peanut, almond and avocado oils

  • margarines made with olive oil or canola oil.

Polyunsaturated oils are an acceptable choice as well, but you should use these less often as they are less heat stable.

Sources of polyunsaturated oils are:

  • sunflower oil

  • soybean oil

  • sesame oil

  • walnut oil

  • corn oil

  • linseed oil

  • wheatgerm oil

  • margarine made with sunflower or soybean oil.

Fats

Try to avoid trans and saturated fats!

Trans-fats

Most trans-fat in the New Zealand diet comes from naturally occurring products. You find trans-fats in beef and lamb fat and dairy products. In New Zealand, the majority of margarine contains less than 1 percent trans-fat.

Saturated fats

A high intake of saturated fat increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Saturated fat is also known to increase insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes.

An identifiable feature of saturated fats is that they are hard at room temperature and many of them are from animal sources. Butter, full-fat milk and cheese are major sources of saturated fat. Fat from chicken, beef and fried potato products is also saturated.

There are some vegetable saturated fats. These include coconut oil (and cream), cocoa butter (in chocolate) and palm oil. Some vegetable fats are hydrogenated, becoming hard and saturated, such as Kremelta and Chefaid.

Tips to reduce your saturated fat intake

  • Use margarine instead of butter.

  • Have lite blue, trim or calci-trim milk instead of dark blue.

  • Limit your portions of cheese to 30 grams per serve.

  • Choose yoghurt with less than 2 grams of fat per 100 grams.

  • Limit meat and chicken portions to 150–180 grams raw weight per person.

Margarine vs. butter

Margarine usually tops butter when it comes to heart health as it is made from vegetable oils, which contain unsaturated fats (good fats), while butter contains animal fat (saturated fats). Not all margarines are created equal, however. Check the nutrition label to ensure the one you are buying doesn’t contain trans-fats.

‘Light/Lite’ fat labelling

The words ‘light’ or ‘lite’ can only be used on products that have a minimum of 25 percent less fat than a named reference food. In other words, a lite margarine must contain at least 25 percent less than a named standard margarine.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol only occurs in animal fats. While eggs and seafood are high in cholesterol, we encourage people to consume them because they are relatively low in fat. All plant foods are cholesterol free.

Salt (sodium)

A high sodium intake is linked to high blood pressure and people with high blood pressure have an increased risk of developing heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

People with Type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of elevated blood pressure, so managing your salt intake is an important part of managing your well-being.

There are many sources of sodium in the diet other than salt itself. Where possible, choose reduced-sodium or reduced-salt products to reduce your sodium intake.

Many of the recipes in this book are made without salt or very little salt, so some people may want to add it at the table. If that is the case, make sure you have iodised salt as it’s a nutrient that is often lacking in our diets.

We get used to the flavour of salt, but it can be reduced over time. Try other flavourings to enhance the taste of the food such as herbs, spices and lemon juice.

Three quarters of our salt/sodium intake comes from manufactured foods. Check the Understanding Food Labels guide.