Stumble It!
During a short conversation about foods diabetics shouldn't eat in restaurants with one of my brothers, he mentioned he was sitting in a Chinese buffet. None of the specific food items would come to my memory. The information from a short class on nutrition I attended a few years ago seemd to evade me. What I did remember was that diabetics should avoid things whose ingredients end in -ol or -ose, sugar and other simple carbohydrates.
I couldn’t erase the technical talk out of my mind and name a few simple menu items that could help him find healthy dinning options in Houston. So I did some quick research and put together this blog post to help everyone understand that some restaurant foods present a threat to people with type 2 diabetes.
After struggling to come up with the names of specific foods, I wanted to compile a list with a bunch of foods that are safe for diabetics to eat when dinning out and those which could cause complications.
Most of us are familiar with the hazards of processed breads. White bread, bagels and whole grains when refined or ground into flour lose some of their health benefits. So this month I want to remind everyone about some common foods that and can adversely affect diabetics. Some of the items on the list may be surprising to you. Many are not.
Common Foods Diabetics Should Not Eat
jelly beans,
baked potatoes,
cereals made from refined grains
margarine
processed foods
poultry skin
refined rice products
cream sauces
It's important to always give both sides of a story. That means giving you the good and the bad so you can draw your own conclusions. So, let’s look at some of the foods that offer health benefits to diabetics. This are not the only foods that offer good nutritional value, just a short list of some of them to help us all eat healthier and live longer.
Brown rice
Dried beans
Fresh fruit
Okra
Cabbage
Cucumbers
Egg Plant
Yams
Carrots
Oranges
Many of the same foods that we suggest diabetics should avoid or limit are also listed by the experts at Diabetic Living. There are three very good reasons why these foods are getting such a bad rap.
Most of them have been linked to high blood pressure, diabetes and other debilitating diseases.
These foods are high in added sugar.
They provide an empty source of calories that can cause unwanted weight gain( code word for obesity).
The data we provided about the foods diabetics should avoid was not done haphazardly or with any malice. I don’t want you to think that we are picking on any one industry.
Some of the of the articles I read while researching facts for this piece seemed to be very biased and slanted. If you would like to do some further reading, here are a few links on food and diabetes.