Nutrition is Key

Healthy Eating Is Good Nutrition

Many People with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D)  or prediabetes need help with healthy eating. Healthy eating is important because it helps to improve blood sugars or prevent diabetes.  Learning this skill will guide the audience to be intentional in making good food choices.

This post will show that good food choices lead to good nutrition.

People with T2D or prediabetes who adopt healthy eating choices often improve their nutrition status by improving their diet.

Your health and weight is influenced by what you eat

Your health and weight is influenced by what you eat.  Healthy nutrition is essential for people with T2D or prediabetes.  By not choosing healthy foods, people feel tired, sluggish, gain weight, and have elevated blood sugars, A1C, and maybe even high cholesterol.

Here’s how to get started .

• Learn what healthy foods look like. Look at the grocery store, walk around the outer aisles of the store. That is where most healthy foods are kept. These foods are minimally processed. That means they are mostly in their natural state.
• Choose what foods you like. People mostly stick with familiar foods. This is a time to take the opportunity to try new foods.

Here Are Some Things to Consider

In my practice, I’ve seen people with T2D or prediabetes opt for cheaper less nutritious food because of cost and familiarity. The other problem is frequent eating out at fast food places. The meals are cheap but not nutritious. This is the time to learn what alternatives are available.

Here’s how to get started.

• How much money do you set aside to buy groceries?
• Start to cook at home
• How often do you go grocery shopping?
• Is there a good grocery store in the neighborhood?
• Do you have transportation problems?
• How can you store groceries after bringing them home.

Sometimes the it’s not what you eat but how much you eat

Portion size and food combinations are key to healthy eating. Weight gain and/or  abnormal blood sugar readings can occur when eating too much or eating the wrong thing.

Here’s how to get started.  In my practice, I counsel people about food pairing and food amounts. The plate method is used to demonstrate portion size. Food lists are given to provide inspiration for food combinations. One thing that’s stressed is everybody’s body and metabolism is different. In the program, we share that no foods are off limits but some foods need to be limited. The limitation depends on the person’s metabolism.

It is important for people to improve their health. The best way to do it is by making healthy food choices. The change results in weight or inches loss, improved well-being, and have better lab results.