Knowing how to cook the healthy way is important!
With 280 people diagnosed every day in Australia with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, diabetes really is a concern for many. They say that for every person with type 2 diabetes, there is another who is yet to be diagnosed and with Australia’s obesity epidemic, even more people are at risk.
Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease usually detected during childhood and requires insulin for management.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and is considered a lifestyle related disease; mainly affecting overweight people in their 40’s and upwards. In many cases type 2 diabetes can be managed by a combination of a healthy diet, regular physical activity and in some cases medications.
There is no special diet required for people with type 2 diabetes, they just need to eat regular meals and have regular snacks spread evenly over the day. It is important that a person with type 2 diabetes has the right carbohydrate distribution throughout the day and follows a low saturated fat diet. So knowing how to cook the healthy way is important.
Did you know? All recipes in my 9 cookbooks are suitable for people with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. FIND OUT MORE
10 simple cooking tips for people with diabetes or anyone wanting to cook the healthy way:
- Eat a low saturated fat diet. Cut the fat off meat, remove skin from chicken and where possible avoid cream, butter and high fat products.
- Use low fat products. Such as 25-50% reduced fat cheese, no-fat yoghurt, skim milk and low fat margarines.
- Avoid frying in fat. Use cooking spray or baking paper instead.
- Get your 5 + 3. Include 5 serves of vegetables and 2 or 3 serves of fruit each day.
- Fibre up. Aim for 30g of fibre each day.
- Omit or use salt sparingly. A low-sodium diet is ideal for people with diabetes.
- Avoid coconut milk. It contains 40g of fat per cup! Instead make my version of using evaporated light milk and coconut essence at only 4g of fat per cup.
- Limit sugar. Having small amounts of sugar is fine, for example one of my cakes may have a third cup sugar but it serves ten. Divided up there isn’t much sugar at all.
- Opt for Basmati or Doongara rice. Both have a lower GI than normal white rice.
- Choose cold-climate fruit. Fruit grown in a colder climate such as berries, cherries, apples, pears etc have a lower GI. Tropical fruits have a high GI rating and are quickly absorbed into the blood stream.
All recipes in my cookbooks are suitable for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. They also contain a full nutritional panel so you can keep track of what you’re eating.
Plus my Premium Breakfast Shakes are a great option, just add 150g fruit to the shake for people with diabetes and you have a healthy breakfast option.
Click here for FREE diabetes-friendly recipes
Want more help with living with diabetes?
Grab a copy of my Diabetes Essentials eBook HERE