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10 tips for healthy eating if you are at risk of type 2 diabetes

Lots of factors can contribute to someone being at risk of or diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. With the right support there are some things that you can change, but others you can’t. Our tips on healthy eating could help reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Things like your age, ethnicity and family history can all contribute to your overall risk. We also know that living with overweight or obesity is the most significant risk factor.

If you know you are living with overweight or obesity getting support to lose weight when you are ready is one way you could prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

Any amount of weight loss can help, research shows losing even 1kg can help to reduce your risk. There are so many different ways to lose weight, so it’s important to find out what works best for you and know what support is available to help you.

We know that not everyone who is at risk or living with diabetes type 2 diabetes is living with overweight or obesity.

But whether or not weight loss is part of your plan, it is still important to think about the foods you eat. Research tells us that there are even certain foods that are linked to reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Here are our top tips on healthier foods and drinks:

1. Choose drinks without added sugar
We know there is a link between having full sugar fizzy and energy drinks, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Cutting down on these can help to reduce your risk and support keeping your weight down.

If you are finding it hard to cut down, look out for diet or low calorie versions of soft drinks and check there’s no added sugar.

Try not to replace sugary drinks with fruit juices or smoothies as these still contain a high amount of free sugar. Try plain water, plain milk, tea or coffee without added sugar, as replacements. Evidence also shows that drinking unsweetened tea and coffee is associated with a reduced risk.

2. Choose higher fibre carbs
Eating white bread, white rice, sugary breakfast cereals or other simple starchy foods, known as refined carbs, are linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

But wholegrains such as brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal flour, wholegrain bread and oats and linked to a reduced risk so choose these instead.

When you’re out shopping remember to check food labels to see if a food is high fibre. Compare different foods to find the ones with the most fibre in them.

Other healthy sources of carbs include:

fruit and vegetables
pulses such has chickpeas, beans and lentils
dairy like unsweetened yoghurt and milk.
Having more fibre is also associated with lower risk of other serious conditions such as obesity,

heart diseases and certain types of cancers. It’s also important to think about your carbohydrate portion sizes.

 

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Top 7 healthy foods you should be eating

1. Fish

“Eat plenty of fish, which are high in healthy omega 3 fatty acids, and smaller portions of red meat to reduce your risk of diseases like stroke, heart disease and cancer.” – Bob Canter, professor of surgery at UC Davis Division of Surgical Oncology

2. Broccoli or any of the cruciferous vegetables

“These foods are rich in nutrients including glucosinolates, which are key in detoxification processes. These are best served raw or quick-steamed for five to ten minutes.” – Alex Nella, pediatric registered dietitian

3. Beets

“No matter which color – red, yellow, golden – or which part – root or greens – they contain a wonderful variety of protective carotenoids. Evidence suggests their dietary nitrates can be converted to nitric oxide and improve endurance exercise.” – Alex Nella, pediatric registered dietitian

4. Spinach and other leafy green vegetables

“These are packed with lutein and zeaxanthin: nutrients that can help protect against macular degeneration.” – Jeffrey Caspar, professor of ophthalmology at the UC Davis Eye Center

5. Kale

“It’s a green leafy veggie that I love chopped in salad or cooked with onion and garlic. It is nutrient dense, has lots of antioxidants and can help lower cholesterol.” – Brandee Waite, director of the UC Davis Sports Medicine fellowship

6. Peanut butter

“My favorite food is peanut butter. It has protein, carbs and sugars. It’s a great recovery food and my kids love it!” – Brian Davis, clinical professor of the UC Davis Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

7. Almonds

“Almonds have a lot of vitamin E, which protects against macular degeneration as well as cataracts. I recommend eating just a handful a day.” – Jeffrey Caspar, professor of ophthalmology at the UC Davis Eye Center

 

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LET’S MAKE OUR FOOD HEALTHIER

LET’S MAKE OUR FOOD HEALTHIER

Our communities are drowning in a swamp of unhealthy junk food and beverages, leading to an epidemic of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and tooth decay. Added sugars in our food and drinks are a major threat to public health. And healthy food can be expensive and hard to find in many places.

Healthy Food America is on the frontlines of the fight to ensure that all people have access to healthy, nutritious food and are less exposed to unhealthy junk foods.

We support community leaders across the nation who are advocating for policies and strategies like soda taxes and healthy food incentives to make healthy eating easier for all Americans.

We share the latest research and cutting edge policy and advocacy strategies so advocates can act on the best information and science to drive change in policy, food environments and industry practices. Read more about us.

New commentary: To Protect Young Children’s Health, Limit Marketing and Ubiquity of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages.
Children are exposed to unhealthy food environments created by a food industry that creates, promotes, and sells far too many unhealthy, ultraprocessed products.

The commentary discusses a suite of policies to reduce the impact of marketing of unhealthy foods to young children, including countermarketing, regulatory actions, legal interventions, taxation, and front-of-package warning labels. It was published in the American Journal of Public Health in October 2022.

THE SUGAR ADVOCACY TOOLKIT
Obesity remains epidemic. Diabetes is rampant and striking younger children. Heart, liver, and dental diseases afflict mission and costs billions. Why? There is too much sugar in our food and beverage products.

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The benefits of healthy eating

It can be helpful to think about what a ‘healthy balanced diet ” means. This is especially true if you’re unsure about whether you want to start changing what you eat or the way you eat.

Along with cutting back on alcohol, smoking less and being more active, eating well is one of the best things you can do to prevent certain diseases and maintain your overall health. But there are other benefits too.

What is a healthy balanced diet?
Having a healthy balanced diet means eating a variety of foods. It also means getting lots of essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and healthy fats.

This helps you stay in good health and feel your best. You can find out more about this topic at The Eatwell Guide.

You can also discover some great ideas to improve and make your diet more balanced.

What are the benefits?
There are so many benefits you can get from eating well, compared to a poorer quality diet. These can include:

Having more money to spare. Even cheap takeaways or fast foods generally cost more than making your own meals.
Having more energy
Getting better sleep

Improved mood
Looking better, including healthier skin, hair and nails
This can all lead to increased confidence and a better sense of well-being.

Also, a healthy diet can improve your body’s ability to fight infection. You’re less likely to pick up infections like coughs and colds.

If you’re eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables, you’ll get a good amount of fibre and this helps with digestion. This can lead to:

Having a healthier gut, fighting against digestive problems
Less chance of problems like constipation or bloating
Less risk of developing some cancers such as bowel cancer
Feel the benefits for longer

If you start to eat in a more healthy, balanced way, you may see changes within a short time.

Maintaining these small lifestyle changes can make huge differences over time as your new habits become a way of life. Maintaining these changes can lead to:

Getting to (and staying at) a healthy weight
Having better long-term mental health and mood
Having stronger bones and teeth
Having improved brain function,

including better focus and memory
Reducing the risk of obesity-related diseases. These include diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.
Influencing others
If you start to make small changes to what and how you eat, this can have a positive effect on others around you.

You may motivate friends and family to make changes themselves or join you in trying new foods.

If you have children at home, they may be more likely to try different foods if they see you eating them.

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Food healthy and mental health

Some studies suggest that what we eat and drink can affect how we feel. But it can be difficult to know what to eat, especially when healthier foods can be more expensive.

And it can be hard to think about our diet when we’re struggling with our mental wellbeing.

How can food and drink affect how I feel?
We all react differently to the things in our diet. But there are some foods and drinks that may affect how we feel, in different ways.

This section talks about food and drink that might affect how you feel, and has some ideas for how to manage this.

These tips may help some of us think about what to eat and drink. But they are only a guide. Some of us may find them less helpful or achievable, especially when we’re feeling unwell – and that’s ok.

Blood sugar levels
If your blood sugar is lower than usual, you might feel tired, irritable or depressed.

Eating regularly, and eating foods that release energy slowly, can help to keep your sugar levels steady.

Different people may have different reactions to the same foods. But generally, foods that release energy more slowly include:

Wholegrain bread and cereal
Nuts and seeds
Brown pasta
Brown rice
This is compared to foods like white bread, crisps, white pasta and white rice, which release energy less slowly.

Drinking fluids
If you live with a mental health problem, you may not have the energy or motivation to drink lots of fluids. But if you become dehydrated, this can make it harder to concentrate or think clearly.

Water, tea, coffee, juices and smoothies can all help you feel hydrated. But some of these may also contain caffeine or sugar, which could affect how you feel for different reasons.

It may help to try and track your fluid intake. You could try writing it down or using a reminder on your phone.

Fruits and vegetables
Eating different fruits and vegetables can add a good range of nutrients to your diet. These nutrients help to keep us mentally and physically healthy.

Fresh fruit and vegetables can sometimes be expensive and more difficult to prepare. Frozen, tinned, dried and juiced fruits and vegetables all count towards your 5 a day too, if you want a cheaper or easier alternative.

Healthy fats
Your brain needs certain fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6, to keep it working well. You can find these healthy fats in:

Nuts and seeds
Avocados
Oily fish, such as sardines and mackerel (these are often cheaper if you buy them tinned)
We know that some of these healthier fats can be more expensive. And that it can be challenging to eat well when you’re feeling low. So if these changes don’t feel possible right now, that’s ok.

Foods for good gut health
Sometimes your gut can reflect your mood. If you’re stressed or anxious this can make your gut slow down or speed up.

This can lead to problems with digestion, such as feeling bloated or constipated. Or you may not feel as hungry as usual.

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what is a healthy, balanced diet for diabetes?

There is no specific diet for diabetes. But the foods you eat not only make a difference to how you manage your diabetes, but also to how well you feel and how much energy you have.

For example carbohydrates you eat and drink are broken down into glucose. The type, and amount, you consume can make a difference to your blood glucose levels and diabetes management.

Eating from the main food groups

How much you need to eat and drink is based on your age, gender, how active you are and the goals you’re aiming for. But no single food contains all the essential nutrients your body needs.

That’s why a healthy diet is all about variety and choosing different foods from each of the main food groups every day.

And when we say balanced, we mean eating more of certain foods and less of others. But portion sizes have grown in recent years, as the plates and bowls we use have got bigger. And larger portions can make it more difficult for you to manage your weight.

We’ve got more information for you about managing a healthy weight.

We’ve highlighted the benefits of each food group below – some help protect your heart and some affect your blood sugar levels more slowly – all really important for you to know. Get to know them and how healthy choices can help you reduce your risk of diabetes complications.

You can learn more about a healthy diet for diabetes with our Food Hacks section in Learning Zone.

Fruit and vegetables
Having diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t have fruit. Fruit and veg are naturally low in calories and packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre. They also add flavour and variety to every meal.

Fresh, frozen, dried and canned – they all count. Go for a rainbow of colours to get as wide a range of vitamins and minerals as possible. Try to avoid fruit juices and smoothies as they don’t have as much fibre.

If you’re trying to limit the amount of carbs you eat, you might be tempted to avoid fruit and veg. But it’s so important to include them in your diet every day. There are lower carb options you can try and we also have a low carb meal plan you can try.

Fruit and vegetables can help protect against stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers – and when you have diabetes, you’re more at risk of developing these conditions.

Benefits
Help to keep your digestive system working well
Help protect the body from heart disease, stroke and some cancers
How often?
Everyone should aim to eat at least five portions a day. A portion is roughly what fits in the palm of your hand.

Examples of what to try
sliced melon or grapefruit topped with unsweetened yogurt, or a handful of berries, or fresh dates, apricots or prunes for breakfast
mix carrots, peas and green beans into your pasta bake
add an extra handful of peas to rice, spinach to lamb or onions to chicken
try mushrooms, cucumber, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery and lettuce for lower carb vegetable options
try avocados, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums, peaches and watermelon for lower carb fruit options

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Food and mental health

Some studies suggest that what we eat and drink can affect how we feel. But it can be difficult to know what to eat, especially when healthier foods can be more expensive. And it can be hard to think about our diet when we’re struggling with our mental wellbeing.

How can food and drink affect how I feel?
We all react differently to the things in our diet. But there are some foods and drinks that may affect how we feel, in different ways. This section talks about food and drink that might affect how you feel, and has some ideas for how to manage this.

These tips may help some of us think about what to eat and drink. But they are only a guide. Some of us may find them less helpful or achievable, especially when we’re feeling unwell – and that’s ok.

Blood sugar levels
If your blood sugar is lower than usual, you might feel tired, irritable or depressed. Eating regularly, and eating foods that release energy slowly, can help to keep your sugar levels steady.

Different people may have different reactions to the same foods. But generally, foods that release energy more slowly include:

Wholegrain bread and cereal
Nuts and seeds
Brown pasta
Brown rice
This is compared to foods like white bread, crisps, white pasta and white rice, which release energy less slowly.

Drinking fluids
If you live with a mental health problem, you may not have the energy or motivation to drink lots of fluids. But if you become dehydrated, this can make it harder to concentrate or think clearly.

Water, tea, coffee, juices and smoothies can all help you feel hydrated. But some of these may also contain caffeine or sugar, which could affect how you feel for different reasons.

It may help to try and track your fluid intake. You could try writing it down or using a reminder on your phone.

Fruits and vegetables
Eating different fruits and vegetables can add a good range of nutrients to your diet. These nutrients help to keep us mentally and physically healthy.

Fresh fruit and vegetables can sometimes be expensive and more difficult to prepare. Frozen, tinned, dried and juiced fruits and vegetables all count towards your 5 a day too, if you want a cheaper or easier alternative.

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If You Don’t Eat Sweet Potatoes Every Day, This Might Convince You to Start

Sweet potatoes are just as versatile as white potatoes but pack even more of a nutritional punch. So what are the sweet, sweet benefits of sweet potatoes?

There’s no veggie quite as versatile as the humble spud. Whether you love your potatoes baked, mashed, as hash browns or french fries (best air-fryer recipes for the win!),

there’s no shortage of ways to put them to delicious use. Sweet potatoes can be enjoyed in all the same ways as white potatoes—and the nutritional benefits of sweet potatoes bring even more to the table.

Even if you’re chock-full of food facts and can rattle off the benefits of bananas, the benefits of yogurt and the benefits of blueberries without consulting Google, there’s a good chance you don’t know all the benefits of sweet potatoes.

If they’re not already part of your best recipes, learning about their benefits straight from dietitians just might convince you to integrate them into your diet. Keep reading to find out why nutrition experts love sweet potatoes so much—and learn the most delicious ways to cook them!

What are the benefits of eating sweet potatoes?
There’s a reason sweet potatoes have garnered a glowing health halo. Below, you’ll find just a few of the highlights.

A healthier gut
“One sweet potato has 15% of the daily value of fiber, making them good for gut health,” explains registered dietitian Natalie Rizzo, author of Planted Performance and the founder of Greenletes. That fiber aids digestion and helps prevent constipation.

Blood-sugar stability
As a complex carb, a sweet potato takes more time to digest than simple carbs (ultra-processed foods with little nutritional value), notes Jessica Lehmann, a registered dietitian and associate teaching professor at Arizona State University. That means a sweet potato won’t raise your blood sugar levels as quickly, helping to keep your mood and energy levels steady. Plus, adds Rizzo, slower digestion means sweet potatoes will keep you fuller longer than other carbs.

Reduced inflammation
You can also add sweet potatoes to your anti-inflammatory grocery list. The tuber is high in antioxidants—specifically vitamin C, carotenoids and phenylpropanoids—which reduce inflammation in the body and protect against chronic diseases, as well as certain types of cancer.

A healing boost
Sweet potatoes have also been linked to improved vision (due to their beta carotene and vitamin A content), a better immune system (vitamin C and manganese) and strong bones (manganese again). Eating sweet potatoes regularly is even good for your skin. “Beta-carotene is an antioxidant, so it helps to reverse damage from the sun,” Lehmann explains. “It also improves wrinkling and sagging of the skin.”

Improved mental health
According to Lehmann, sweet potatoes are good for mental health because they’re high in vitamin B6, which is needed to synthesize serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood. We’re in favor of any food that calms anxiety!

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Top 10 Foods for Health

1. Water
Drink 8 to 12 cups of water daily.

2. Dark green vegetables
Eat dark green vegetables at least three to four times a week. Good options include broccoli, peppers, brussel sprouts and leafy greens like kale and spinach.

3. Whole grains
Eat whole grains sat least two or three times daily. Look for whole wheat flour, rye, oatmeal, barley, amaranth, quinoa or a multigrain. A good source of fiber has 3 to 4 grams of fiber per serving. A great source has 5 or more grams of fiber per serving.

4. Beans and lentils
Try to eat a bean-based meal at least once a week. Try to add legumes, including beans and lentils, to soups, stews, casseroles, salads and dips or eat them plain.

5. Fish
Try to eat two to three serving of fish a week. A serving consists of 3 to 4 ounces of cooked fish. Good choices are salmon, trout, herring, bluefish, sardines and tuna.

6. Berries
Include two to four servings of fruit in your diet each day. Try to eat berries such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.

7. Winter squash
Eat butternut and acorn squash as well as other richly pigmented dark orange and green colored vegetables like sweet potato, cantaloupe and mango.

8. Soy
25 grams of soy protein a day is recommended as part of a low-fat diet to help lower cholesterol levels. Try tofu, soy milk, edamame soybeans, tempeh and texturized vegetable protein (TVP).

9. Flaxseed, nuts and seeds
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed or other seeds to food each day or include a moderate amount of nuts – 1/4 cup – in your daily diet.

10. Organic yogurt
Men and women between 19 and 50 years of age need 1000 milligrams of calcium a day and 1200 milligrams if 50 or older. Eat calcium-rich foods such as nonfat or low-fat dairy products three to four times a day. Include organic choices.

 

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Students’ Knowledge of Healthy Food and Their Actual Eating Habits: A Case Study on the University of Granada (Spain)

This article focuses on an analysis of the discourses produced during 34 semi-structured interviews (17 men and 17 women) conducted at the University of Granada (Spain) with undergraduate, Master, and Ph.D. students.

The interviewees were between 20 and 44 years old. It was observed that the fact of having a high educational level did not prevent University students from eating unhealthily. There is a gap between the fact that 97.1% of 34 students interviewed (that is,

33 of them) know what healthy food is and their self-perception about whether or not what they are eating is healthy, since in 41.2% of them said self-perception is negative.

This gap narrows as the interviewees’ age increases and their socio-economic and vital situation is stabilizing which favors that their eating habits become more regular and healthier. Thus, all the interviewees aged 27 or over self-perceived that they were eating healthily. But the biggest differences are those that have to do with the gender of interviewees.

Thus, while 23.5% of women interviewed perceived that they were not eating healthy, 76.5% of them felt that they were eating healthy. However, among the men interviewed, these percentages were somehow reversed, in such a way that 58.8% of them believed that they were not eating healthy, compared to 41.2% of them who indicated that they were eating healthy.

Therefore, the investigation revealed that women tend to have the best chances of assuming healthy eating habits. Male students living outside the family home

or without female partners exhibited greater feeding problems, while females living under similar conditions tended to display healthier eating habits. This is related to the fact that women have traditionally been in charge of acquiring and preparing food. So,

women’s food education has not been restricted to the mere transmission to them of knowledge about what healthy food is, but from their childhood they were food trained through their active involvement in practical experiences.

Obviously, the solution proposed to this male disadvantage is to not perpetuate macho gender stereotypes that assign women the role of home caregivers, but to seek that both women and men have the opportunity and the duty to experience equally those practical experiences that involve the

tasks of the acquisition and preparation of food. Working to achieve a situation like this, not only promotes progress in gender equality, but also helps to overcome the lower training of men to perform the tasks inherent in their diet.