Healthy food habits can help you better control your diabetes and reduce risk factors for other complications like heart disease, kidney disease and vision problems. Its best to eat a healthy diet with a variety of foods. By eating right, a person can obtain the energy, vitamins and minerals needed each day.
Carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for your body. For people with diabetes, carbohydrates have the greatest impact on making your blood sugar rise. A wise meal plan for a person with diabetes includes more of the complex carbohydrates. Protein is an important nutrient that your body needs each day. Protein helps to build lean muscle for strength and manage almost every chemical process that happens in your body. Fat is also important in planning food choices. Because people with diabetes are more likely to have heart diseases they also need to control blood fat levels.
People with diabetes are usually advised by their doctor or dietitian on what their meal plan might look like. You probably know how many calories you would like to target to eat each day. Or, you may be counting how many carbohydrates you want to eat each day. However you are keeping track of your daily meal plan, BOOST Glucose Control drinks are made to fit in.
Knowing how to adapt your eating plan is an important part of keeping your blood sugar in control. Sometimes meals or snacks are missed or are eaten later than usual which may affect your blood sugar level.
BOOST Glucose Control drinks were designed especially with the person who has diabetes in mind. The total nutrition in a serving of BOOST Glucose Control drink is designed to be well balanced, including vitamins and minerals. It has 16 grams of carbohydrates (1 choice) and those carbohydrates are mostly from the complex sources. The 16 grams of protein provides a nice contribution to your protein needs for the day 16 grams is equal to the amount of protein found in about 2 ounces of meat. And, the 7 grams of fat comes from healthy unsaturated sources. The combination of ingredients in BOOST Glucose Control drinks have been selected to help minimize the blood sugar peak that happens after eating.
When you are recovering from surgery or an illness, some foods may not look good or taste good to you. But eating the right foods and keeping your blood sugar under control are very important during these times.
BOOST Glucose Control drinks can be an option for maintaining a balanced nutrient intake at times when only small amounts of food are appealing.
Nutritional supplements may help add important nutrients to your diet each day and may be helpful in situations where you are unable to eat enough food to meet your nutritional needs.
Some nutrients that may help individuals with diabetes better manage their condition include arginine, chromium, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, and fiber.
- ARGININE is an amino acid that is found in protein. Adding extra arginine to the diet has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity which means it may help with better blood sugar control.1-4
- VITAMINS C and E, as well as arginine, help keep our body tissues healthy. Heart disease, kidney failure and blindness are more likely to occur in people with diabetes who have poor control of their blood sugar over the long term.5,6
- CHROMIUM assists in blood sugar control by helping the body use carbohydrates. People with diabetes may have an increased need for chromium because their body may not be using chromium from their diet efficiently.7,8
- FIBER is important for everyone in maintaining regular bowel function and promoting "good" bacteria in the gut.9,10
Managing Your Blood Sugar
If my meal or snack is delayed, what do I do?
Plan ahead, if you can, to avoid missing your usual eating time. If your schedule is hectic, always carry a snack with you to prevent or treat low blood sugar.
What can I do to eat right when I'm not feeling well?
- If you don't feel like eating, try to eat foods that are easier for your stomach to handle, such as soup, cereal, toast, crackers, ice cream, Popsicles®* fruit juice, yogurt or pudding.
- If you are using insulin, take it at the usual times. Ask your health care professional if you have questions about taking your medicines when you don’t feel well.
- If you have low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), treat it right away, following what your health care professional has told you to do.
- Tell your physician, nurse or dietitian if you can’t eat or are losing weight that you did not want to lose.
If you would like more information about how to manage and successfully live with your diabetes, ask your physician to arrange a meeting with a diabetes educator, who are healthcare professionals that specialize in diabetes self-management. Or to find a diabetes educator in your area go to www.diabeteseducator.org.
* Popsicles is a registered trademark of a product not distributed by Nestl HealthCare Nutrition, Inc.
- Corio et al., 1997 Clin Endocrinology
- Piatti et al., 2001 Diabetes Care
- Siani et al., 2001 Am J Hyperten
- Gannon et al., 2002 Am J Clin Nutr
- Manning et al., 2004 Diabetes Care
- Montonen et al., 2004 Diabetes Care
- Althuis et al., 2002 Am J Clin Nutr
- Amato et al., 2000 J Gerontology : Medical Sciences
- Okubo T., et al : Effects of Partially Hydrolized Guar Gum Intake on Human Intestinal Microflora and its Metabolism. Biosci Biotech. Biochem. 1994; 58(8); 1364-1369
- Velazquez, M., et al: Effect of Oligosaccharides and Fibre Substitutes on Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production by Human Faecal Microflora. Anaerobe 2000; 6:87-92