Diabetes Everyday

Living your best life with diabetes. Toby Smithson provides professional guidance with personal experience.

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Chocolate Chia Pudding

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Check out this low carbohydrate, high fiber, CHOCOLATE pudding made with plant-based milk and cocoa.

Welcome to DiabetesEveryDay, I’m Toby Smithson. I know that you all love hearing about new recipes so I have one for you today. I don’t know about your favorite flavors, but I am most definitely a fan of anything chocolate.  In an upcoming episode we will talk more about the benefits of chocolate, yes there are benefits, so stay tuned.

Today’s recipe is a chocolate chia pudding that is super easy to prepare, loaded with health benefits and is  absolutely delicious.

Here are the ingredients for one serving:

 1/2c plant based milk — choose one that is 1 gram or less carb and 8-10 grams protein…see my video about plant based milks….that will help you choose. 1T cocoa powder; 2tsp Splenda or a LCS; 2T chia seeds.

Pour the milk into a bowl, add the chia seeds, cocoa powder and low-calorie sweetener and stir. Wait about 10 minutes and stir again. Then place in a cup or mason jar and refrigerate overnight. The next day, you will see that the chia seeds have gelled the pudding and is ready to eat. This recipe is 183 calories; 13g carb; 9 G protein with a big added bonus of 12 g of fiber, something we all need more of.

This pudding can be eaten as a snack or part of a meal. It’s high in protein and fiber so it may help slow down the absorption of the carbs you are eating at that time. One of the main ingredients also has omega 3 fatty acid, which has heart health benefits as well.

One quick caution. If you search the internet for chia pudding you get some beautiful appetizing photos like these…..most are at least twice the serving size and provide nutrition info that doesn’t include the beautiful fruit garnish. That means 2 to 4 times the carbohydrate and calories.

Let me know how you like the pudding in the comments below. Here’s to your health!

Can People With Diabetes Eat Chocolate? (spoiler alert – YES!!!)

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Chocolate is healthy! Not all chocolate, and maybe not in one pound portion sizes. But our focus is always to tell you what you can do, not what you can’t. And this “can do” message gives us great pleasure. Enjoy

Hi There! I’m Toby Smithson, Welcome back to Diabetes EveryDay. I think you are going to love the topic of our video today…it’s about chocolate! We will start by going over the benefits, yes benefits from eating some types of chocolate and then we will talk about best choices.

Did you catch the keywords…some type of chocolates? Not all chocolate is created equal when it comes to health benefits. Flavonoid amounts in a serving of cocoa or chocolate can range from as low as 5 milligrams to as high as 150 milligrams. Flavonoids are healthy antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds, and how the cocoa bean is processed determines much of the flavonoid content in finished chocolate. Many cocoa powders on the market are heavily alkalized, a processing which can destroy the flavonoid while also reducing the acidity of the cocoa,

Ok this gets interesting…If you are looking at cocoa powders to use in a recipe, choose a lighter color because it contains more antioxidant potential than the darker cocoa. But if you want to munch on a piece of chocolate, opt for dark chocolate with at least 70 percent cocoa, which is rich in antioxidants. And it’s important to note that Milk chocolate has fewer nutrients, double the sugar and only one-quarter of the fiber of dark varieties.

Of course, just because some forms of chocolate have potential health benefits doesn’t mean it’s healthy to devour it with reckless abandon. Compared to other flavonoid-containing foods, chocolate candies are higher in calories. But then again, other flavonoid-containing foods aren’t chocolate.

And… we have to talk about portion size. Research suggests 1 to 2 tablespoons of natural cocoa or 20 grams (about 3/4 ounce) of dark chocolate per day is enough to result in cardiovascular health benefits. Check out an upcoming video for our chocolate chia pudding which has a full Tablespoon of cocoa powder per serving), One tablespoon of natural cocoa contains only 10 calories and even a little bit of fiber (2 grams). Three pieces of 70-percent cocoa dark chocolate contains 75 calories and is equivalent to 1 tablespoon of cocoa. I like including one of these squares at lunch or dinner especially since it’s portioned out for me. Again, remember I’m not recommending Milk chocolate. It adds calories and fat, and doesn’t offer significant amounts of antioxidant flavonoids.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about the chocolate that you CAN eat along with the health benefits. Check out one of my top recipe videos for the 90 calorie chocolate cupcakes. Chocolate can be part of a healthy diet for people with diabetes, but keep in mind that moderation is key. Cheers to your health!

What Are the Best Ways To Manage Diabetes? Try This Easy Change!

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Lifestyle change is hard, but here’s a simple and easy start to better diabetes management. For the recipe see here

Welcome to diabetes every day….I’m Toby. Years ago we started shooting some videos on this green screen, mostly just for fun. I was thinking about how we might use it on something else and I had a thought that really applies to diabetes management. I was thinking how this green screen makes change so easy.

Like I could be talking to you from the east coast east coast or from the west coast.

I could be in Hawaii or in Alaska

At a fantastic beach or in these amazing mountains

I can be at Machu Pichu in Peru….or in Monaco…..or on the Greek island  Santorini….or in Copenhagen……or Jerusalem

I can even introduce you to our friendly neighborhood alligator

It’s so easy to change anything with this digital technology…..the click of a mouse and everything changes in an instant.

It’s exactly the opposite of diabetes management. Change, without a doubt, is the hardest thing about managing diabetes…..how we eat, how we exercise, how we sleep….changing our lifestyle. There are no shortcuts.

But……this is important…..there are strategies for making lifestyle changes that help make change easier. One thing at a time is a great way to start and here’s a small change in your eating habits that can have huge results in your blood sugar, your weight and other health markers. EAT MORE VEGETABLES…the non-starchy ones like broccoli, carrots, summer squashes, greens, asparagus, green beans, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets and many others.

Look at these portion sizes, each containing 15to 18 grams of carbohydrate…..1 tablespoon of table sugar, 1 sugar cookie, 3 ounces of baked potato, ½ cup lentils or beans…..now look at this gourmet cucumber salad. All foods can fit into a healthy diet, but non-starchy vegetables are the king and queen of blood sugar and appetite control. If you’d like the printed  for this fantastic dish from the book Quick and Healthy Recipes and Ideas by registered dietitian Brenda Ponichtera just email me…[email protected] Here’s to your health

Can I Eat Potatoes With Diabetes

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Potatoes- the most feared carbohydrate! But, do we really need to avoid potatoes when managing diabetes? SToby Smithson says potatoes are a healthy food for people with diabetes in this video.

Hi, Toby Smithson here with DiabetesEveryDay, please remember to hit the subscribe button to be a part of this journey to good health while managing diabetes.

In today’s episode of “can I eat this?”, we are going to take a look at a frequently feared carbohydrate containing food….potatoes. Before we review just how many carbs are in potatoes, I’d like to point out some of the nutrition benefits. Potatoes are high in potassium, and for those with celiac disease, potatoes are gluten free. For people with diabetes, here is a possible aha moment…potatoes contain resistant starch, especially when they are cooked and then cooled as in possibly a potato salad. The starch is not completely broken down and fully absorbed which helps slow down a rise in blood sugar levels.  Ok, let’s look at portion and carb content:

To get this right, I use my trusty food scale…

Baking potato (2 ½ ” x 4 ¾”, 156 grams or 5 ½ ounces)  34 grams carb, 2 grams fiber

Red potato (2 ¼” x 3 ¼ “, 173 grams or 6 ounces) 34 grams carb, 3 g fiber

Sweet potato (large 180 grams or almost 6 ½ ounces) 37 grams carb, 6 g fiber

Potatoes are a versatile starchy vegetable and can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Here’s a tip, when I’m planning my dinner, I will use potato as my carbohydrate source for the meal along side a lower carbohydrate vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower and balance out my plate with a source of protein like chicken, fish, cheese or eggs.

Here’s to your health.