Diabetes Everyday

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

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Sharing Toby’s Knowledge

Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Dairy

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

The group of carbohydrate foods from dairy products was called the “milk and yogurt” group in the diabetes exchange lists because other carbohydrate-containing dairy products were listed elsewhere or not at all. This is an interesting group for several reasons, not least of which is that maybe 70% of the world’s adult population cannot efficiently digest “milk sugar” (lactose). Join me as we discuss what you need to know about dairy, carbohydrates and how they can affect diabetes.

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Is Coconut Sugar Helpful for Diabetes?

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It seems coconut everything is popular these days, including this sweetener made from the sap of the coconut palm’s flower bud stem. It’s hyped as containing nutrients and fiber absent in table sugar. So, what’s the real story?

Anything and everything coconut continue to flood the grocery store shelves so I thought this would be a great topic to cover in today’s video….Is coconut sugar helpful for diabetes?

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Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Nonstarchy Vegetables

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Nonstarchy vegetables are often not considered “carbohydrate foods” because they are very low in carbohydrates. I’ve decided to include them because to whatever extent other groups of carbohydrate foods limit our choices in portion size, nonstarchy vegetables provide the healthy option. See what you think.

This is the second in my series on Diabetes and Carbohydrates, and first, I have to explain why I’m even talking about this group- nonstarchy vegetables. See, we diabetes nutrition professionals often don’t consider this group of foods to be “carbohydrates,” in fact, we used to call them “free foods,” but if you watched my video in this series … “Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need to Know”….you learned that plants manufacture carbohydrates. And most of you already know that carrots, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, kale, and eggplant come from plants.

Be Sure To Check Out – Diabetes and Carbohydrates- What You Need To Know!

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How Can I Do a Diabetes-friendly Tea Party?

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

A follower asked if she could have a tea party for a friend with diabetes. Seems like a good opportunity to review how healthy eating for diabetes and celebrations can fit together.

I’m so excited about this video idea which came from one of our viewers… Can people with diabetes go to a tea party? If yes, what can I serve at a tea party? I’m going to give you my answer right now…YES. This sounds like a really fun event, and thank you for being accommodating to your friend who has diabetes.

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Overnight Oats Recipe That Won’t Spike Your Blood Sugar

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Oats are a great way to start the day – healthy food that keeps you feeling full (remember the “sticks to your ribs” ad?). But the carbs in this healthy food can send blood sugar levels higher, and that can make for a disappointing morning. This overnight oats recipe has proven in my experiments (on myself) to keep blood glucose steady, and if that’s not enough – it’s chocolate.

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Table of contents

Finally… A Diabetes-Friendly Overnight Oats Recipe

I bet you have experienced looking for a recipe at one time or another but not really finding a certain recipe that is diabetes-friendly. Well, that happened to me when I was searching for a diabetes-friendly overnight oats recipe. I even checked diabetes-specific websites like the American Diabetes Association, but I still didn’t find a recipe that fit my preferences.

Just a note here to some of you who reached out for plant-based and/or foods that you can prepare ahead of time…This overnight oats recipe fits both of those “asks.”

Oh, and for those of you who are chocolate fans, like me, I developed this recipe so it would have a chocolatey taste AND most important for all of us who manage our diabetes. I’ve checked this recipe out against my Dexcom continuous glucose monitor and this recipe keeps my blood sugar steady. Yes, I’m eating oats, but not spiking my blood sugar.

Be Sure To Check Out – Diabetes Question- Can I Eat Oatmeal? and 3 Tricky Foods That Spike Blood Sugar

The Recipe

The Ingredients (which are easy to keep as staples in your kitchen) are:

  • 1 cup steel-cut oats (as an extra tip here, check the nutrition facts panel for the number of carbs and fiber per serving, as they vary. I found a 4-5 gram difference when I put some labels side by side at the grocery store)
  • 2 teaspoon cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons stevia naturals
  • 1 packet vanilla protein powder (I chose a protein powder that had 25 grams of protein with only 2 grams of carb per packet)
  • 1 ½ cup vanilla plant-based milk (I used Ripple non-dairy milk because it contains 8 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of carb per 1 cup serving)

The Instructions

1 – Place all of the dry ingredients into a large enough bowl to hold 4 servings. And stir.

2 – Pour the plant-based milk over the dry ingredients and stir again.

3 – Cover the bowl and place it in your refrigerator overnight. 

The overnight oats will be ready to place in your cereal bowl the next morning.

Our Servings Breakdown

This recipe makes 4 servings, and each serving is:

29 grams of carbohydrate; 4 grams of fiber; 14 grams of protein; 4 grams fat; 211 calories.

I love this recipe because it has a chocolate flavor and has a cold and chewy mouthfeel that is different than my cooked oatmeal.

Let me know your favorite breakfasts in the comments below.

Until next time, cheers to your health.

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