Sharing Toby’s Knowledge

If you have diabetes it’s certain that someone has asked “can you eat bread?” Often the question comes as you’re preparing to actually eat bread (implying you may not know what you’re doing). Well, as with most things food not all bread is created equal. And as with most things food, of course, we can eat bread if we manage our portions and look to get valuable nutrients along with the carbohydrates.

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Can I eat bread?

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Can I Eat Bread if I Have Diabetes?

I get this question all the time…all the time.  Can I eat bread? Or I find people saying “don’t worry, I’ve cut out all the bread from my diet to manage my diabetes.”

Here’s the secret that I want to make sure you hear… Yes, you can eat bread! Total grams of carbohydrates are what we are managing when we have diabetes but that doesn’t mean you need to stay away from bread. Yes, I know bread has carbohydrates but it’s a matter of balancing your plate with your food choices and getting the most nutritional value along with the carbohydrates.

What Do I Look For When Choosing The Type Of Bread?

When I’m choosing bread, I want the nutrition benefits of whole grain and fiber. I look at the food label. Looking at portion size (some bread have 2 slices while others have 1 slice as the serving size); Look for total grams of carbohydrate and grams of fiber. The more fiber, the better. Remember that our daily requirement of fiber is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. We want more fiber in our diet for the health benefits AND to help slow down the absorption of the carbohydrate we are eating.

For Pumpernickel, rye, wheat, raisin bread: in general, 1 slice is a serving.

For hamburger or hot dog buns, English muffins, or a 6-inch pita: half a bun, muffin or pita is a serving generally equivalent to 15 grams of carbohydrate.

For bagels: it gets a little trickier. There are such a variety of sizes. In general, one-quarter of a large bagel (a 1 oz serving) is equivalent to a 15-gram carb choice (this bagel has a total of 53 grams of carb). If there is a food label on the bagels you are purchasing, then definitely use the label, if you are buying your bagels from a bakery that doesn’t have the nutrition information available to you, then make sure to do some trials with how it affects your reading.

Remember that you can do your own investigative work regarding your diabetes management. The rule of thumb is to check in pairs. Check your blood sugar before the meal and two hours after the start of the meal to see how the meal you ate affects your blood sugar readings.

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Until next time, Cheers to your health.

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Hi there, Toby Smithson here with DiabetesEveryDay. Thanks for joining me today. Remember to hit the subscribe button. I post a new video on diabetes management every week.

Just in time for the holidays, we can thank Marlene Koch for this healthy pumpkin treat. I’ll just say 9 grams of carbohydrate in this dessert and that should send you to the grocery store today.

Welcome to Diabetes Everyday. I’m Toby and I have a pumpkin season dessert recipe for you today. Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Squares comes from my friend Marlene Koch’s book Eat More of What You Love. Marlene has a series of books, and even though they aren’t specifically for diabetes most of her recipes fit right in. Remember, eating healthy for diabetes is mostly just regular healthy eating with an eye on carbohydrates.

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Here’s what you’ll need for today’s treat

Crust Ingredients:

•  1 Tablespoon melted butter or margarine. I recommend margarine.
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
•  3 Tablespoons low calories granulated sweetener, like Splenda

Filling Ingredients:

• 8 ounces light tub-style cream cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup and ½ cup granulated low-calorie sweetener
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• One 15 ounce can of 100% packed pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves

How To Make The Crust:

1 – Preheat the over to 325 degrees and spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with nonstick spray

2 – Mix together the crust ingredients

3 – Pat the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish

4 – Bake for 8 minutes and let the crust cool

How To Make The Filling:

1 – In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, 1 egg, the 1/3 cup sweetener, and the vanilla.

2 – Now beat with an electric mixer.

3 – After the crust has cooled, gently spoon in the mixture and smooth.

4 – In the same medium bowl, add the pumpkin, the other egg, the ½ cup sweetener, the cinnamon, the ginger, and the cloves.

5 – Beat these ingredients until smooth. And gently spoon this over the cream cheese and smooth.

To Finish:

Bake for 30 minutes. Then allow to cool for a half-hour and, the hardest part, refrigerate for at least 4 hours, in a spot well hidden from your husband, before you cut into 16 square portions.

Each portion is only 90 calories, 9 grams carbohydrate, 4 ½ grams total fat, 3 grams protein, and 125 milligrams sodium.

I highly recommend Marlene’s books. Each recipe includes all the nutrition information we need to make wise decisions and every recipe I’ve tried has just been fantastic. This is a great option for your virtual Thanksgiving celebration this year. Thanks, Marlene.

Be Sure To Check Out – Eating Healthy During the Holidays With Diabetes

Until next time!

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Thanksgiving is upon us, and it’s a certainty that this holiday in 2020 will be unique. For many, there will be no gathering of family or friends, at least in person. For those who do gather, there will likely be extra precautions and unique worries. Either way, this iconic holiday where eating is the focal social event will have some added stress. But whichever way your holiday plans go I have some strategies to share that can help you enjoy the traditional foods and manage your blood glucose effectively. And below I’m posting 7 fantastic recipes. Ready?

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How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays

1. Focus on the “must-have” foods – Most likely your family has certain dishes at Thanksgiving that don’t show up any other time of year. Maybe in Maine, they eat cranberries routinely, but chances are you see them once. And that recipe for dressing passed down through generations, the green bean casserole and all things pumpkin – their annual appearance on the 4th Thursday in November is it. These, however, are the foods that define Thanksgiving for you. These are the foods that cement the social bond between generations So, eat them! And lay off the mashed potatoes – you can have those anytime. In fact, lay off of anything that isn’t part of your definition of Thanksgiving Day. Of course, we need to manage portion sizes for carbohydrate foods like dressing, but it is absolutely possible to get the full and complete “taste” of Thanksgiving and manage blood sugar.
2. Introduce healthier recipes – Every side dish doesn’t have to be a cracker-topped casserole. Vegetables should be a major component of all our meals, and Thanksgiving is no different. But if you usually have your vegetables straight out of a can or the freezer thinks about being a little more creative. Actually, you don’t even have to think about it – I’m including links at the end of this blog to recipes for seven fantastic side dish recipes – even one casserole – that you can try.
3. Take a walk – Exercise is one way to help manage blood sugar levels, so think about a family walk or a football game, or cross country skiing. Using muscles is using the glucose muscles store, and when the stores run low muscles pull glucose from your bloodstream lowering the level of glucose there.
4. Watch alcohol and other drinks – Calories, fat, and carbohydrates you get through a straw count the same as the ones you have to chew first. Just remember to manage them – some mixed drinks could be packing 50+ grams of carbohydrate.
5. Hide food from yourself – Thanksgiving begins what I call the “eating season.” Over the next five or six weeks, you’ll be constantly confronted with candies, cookies, and who knows what else. If you’re still working remotely it may help, but whatever the case one effective strategy is simply to store tempting foods out of plain sight. We are simply stimulated to eat the food we see. Keeping food out of sight helps temper those impulses.

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This year has been, and will probably continue to be, stressful, and stress can drive eating behavior. So, stay mindful – keep track of what you consume, eat slowly, eat healthily, and try to stay busy. Finally, as promised, check out these seven delicious recipes I’ve borrowed from friends and colleagues over the years. These may be just what the doctor ordered.

Happy Holidays.

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Diabetes-Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes

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