Making Your Fridge Diabetic Friendly - Video

Tips to make your fridge diabetes-friendly!

Meet the Happy Diabetic Chef

A type 2 diagnosis turned Robert Lewis into the Pied Piper of diabetes with his welcome smile, hopeful message, and good-for-you recipes. Learn about the Happy Diabetic’s mission, plus sample a few of his diabetes-friendly dishes.

Photo Credit - Diabetic Living Online

When Robert Lewis, the Happy Diabetic, was told in 1998 that he had type 2 diabetes, the chef from Davenport, Iowa, just didn’t get it. 

Then his wife signed him up for a seminar on living with diabetes, and it finally hit him: Lewis realized he had to adjust his ways of living and eating.

Lewis, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and is director of training and development for Happy Joe’s pizza shops, put his chef training to work. 

He started creating diabetes-friendly recipes and teaching a healthy-eating course at a community college.

Continue Reading at Diabetic Living Online

Diabetic Peach Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 medium fresh peach, peeled, pitted, and chopped
• ½ cup skim milk
• 1 4-ounce carton non-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup ice cubes
•  ground cinnamon (to taste)

Directions

Place the peach, milk, yogurt, and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Turn off machine and scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula. Blend again.
Pour the mixture into 2 glasses and sprinkle each with a little cinnamon. Serve at once.  (You can garnish with strawberries, if you want to be fancy with this refreshing drink.)

Nutrition Information

Per Serving: 101 calories (0% calories from fat), 22 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 0 total fat (0 saturated fat), 1 g dietary fiber, 3 mg cholesterol, 65 mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges: 1 1/2 carbohydrate (1/2 fruit, 1 skim milk)


Recipe Source: http://www.diabeticlifestyle.com/recipes/beverages/peach-smoothie

Diabetes Friendly Fridge

Grocery Shopping for Diabetics on a Budget

Photo courtesy of ifood tv 


Filling the fridge doesn't have to break the bank, even when you have diabetes. 

Healthy eating and healthy grocery shopping can be doubly challenging when you have to balance type 2 diabetes and your checking account. 

The answer? There are some easy tricks on your marketing list to pinch pennies while cooking up healthy, tasty meals.

Head over to Everyday Health and see how to Stock Your Pantry on the Cheap, Save Money When You Shop and watch the video's for more info

Diabetic Recipes - Eggs Benedict Recipe

Source: diabetic-diet-recipes.net via CE on Pinterest

Chicken Casserole Diabetic Friendly

Texan Ranch Chicken Casserole, both Healthy and Diabetic friendly.

Source: tasteofhome.com via CE on Pinterest

Diabetic Recipe of the Day

Craving a desert that is diabetes-friendly and low carb? Watch and learn how to make this delicious, low carb cheesecake using SPLENDA. A desert for diabetes and non-diabetics alike! http://www.dlife.com

Diabetic Recipe of the Day

Fruit Salad Snack 

Ingredients

1 Cantaloupe
2 lbs. of Strawberries
1 Mango
2 Kiwi
2 Fiji Apples
1 pound green or red grapes


Directions Get a large re-sealable bowl and add grapes, cut up cantaloupe, strawberries, (peel mango first) mango, (peep kiwi also before adding to salad), kiwi and apples into squares or whatever shape you desire!

After cutting up fruit, place top on bowl and shake the fruit up so that all one fruit isn't on the bottom. No need to add sweeteners, just enjoy the fruit with its natural flavor. Having a natural snack you can access at any time, helps to avoid the temptation to eat other less healthy snacks.

Measure out in half cup or 1 cup servings, according to your meal plan and enjoy. Not only is this a quick snack to make, but it is healthy and makes you feel like you're on a tropical island somewhere! (oh and if you are not sure how to cut a mango, here is a video from allrecipes.com on how to cut a mango!) Enjoy!!

Is sugar toxic? - CBS News

If you are what you eat, then what does it mean that the average American consumes 130 pounds of sugar a year? 

Sanjay Gupta reports on new research showing that beyond weight gain, sugar can take a serious toll on your health, worsening conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer. Some physicians go so far as to call sugar a toxin. Full article - Is sugar toxic? - CBS News

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes Diabetes appropriate - Low calorie, Low carbohydrate, Low cholesterol, Low saturated fat, Heart healthy

Source: eatingwell.com via CE on Pinterest

Diabetic Apple Pie

Diabetic Dessert Recipes - Diabetic Apple Pie

Source: diabetic-diet-recipes.net via CE on Pinterest

Chaka Kahn Goes Vegan To Cure Type 2 Diabetes And High Blood Pressure

Legendary singer Chaka Kahn has been turning heads lately after dropping 60 pounds. 

Her secret?  In a recent interview she says she "went off meat, became vegan, stopped all the dairy, stopped all the meat."

Diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes and high blood pressure, Kahn was put on medication last year which she had to take -- until she decided to change her diet.  She recently adopted her granddaughter and realized she had to be here for the girl, and said this was her main influence to lose weight and get healthy -- "so I can be here for her."

Kahn undertook a liquid diet for four months  - "My Vitamix was my best friend" - eating green smoothies and protein smoothies. Then she went vegan.

Today, 60 pounds lighter, she is off all medication and no longer has high blood pressure of Type-2 Diabetes.

No great surprise here.  More and more people are discovering you can reverse serious disease and heal yourself by going low-fat plant-based.

Article Source: vegsource.com

Pinterest Diabetic Recipes

I've joined Pinterest, and have a great board filled with Diabetic Recipes, along with other useful info.

If you are on Pinterest, please feel free to repin some of the fantastic recipes - food, snacks and a few great tasting smoothies such as this one  - Charles

Peanut Butter Protein-Blast Smoothie 

http://pinterest.com/thomko/diabetic-recipes-info/

What Is a Diabetic Food?

Now that the Paula Deen brouhaha is past us, what can we learn from it? To me, the positive outcome is the attention it’s brought to the role of diet in managing type 2 diabetes.

No amount of medication (even $500-a-month injections) can override careless eating. Yet, what you need to eat if you do have diabetes is not as restricted as many people think.

Sure, it’s probably best to forgo Paula’s famous bacon and egg burger that’s served inside two glazed donuts or her deep-fried mac n’ cheese, but a ‘diabetic diet’ (an outdated term no longer used) is not all that different from the basic tenets of healthy eating.

Now experts say people with diabetes should follow the same type of eating plan as the rest of us, with an emphasis on fiber-filled whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and ‘good’ fats.

Even so, there’s been an onslaught of sugar-free, diabetes-friendly foods showing up in supermarkets, and some experts believe the growing popularity of ‘diabetic foods’ simply perpetuates a myth.

Head over to WebMD and continue reading

Paula Deen - If You Need Us, The Diabetes On-Line Community Has Your Back!

I ran across "Diabetesaliciousness" blog, and this article was of particular interest. I have to admit I am a Paula Deen fan - me and my wife watch her show on the Food Network . . . 



The blog post starts off with - So there was all sorts of rumblings (and twitterings) on the internetz this past weekend about the possibility of Paula Deen being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Paula's people have yet to confirm the story and until they do, I won't say that Paula is a person living with diabetes, because I don't know.

Read full posting  

Meals to Live, the first grocery store line of frozen meals designed for the needs of consumers living with diabetes

Meals to Live offers innovatively packaged, great tasting and convenient options to help people living with diabetes manage their nutritional requirements.

With easy-to-read packaging that clearly displays relevant nutritional information on the front, such as fat, sodium and fiber, Meals to Live is a leader in the frozen foods category. It gives consumers a convenient, easy meal option with no guesswork. Five of the eight meal options are also 100 percent gluten-free.

Founded in 2010, Meals to Live is the only line of frozen meals specifically designed for those living with diabetes. Available for purchase at more than 2,000 retail locations in the U.S. Meals can also be purchased on-line through the company's website www.mealstolive.com . Meals to Live is a proud sponsor of the Diabetes Friendly Foundation (DFF).

Meals to Live is available in stores across the U.S., including select locations of Publix, Tom Thumb/Randalls, Walgreens, Raley's, Brookshire's, Ralph's, Meijers and Sprouts and may also be purchased online at www.mealstolive.com . The suggested retail price for entrees ranges from $3.99 to $4.99.

Meals to Live is the first frozen food line to utilize the Carb Counting system - a guide nationally recognized and endorsed by the American Dietetic Association - to help easily calculate the total number of carbohydrates in each meal. Meals to Live entrees range from 18g to 58g of carbohydrates, are high in fiber and low in saturated fat, trans fat and sodium, which are important considerations for those living with diabetes.

Along with frozen entrees, Meals to Live also offers Glucose Quick Sticks, an easy-to-carry quick-dissolving flavored powder that instantly provides a healthy boost of glucose for those who face low blood sugar challenges.

http://www.mealstolive.com/

Visit them on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/MealstoLive

New Ways to Beat Diabetes

The latest treatments for fighting the devastating disease
Over the past 30 years the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes has skyrocketed, from about 6 million in 1980 to almost 19 million today. As this problem spirals out of control, researchers are racing to find new treatments for this devastating disease.

Recently, scientists at Newcastle University in England reported that a 600-calorie-a-day diet appeared to reverse type 2 diabetes in a small group of patients who had diabetes for less than four years.

Seven patients out of 10 were still diabetes-free three months after they stopped the extreme eight-week diet, which consisted of meal-replacement drinks and three daily servings of starchy vegetables.

Finish reading article at AARP

Walgreens Diabetes & You Magazine Wins National Health Award

Walgreens Diabetes & You, the free, quarterly diabetes magazine available exclusively at Walgreens pharmacies nationwide, has been awarded the National Health Information Awards' top honor for consumer health information programs and materials.

Walgreens Diabetes & You magazine is the largest diabetes magazine in the United States and features user-friendly, engaging content and expert advice from some of the nation's top diabetes experts and educators.

Two million copies of this free, quarterly publication are distributed through Walgreens more than 8,000 locations, including its nearly 7,800 drugstores, work site health and wellness centers, home care facilities and specialty, institutional and mail-service pharmacies.

In addition, the magazine reaches patients through diabetes educators, doctors' offices and other professional locations nationwide.

To view Walgreens Diabetes & You magazine online visit: http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/library/diabetes/archive.jsp


About the National Health Information Awards

The National Health Information Awards program is coordinated by the Health Information Resource Center(TM) (HIRC), a national clearinghouse for professionals who work in consumer health fields. The program recognizes the nation's best consumer health information programs and materials, including brochures, books and audio/video materials. For more information about the National Health Information Awards program, visit www.healthawards.com

About Walgreens

Walgreens ( www.walgreens.com ) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion.

The company operates 7,779 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America.

Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector.

Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

SOURCE: Walgreens

How Long You Are Overweight Affects Diabetes Risk

Being obese might increase the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, but the true risk factors may lie in how much overweight someone is and how long they've been that way.

Much like figuring how numbers of cigarettes smoked and years of smoking relate to lung cancer risk, researchers set out to see how degree and length of obesity factored into the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

They looked at data on 8,157 teens and young adults who were 14 to 21 years old at the start of a national study. Participants self-reported their height and weight and diabetes condition from 1981 to 2006.

Excess BMI (body mass index)-years - which researchers likened to smoking-pack years - were calculated by determining to what degree people were over a certain body mass index, and for how long. A BMI of 25, considered overweight, was used as a reference.

Read more: