Tag: healthy diet

Health, Nutrition

Diabetes and A Healthy Microbiome

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

By Christina Badaracco, Dietetic Intern 

What Is the Microbiome?

The human microbiome includes all the bacteria, both good and bad, that live in our organs. There are actually about 10 times as many bacterial cells in the body as human cells! Bacteria play many important roles in keeping us healthy, such as protecting us from invading bad bacteria and breaking down (or fermenting) the fiber in foods like vegetables that our own bodies can’t digest.

Our microbiome includes many different types of bacteria, and more diversity is typically a sign of good health. Many diseases, such as diabetes, can reduce the diversity in our gut and create environments that are better for bacteria that produce substances that cause inflammation or other harmful effects.  In this figure you can see many of the things that cause the microbiome to become imbalanced (such as taking antibiotics or poor diet) and some of the health problems that might result.  The microbiome is such an important factor in our health that the National Institutes of Health have launched two versions of the Human Microbiome Project, granting hundreds of millions of dollars into research about the connection between changes in the human microbiome and disease.

Is there a Link Between the Microbiome and Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes can be caused by genetics as well as diet and lifestyle.  Eating a healthy diet (one with lots of fiber-filled fruits and veggies and low in sugar and saturated fat) and exercising regularly can help keep your microbiome healthy and might help reduce the risk of developing diabetes.  The short-chain fatty acids that good gut bacteria produce when breaking down fiber can increase your body’s metabolism and how quickly glucose in the blood is used up, which can help manage blood sugar.  A recent study showed that a diet rich in fiber could improve diabetes management because it produces the short-chain fatty acids the cells of our gut lining need to be healthy.  Fiber also reduces inflammation and keeps you feeling full, which helps with managing portion sizes and keep blood sugar steady after meals. The types of bacteria in the gut also shifted to the species that love a high-fiber diet, promoting health long into the future.

How Can I Feed a Healthy Gut Microbiome?

  • Eating a diet rich in fiber keeps your good bacteria happy. They break down molecules like cellulose found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
  • Limit high-sugar and high-fat meals. Bad bacteria thrive when we eat a high-sugar and high-animal fat diet. Try to limit foods like sodas, candy, large servings of fast foods, sugary baked goods, red and processed meats.
  • Try to eat some foods with probiotics. Foods that are already broken down (or fermented) contain good bacteria that can colonize and thrive in our guts. As a bonus for people with diabetes, these bacteria have already broken down some of the glucose for you! Some examples of fermented foods include:
    • Dairy: cheese or yogurt
    • Bread: sourdough
    • Grains: injera (found in Ethiopian cuisine), idli (found in Indian cuisine), atole (found in Mexican cuisine)
    • Vegetables: sauerkraut, fermented pickles, curtido (found in Salvadoran cuisine) kimchi (found in Korean cuisine) and tempeh and miso (found in Japanese cuisine)
  • Your healthcare provider many suggest taking a probiotic supplement to increase your good gut bacteria, particularly if you have recently taken antibiotics.
Post content reviewed by Melanie Pearsall, RD, CDE
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Nutrition

Eat Balanced by Pairing Your Carbs with Protein

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

By Lisa Keovongsa
Dietetic Intern

There is a common misconception that once a person is diagnosed with diabetes they need to cut out all carbs. This is not the case! Carbohydrates are very important because they serve as the main fuel source for the body and give the brain and muscles the energy needed to carry out daily activities. Carbs, protein, and fat all play essential roles and can be incorporated into your meals and snacks to keep you feeling your best. Also, eating carbs with protein at every meal will help manage your blood sugar and help your body best utilize the nutrients in your food.

Carbohydrate Foods
Many foods with carbohydrates raise blood sugar.  Eating carbohydrate with a protein or fat can keep your blood sugar steady.  Foods with carbohydrates include:

 Starchy vegetables*/legumes:  Pumpkin, squash, all potatoes, yucca, beans, corn

Dairy: Milk, yogurt

Grains: Breads, pastas, tortillas, rice, crackers/snack chips, cereals, quinoa

Fruit: Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, mangoes

*Non-starchy vegetables have fewer carbohydrates.  Examples of non-starchy vegetables include: Carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, any leafy green, cucumbers

Protein Foods
There are many options when it comes to eating protein. These foods include meats, poultry, eggs, fish, cheese, cottage cheese, nuts, nut butter, and tofu.

Why do we need to eat protein with carbs?
During digestion, the food we eat gets broken down into simple sugars that are delivered to our muscles and liver through the bloodstream.  Insulin is the “key” that “unlocks the gate” for sugar to leave the blood and enter the cells. When someone with diabetes eats large portions of carbohydrate-rich foods, too much sugar is released into the blood stream and, because there’s either not enough insulin or they have insulin resistance, their body is unable to use this sugar for energy effectively.  This can cause high blood sugar, which, if it happens consistently over time, can lead to complications.  Proteins (and fats) take longer to digest than carbs, so eating protein along with the carb slows down digestion in the stomach and absorption in the intestines. This will help slow the rate of sugar entering the bloodstream, keeping blood sugars steady and preventing blood sugar spikes (and crashes).  Check your blood sugars 2 hours after a meal to see the effects.

Snack Ideas
Pair one item from the protein list with an item on the carbs list to make a balanced snack that will keep your blood sugar in check:

Protein                                                 Carbs

Handful of nuts                                 Whole fruit (apple, ½ banana)

1 cup Greek yogurt                           5 Whole wheat crackers

2 Deli turkey slices                           1 whole grain tortilla

1 oz beef jerky                                  1 oz whole wheat pretzels

Hard-boiled egg                                1 cup regular yogurt

½ cup cottage cheese                       ¼ cup granola

1 tbsp Peanut butter                        3 cups popcorn

2 Tbsp Hummus                               ½ cup dried fruit

1 oz cheese                                       1 cup raw vegetables

Post content reviewed by Melanie Pearsall, RD, CDE
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Nutrition, Uncategorized

Who Knew Carbohydrates Could Be So Simple – or Complex?

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

By Shannon Evins
Dietetic Intern

With various medications, glucose tests, and protocols to follow, diabetes can seem an overwhelming subject to master. Doctors, nurses, dietitians, and other health professionals start throwing numbers and words like carbohydrates and glucose at you and telling you what you should and should not eat. By now, most people know that carbohydrates are at the center of what affects blood sugar. To get to the root of the problem and simplify the concept, it is important to understand the different kinds of carbohydrates. They can be split into two main groups: simple or complex.

Simple carbohydrates are the things you normally think of when someone mentions high blood sugar – candy, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, etc. They are called simple because they are easy for your body to digest and so spike your blood sugar quickly. It is best to avoid or watch the portion size of simple carbohydrates. Here are some other simple carbohydrates that people often overlook although they have the same effect as table sugar on your body: brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, jams/jellies, fruit juice, and soda.

Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, take longer to break down which means a slower release of energy and less of a spike in your blood sugar. They also often have a higher content of fiber and nutrients, so everyone, not just people with diabetes, should focus on eating complex carbohydrates. Common complex carbohydrates include whole-grain items (whole-wheat bread, whole-grain cereal, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, etc.), corn, beans, lentils, peas, potatoes, winter squashes or pumpkin, and whole fruits.

To better understand the concept of simple versus complex carbohydrates, let’s go back to the days of arts and crafts and imagine carbohydrates this way: say you have some beads and string and want to make a necklace. You have to add the beads one-by-one to the string in order to make the necklace. Each bead represents a sugar molecule. Simple carbohydrates are the equivalent of just two beads on that string. It would take you no time at all to add those beads to the string. Complex carbohydrates, however, have several more beads on the string, meaning it would take longer to put together. Similarly, your body is doing this for digestion but in reverse – each bead is being removed from the string, meaning each sugar molecule is being broken down and digested. It takes only a short amount of time for your body to digest two molecules versus several.

Overall, carbohydrates are very important for bodily functions because they are the main fuel source for your body. Just remember that it is best to eat them as part of a balanced meal with a fat or protein source and vegetables in order to stabilize blood sugar. Simple (or complex) enough?

(Post content reviewed by MGH Department of Nutrition and Food Services)
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Blood Pressure, Heart Health, Nutrition

Ready . . . Set . . . DASH!

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

Apples and pears. Photo Credit Zsuzsanna Kilian

It seems every day we’re hearing about some new product that promises to do  amazing things like save you time and/or money on household chores or eliminate fat from certain parts of the body.  Sometimes these gadgets and gizmos work, and sometimes they . . . well . . . don’t. 

 The same is true for a number of popular (some may say “fad”) diet programs on the market:  some are more successful at helping people develop healthy eating habits and maintain a healthy weight than others.  Earlier this year, U. S. News & World Report investigated and ranked 20 popular diet plans based on their effectiveness at promoting weight loss (both short and long term), ease of use, nutritional content and other criteria.  The DASH diet, an eating plan recognized for its effectiveness at lowering high blood pressure, was ranked number one in two categories.

 DASH (which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) was developed through research by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute on the effect of diet on blood pressure.  Study participants following the DASH eating plan—which emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy, as well lean protein and nuts (which are all naturally low in sodium and saturated fat)—saw a significant decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol.  Not only that, following the DASH diet can help avoid heart attack and stroke and can prevent the development of hypertension among people with normal blood pressure.  Thanks to its proven cardiovascular benefits, the DASH diet has been endorsed by the American Heart Association  

DASH is lower in fat and sodium and higher in several key nutrients believed to help lower blood pressure (including magnesium, calcium and potassium) than a typical American diet.  And, because of its focus on nutrient-rich whole foods (especially fruits, vegetables and whole grains), DASH may also help prevent the development of osteoporosis and some cancers. 

(Post content reviewed by MGH Nutrition Department. Photo Credit Zsuzsanna Kilian)

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Nutrition

Protein

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

Salad topped with Salmon, apples and bread slicesThe balanced plate guide for healthy eating says to devote a quarter of the plate to a lean protein.  It’s also recommended to pair carbohydrate-rich foods with protein to keep the amount of carbohydrate to a moderate portion thus assisting with blood sugar control.  But what exactly is protein?  If you said “meat”…you’re on the right track. 

Protein is a nutrient that is used to build muscle and repair tissue and also helps to provide the body with energy.  Most of the protein in a typical American diet comes from animal sources such as beef, poultry and pork.  Eggs, dairy products, fish and shellfish are also good sources of protein.  

Fish such as salmon, mackerel and tuna are good sources of the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  Many other animal-based proteins, especially red meat, can be high in saturated fat and cholesterol, both of which can contribute to the development of heart disease.  Meat and fish may be the most common sources of protein, but there are a number of good plant-based protein sources as well—handy to know if you’re reducing the amount of meat in your diet or just looking for ways to add some variety to your meal plan. 

Legumes such as chickpeas (garbanzo beans); soy (tofu, tempeh, edamame); lentils and beans, and nuts and seeds such as sunflower seeds; almonds; walnuts and pistachios are all good options.  In addition to providing plenty of protein, many of these food choices are good sources of other important nutrients.  Legumes, for example, are high in dietary fiber—a nutrient that promotes digestive health and increases the feeling of being “full” after a meal.  Almonds are a great source of calcium and vitamin E, and walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3s.  Nuts can be high in calories though, so be sure to watch your portion size to prevent unwanted weight gain.  

This goes for everything; be sure to read food labels and pay attention to serving size.  Remember, the portion of protein that you are striving for is about the size of the palm of your hand and the same thickness. 

(Information reviewed by MGH Nutrition Department)
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