Thinking of trading a tired eating regime for a nutrient-dense menu? Good for you! It’s easy and delicious.

Avoid skipping meals – This causes your metabolism to slow down, which leads to feeling sluggish and poorer choices later in the day.

Breakfast – Select high fiber breads and cereals, colorful fruit, and protein to fill you with energy for the day. Try yogurt with muesli and berries, a veggie-packed omelet, peanut-butter on whole grain toast with a citrus salad, or old-fashioned oatmeal made with dried cherries, walnuts, and honey.

Lunch – Keep your body fueled for the afternoon with a variety of whole-grain breads, lean protein, and fiber. Try a veggie quesadilla on a whole-wheat tortilla, veggie stew with whole-wheat noodles, or a quinoa salad with roasted peppers and mozzarella cheese.

Dinner – End the day on a wholesome note. Try warm salads of roasted veggies and a side of crusty brown bread and cheese, grilled salmon with spicy salsa, or whole-wheat pasta with asparagus and shrimp. Opt for sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and grilled meat instead of fried.

Snacks – It’s okay, even recommended, to snack. But make sure you make it count by choosing high-fiber snacks to healthfully tide you over to your next meal. Choose almonds and raisins instead of chips, and fruit instead of sweets. Other smart snacks include yogurt, cottage cheese, apples and peanut butter, and veggies and hummus.

Reprinted with permission for personal or non-profit use. Visit www.helpguide.org to see the article with links to related articles.  This material is for information and support; not a substitute for professional advice.

Once you’ve made friends with nutrient-dense food, your body will feel slow and sluggish if you eat less wholesome fare. Here’s how to get in the habit of eating well.

• Reduce sodium (salt) to help prevent water retention and high blood pressure. Look for the “low sodium” label and season meals with a few grains of course sea salt instead of cooking with salt.
• Enjoy good fats. Reap the rewards of olive oil, avocados, salmon, walnuts, flaxseed, and other monounsaturated fats. Research shows that the fat from these delicious sources protects your body against heart disease by controlling “bad” LDL cholesterol levels and raising “good” HDL cholesterol levels.
• Fiber up. Avoid constipation, lower the risk of chronic diseases, and feel fuller longer by increasing fiber intake. Your go-to fiber-foods are raw fruits and veggies, whole-grains, and beans.
• Avoid “bad” carbs. Bad carbohydrates—also known as simple or unhealthy carbs— are foods such as white flour, refined sugar, and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber, and nutrients. Bad carbs digest quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar levels and short-lived energy. For long-lasting energy and stable insulin levels, choose “good” or complex carbs such as whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables.
• Look for hidden sugar. Added sugar can be hidden in foods such as bread, canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, instant mashed potatoes, frozen dinners, fast food, and ketchup. Check food labels for alternate terms for sugar such as corn syrup, molasses, brown rice syrup, cane juice, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, or maltose. Opt for fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned goods, and choose low-carb or sugar-free versions of products such as tortillas, bread, pasta, and ice cream.
• Cook smart. The best way to prepare veggies is by steaming or sautéing in olive oil—it preserves nutrients. Forget boiling—it drains nutrients.
• Put five colors on your plate. Take a tip from Japanese food culture and try to include five colors on your plate. Fruits and veggies rich in color correspond to rich nutrients (think: blackberries, melons, yams, spinach, tomato, zucchini).

Reprinted with permission for personal or non-profit use. Visit www.helpguide.org to see the article with links to related articles.  This material is for information and support; not a substitute for professional advice.

Diabetes.  Nearly 24 million Americans have it.  A quarter of them don’t even know it.  If it is ignored, diabetes can be serious.  Very serious.  Kris Freeman knows just how serious.

An incredible athlete, an Olympian cross-country skier, Freeman took excellent care of himself and was in top shape.  In fact, the Andover, New Hampshire native is believed to be the first athlete with Type 1 diabetes to compete in an Olympics endurance event and was a favorite to win a grueling 30- kilometer race.  During that race at the 2010 games in Vancouver, Freeman started out strong.  In fact he was in the lead pack of twenty cross-country skiers when his blood sugar literally crashed.  Freeman was on the fourth lap and when he knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. His blood sugar had dipped so low that he couldn’t continue.  Freeman told Sports Illustrated, “I got a twinge that something was wrong, and then a few minutes later I came to a standstill and went to the side of the trail.”  Freeman adds that he cried out for someone to give him sugar to help.  One of the coaches in the crowd, a man from Germany, realized what was happening to Freeman and rushed to his aid armed with a Powerade and an energy gel.  Slowly Freeman began to recover and his energy level started to rise.  He knew his chances of finishing among the elite cross-country skiers were over and, for a moment, he considered walking back to the finish line.  But Freeman was resilient and hadn’t trained as hard as he did to just give up.  He told a reporter with ESPN, “I’ve been gearing toward this for four years and in my worst nightmares I couldn’t imagine these races going any worse.  It was just all of a sudden lights out, all of a sudden my body wasn’t working.  I thought that was going to be it.  If the coach hadn’t come up and given me some sugar, I would have had to walk back to the finish line.”  Instead, the sugar allowed him to get his legs moving again and Freeman cross-country skied the rest of the 30 -kilometers.  And while he didn’t even finish among the top forty cross-country skiers, the fact that Freeman didn’t give up, that he did finish the race was proof that he had what it takes to be a winner.

Kris Freeman learned an invaluable lesson that day.  As a cross-country skier with diabetes, he knew the insulin rate he had calculated had been too high, which is why he had low blood sugar.  In an interview with the media outlet Diabetes Health, Freeman explained his condition as he races, “A normal blood sugar level ranges from 70-120 in a non-diabetic athlete.  From my own testing I have found that I have no ill effects from my blood sugar from about 70-200 so I try to keep it in that range.  If my blood sugar gets much over 200 my lactate levels actually start to increase with the higher blood sugar.  The range I have to keep it in is 70-200.  That is not that big of a window in reality.”

While Freeman’s blood sugar of 200 during a race seems high, it is acceptable for him because he is able to burn off the sugar so rapidly. When he is not racing, he keeps his blood sugar in tighter control. There are many people with diabetes, like Freeman, who refuse to allow diabetes to destroy their lives.  They face many of the same challenges:  they must eat healthy foods, exercise, reduce stress, and check their blood glucose levels.  And while they try to strike a perfect balance with their medication, they realize there will be days when their blood sugar is variable, despite their best efforts.

Family Practice physician Jeff Maher agrees it can be a very difficult tightrope for many.  “We need balance to lead healthy lives.  But something like diabetes throws the body completely out of balance.  It is not just metabolic.  People with diabetes must change the way they eat, exercise and live their lives.”  The Parkview Adventist Medical Center physician says that when that recipe is perfected, “the results are amazing.  Patients lead more balanced lives.  I’ve seen some dramatic improvements!”

Chris Sherrer of Brunswick is that kind of patient.  He discovered he had diabetes in the spring of 2010.  “I was devastated and didn’t know what it all meant.  That’s when Dr. Maher told me about the Living with Diabetes Program at Parkview.”  A Certified Diabetes Educator and Registered Dietitian worked directly with Sherrer to develop “parameters for me, teaching me how to cut down on sweets, eat better and to get more exercise.  I feel back in control.”  The Living with Diabetes Program has instructors who understand how confusing and overwhelming diabetes can be.  They have developed individual programs to help people with diabetes manage their way to better health by zeroing in on the WHOLE person:  mind, body and spirit.

And, as both Freeman and Sherrer have demonstrated, people who have control of diabetes have the persistence to go on with their care.  Control gives them the courage to face every day, as a new day, filled with hope that even unknown hurdles and challenges can be conquered.  Freeman summed it up in his interview with Sports Illustrated, “I want to show the country how I can ski, and more than anything, I want to show the diabetes community what’s possible.”

The Living with Diabetes Program is currently accepting patients.  For information, call Alice Willard-Michaels, RN, and Certified Diabetes Educator at (207) 373-2214.

I was re-reading an older issue of Ladies’ Home Journal the other day, and thought I’d share some information from articles about diabetes risk.

Losing weight reduces your chances of developing type-2 diabetes, but there are some other ways to avoid the disease.

• Enjoy legumes. In one big study, eating 2 oz. of peas, beans, lentils, peanuts or soybeans a day made people 38 percent less prone to diabetes. Legumes’ fiber stabilizes blood sugar, and their antioxidants may help as well.
• Take care of your gums. Columbia University researchers found people with gum disease were twice as likely to become diabetic as others. Increased levels of bacteria and inflammation may be to blame.
• Control High Blood Pressure. People who didn’t were twice as likely to get diabetes as those who kept hypertension in check with drugs and lifestyle changes, notes a large Italian study.
• Think Green. Nurse’s Health Study data suggest that adding just one serving a day of leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale lowers diabetes risk by 9%. They have magnesium, which can protect against the illness.
• Watch what you drink. Two or more servings a day of regular soda can raise diabetes risk by 24%. A daily glass of fruit juice can up it by 18%. Why? High sugar/low fiber content. Better liquid choice? Water.