Excess weight is a distinct wellness risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, and excess weight also affects your wellbeing once you have the disease, as it makes blood glucose more difficult to control. Giving up your favourite foods can be difficult when you don’t know what to have instead, so we spoke to Toby Smithson and Alan L. Rubin, authors of Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition For Dummies, for their favourite healthy food swaps.
1. Lighten Up Your Mayo: According to Smithson and Rubin, ‘Swapping your regular mayonnaise for a lower-fat version can save significant calories. Light mayonnaise reduces calories per tablespoon to 35 or so, and total fat to between three and four grams per serving. Low-fat or reduced-fat varieties usually cut calories and fat to 15 and about one gram, respectively. Going from 90 calories per tablespoon to 15 is a significant reduction, and when it comes to losing weight over the long term, these are the kinds of changes that really add up.’
2. Replace Your Sour Cream Topping with Greek Yoghurt: ‘Standard toppings for baked potatoes are butter, margarine, or sour cream,’ Smithson and Rubin note. ‘But you can save calories and fat by trying non-fat Greek yoghurt on your potato instead. And, Greek yoghurt has the same thick and creamy consistency of sour cream. Two tablespoons (one ounce) of non-fat Greek yoghurt has only 24 calories and no fat, compared to 50 calories and five grams of fat for sour cream, 140 calories and 16 grams of fat for margarine, and 200 calories with 23 grams of fat for butter.’
3. Freshen Your Salads with Lime: Smithson and Rubin suggest, ‘Think about swapping any kind of salad dressing for fresh lime juice, with no fat, and calories you can count on one hand. Fresh lime juice will give you a burst of flavour, and complements the garden vegetables of your salad without compromising your healthy intentions.’
4. Switch to Lower-Fat Dairy Products: ‘Whole milk contains almost 4% fat, and one cup of whole milk has 156 calories, 9 grams of total fat, and 34 milligrams of cholesterol,’ Smithson and Rubin point out. ‘Low-fat, 1% milk has 54 fewer calories, seven grams less fat, 22 milligrams less cholesterol, the same amount of calcium, and more vitamin A per cup. Non-fat, or skimmed milk, has only 86 calories per cup. Every opportunity you take to use reduced fat or non-fat dairy products in place of the full fat versions takes calories out of your daily diet. Taking calories out of your diet without completely eliminating an entire group of foods is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss. Even if you don’t think you can make the leap straight to non-fat, there are perfectly delicious reduced fat options, and every little bit makes a difference.’
5. Try Baked Crisps and Salsa Instead of Fried Crisps and Creamy Dips: Smithson and Rubin comment, ‘Substituting baked crisps cuts the calories and fat significantly. You save 20 to 30 calories per ounce, and three to five grams of fat by switching to the baked variety. And, if you adopt salsa as your dipping favourite, you lose 80% of the calories, and all of the fat from the dip, too.’
6. Spice it Up: ‘Fat adds flavour to food, and one reason you like higher-fat foods is for the flavour,’ Smithson and Rubin explain. ‘But, you can add incredible flavour with no calories and no fat by adding spices. And, you can add spices to anything, especially where your first thought might be to add butter and salt.’