Diabetes and the Big Scary "C"

If you are a diabetic, than you know that the “C” word is a dirty word to us! That’s right, it’s carbs! The tasty things we all love, but that doesn’t love us back anymore. Those springy dinner rolls, those fluffy mashed potatoes, those bouncy cupcakes, those are all carb heavy foods. When your diabetic dietitian tells you that you need to cut down on carbs, it can seem like there's nothing left to eat any more. This feeling can be doubly strong if you're living in the US, where almost everything is carb-a-licious. I remember walking into a grocery store at the beginning of my carb cutting journey and realizing that I couldn't eat 90% of everything being sold in that store. There were whole aisles in which there wasn't a single item on the shelves that was safe for me to eat! At times the task of cutting carbs seemed really over whelming. But with some practice, know-how, and some tasty new recipes, I've found that living with less carbs really isn't so big or scary.

What Are Carbs?

Though your doctor or dietitian has probably already told you all about carbohydrates and what they do to your body when you are a diabetic, the information over load might have been a little hard to swallow. So for a quick summary, Carbs aka Carbohydrates are both sugars and things that turn into sugars in your body after you eat them. Carbs are in the obvious stuff that nearly everyone has been warned about eating, like cakes, breads, and other baked goods. It's also in pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, corn, and other grains. But there are also carbs that hide in plane sight that you might not have realized is even considered a carb heavy food.

What Do I Mean By Carbs?

There are three main macro nutrients in the food that we eat: Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins. When I talk about a food having high carbs or being a "Carb food" I mean that the macro nutrients in this food is mostly carbs, or is higher in carbs rather than fats or proteins. That of course, doesn't mean that a food is only carbs, every food is a combination of all three macro nutrients, it's just a question of what macro nutrients it has more of. For example: Meat is mostly protein, but there is a bit of fat and a little bit of carbs in there too. Corn is mostly carbs, but there is some fat and a little bit of protein. Butter is mostly fat, but there is some carbs and a little bit of protein. When I say that something is a "Protein", "Carb", or "Fat", I just mean that the macro nutrient is high in that food.

Where Are Carbs Hiding?

When I went to my first diabetes classes I wasn't surprised at all to hear that I needed to start trimming down my sugar and carb consumption. I was surprised to find out that so many of the foods I had thought were "Healthy" and low in sugar and carbs were actually really high in carbs! Growing up, I had always been told by many, many people giving health and nutrition advice that milk was a healthy part of a balanced diet. It was a drink filled with calcium and protein. A growing child should drink lots and lots! What could be more healthy than a big bowl of cold cereal covered in milk? As I got older, I moved away from sugary cereals and instead switched to "More Healthy" smoothies. Every health article and website gushed about the health wonders of a smoothy filled with fresh fruit, yogurt, and milk! And what did I learn at my diabetes class? That milk isn't the protein rich wonder drink I had grown up being told, it's actually quite carb heavy. Those smoothies I drank, thinking I was being sooo healthy? They were carb bombs! Milk and yogurt are high in carbs (particularly the sweetened yogurt I was eating) and fruit carries quite the carby punch too.