If you’re revamping your diet to make it more healthy, you may tend to focus on what you’re cutting out — the sweets, the bread, the pasta, whatever it may be. But chances are, if you’re searching around for healthy foods that are easy on your blood sugar levels, you’ll find a familiar food that you haven’t eaten for awhile — or that you are willing to try. Discovering a new favorite food can help you forget about the pasta and pastries, I promise! Here are four foods I “rediscovered” and now eat regularly – they are delicious and compatible with a diabetes-friendly diet.
- Blackberries – All berries are a wonderful addition to a healthy diet. However, blackberries used to be my least favorite… the ones I’d pick around in a fruit salad. They were too big, sometimes woody, sometimes bitter. But! I gave them a second look after revamping my diet, because they are one of the lowest sugar fruits and chock full of fiber and antioxidants. It turns out that a good, perfectly ripe blackberry is an absolutely amazing combination of sweet, tart, and juicy. I especially love them sprinkled on creamy, whole-milk Greek or Icelandic yogurt… berries and cream also make a wonderful diabetes-friendly dessert.
- Cottage Cheese – When I was a kid, if we had a busy weeknight or wanted a light supper, my mother would serve a “fruit plate” with a scoop of cottage cheese (sprinkled with nutmeg or cinnamon) in the middle. So colorful, so healthy, so easy to prepare. I hadn’t eaten cottage cheese in years – maybe because yogurt, in its infinite varieties, has saturated the market. (See this article about a cottage cheese comeback!) But when my Yes Health coaches suggested I try to get 20 grams of protein for breakfast, I gave cottage cheese a second look. A 4 oz. serving has 10g protein and is very low in carbs. Unlike yogurt – which usually comes in 6 oz. portions – you can buy 4 oz. individual servings of cottage cheese. Add some almonds and fruit and you have a complete breakfast.
- Edamame – Most Chinese food in America isn’t super healthy. I’ve come a long way from eating cashew chicken with white rice, to my standard order of steamed chicken and broccoli with brown rice. And I’ve ditched the spring rolls in favor of steamed edamame. Simple, bright green, with a little salt — it just looks good for you. Kids – and grown-ups – also find it fun to eat. As you’re trying to pop those edamame out of their pods, you’re not even thinking about what a terrific, low-carb source of protein they are.
- Seeds – When was the last time you sat down and ate a handful of seeds?! In my old diet, I had only a passing acquaintance with seeds, usually as part of a processed food like a granola bar. Now, I put raw sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds on yogurt, salads, and steamed veggies – they add a terrific crunch and depth of flavor. Roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds are my favorite. I need to experiment more with chia seeds and flax seeds – ground flax seeds are another excellent topping for yogurt or cottage cheese, but I admit to being lazy in terms of grinding and storing small batches at a time so they don’t spoil. (Click here for a run-down of the nutritional info on different nuts and seeds.)
Think back to your favorite childhood meals and snacks. Are there any healthy foods you used to enjoy, that you’ve forgotten about? Are you willing to pick up a new vegetables or fruit on your next trip to the grocery store? Joining a CSA is also a great way to discover new vegetables and ways to prepare them.