ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Twenty-seven million Americans have type-two diabetes. It happens when the pancreas makes more insulin than the body needs and sugar builds up in the blood. It can be deadly, but it also can be managed with medication and diet and making a few simple switches can make eating healthy second nature.
Sixty-four-year-old Bill Szemcsak rides 45 miles a day, 200 miles a week and more than 4,000 miles a year! But three years ago, that wasn’t the case.
Szemcsak told Ivanhoe, “I was obese, I didn’t care, I ate all the wrong foods, the fats, the carbohydrates and things like that.”
It wasn’t until he was diagnosed with type-two diabetes that he knew something had to change.
“I was scared. I knew that I needed to do something and the first thing that I saw was I had to change my diet,” he explained.
Registered dietitian Kaye-Ann Taylor says diet and lifestyle changes are key to controlling diabetes.
Taylor told Ivanhoe, “Even a minimum of 10 percent body weight is enough to see a decrease in blood sugar.”
So eat this!
Szemcsak said, “One of our favorite dishes is mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes.”
Taylor explained, “You’re going to fix it just the way you would fix mashed potatoes.”
Fresh zucchini is a great alternative for pasta.
“That’s going to decrease calories from somewhere about 174 calories per serving now to 31 calories, huge difference,” Taylor told Ivanhoe.
And if you have a sweet tooth…“Twenty calories for sugar-free Jell-O verses 120 calories for the equivalent serving size of ice cream, “said Taylor.
Simple changes that have helped bill lose 100 pounds, and get his diabetes under control.
Szemcsak told Ivanhoe, “Even at the age of 64, I feel like I’m an 18-year-old.”
Kaye-Ann Taylor says one other healthy substitution for managing your blood sugar is to switch mayo for a slice of avocado. The difference is 77 calories and you’re getting a dose of healthy fat.