How to manage your blood sugars: Nutrition tips for older adults

Unmanaged diabetes can cause serious damage to your organs and negatively impact your independence as you age. If you are living with diabetes, the key to avoiding additional health problems is to gain control of your blood sugar.

If your blood sugars are too high for too long, your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart may take a hit. By learning how to manage your blood sugar and your diabetes, you will set your future self-up for success. Diet and lifestyle changes are the best way to maintain healthy blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Read on for diabetic friendly food tips to practice for a healthier you.

How do carbs affect your blood sugar and your diabetes?

Carbohydrates are essential to our health because they give us energy, but not all carbohydrates are the same. Often, when people think of carbs, only breads and pastas come to mind, but many more foods have carbohydrates. And there are three different types of carbs: sugar, starch, and fiber. All these carbs affect your blood sugar differently. The key to managing your diabetes is finding the right carbs for your diet instead of avoiding carbs altogether.

• Sugar: Sugar raises your blood sugar very quickly. 
  • Tip: Reduce added sugars found in sweet treats, soda, cereals, instant oatmeal and more. Learn how to read a nutrition label to find which foods have added sugars. Natural sugars from foods like fruits and some dairy products are a healthier alternative because they result in a slower spike in blood sugar.
• Starch: Eating starch raises your blood sugar, but not as quickly as sugar.
  • Tip: Choose fiber filled starches for your plate. These are:
    • Legumes: beans, chickpeas, lentils
    • Whole grains: quinoa, brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, oats
    • Starchy vegetables (corn, squash, plantain, potatoes with the skin)
    • Starches to consume in moderation and/or in smaller portions: white rice, white pasta, white bread
• Fiber: Eating fiber slows down your digestion and makes sure your blood sugar does not spike.

What are simple and complex carbs?

You may have heard your doctor talking about simple and complex carbs, but what does that mean?

• Simple carbs are sugars. They do not have fiber, so they digest easily and spike blood sugar quickly, and should be eaten less often to manage your diabetes. Simple carbs are sugary sweets, soda, fruit juice, and starches made from white flour (pastas, breads).
• Complex carbs are fiber filled starches like those discussed above. They are slower to digest, which slows a spike in blood sugar, so they are recommended to be consumed more often.

Look at this chart. The red line is blood sugar after eating a simple carb (ex: a donut) and the blue line is after eating a complex carb (ex: a slice of whole grain bread). The fiber and protein in the whole grain bread is slowing down the digestion of the bread, so the blood sugars are not spiking like they are with the sugary, fiber-less donut.

Key Takeaway

Small efforts to manage your blood sugar can make a meaningful impact.

• Consider how you eat and drink in a day. Do you consume a lot of food and beverages with added sugars such as sodas or sweet treats? Lessening intake of these can make drastic improvements in blood sugar levels. On a nutrition facts label, aim for less than 20% Daily Value (DV) of added sugars per serving, as 20% or more DV is considered a high amount of a nutrient.
• If you currently eat meals and snacks with lots of carbs, try to incorporate more protein and fiber into your diet. Try to make your carbs complex carbs, and bonus points for pairing it with a protein. Examples include animal proteins like turkey, chicken, beef, fish, eggs, and low-fat dairy, and plant-based proteins such as nuts/seeds and nut butters, tofu, beans, or quinoa.
• Choose foods with fiber to avoid blood sugar spikes.
• Remember to drink plenty of water for better digestion, too! For the general adult population, the goal is at least 64 oz of water/day, or 8 tall glasses. For diabetics, it is best to aim for about half of your body weight in ounces. For example: If you weigh 180 lbs, your water goal is 90 oz/day.
• Exercising after a meal or snack can help with digestion and blood sugar management because our muscles use our blood sugar for energy during exercise. Regular physical activity can also help your body manage blood sugar better. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends adults with diabetes get 150 minutes, or 2.5 hours, of moderate intensity exercise each week. This could be a brisk walk in your neighborhood or joining a yoga class at ArchWell Health.

To learn more about foods to better manage blood sugars, speak with your doctor and check out our other nutrition related blog posts and recipes from our registered dietitians.

The article provides information designed to complement your personal health management. It does not provide medical advice and not meant to replace professional medical advice. Linking to other websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites.