Slow Cooking for Diabetics

By: Marah Altenberg, Editor, AllFreeSlowCookerRecipes.com

Everyone likes to eat new recipes and enjoy their cuisine. When you are battling diabetes, however, you have to be extra cautious as to what recipes you are hoping to add into your meal plan. Slow Cooking For Diabetics can be a positive experience. Diabetics can also benefit from slow cooker diabetic recipes, which are easy to make while you are out for the day. You can prepare the ingredients the night before, throw them into your slow cooker before you leave in the morning, and when you come home a hot dish awaits you. The difference here is when slow cooking for diabetics you need to study recipes a little harder and make a determination if the ingredients in the recipe will help or hinder their blood sugar.

Diabetics need to be constantly aware of the types of food they are putting into their bodies and how their glucose levels are affected. They also need to worry about eating too little, as their blood sugar can plunge too low and that would also make them ill. It is a battle of the numbers each day and there are so many factors to think about when trying to eat a balanced diet. We have shared some tips for you when thinking about what foods to eat and how much.

Tips on Eating Healthier with Diabetes

Here are some ideas of how to eat better to help your blood sugar stay low. Exercise is definitely encouraged and thought to help your sugars stay low. There are also many things to think about when it comes to how to treat your body when battling this very difficult disease.

Make one healthy eating change at a time. You need to stick to one change before moving on to the next one. This will help you build on your success.
It is recommended that you space out your meals and plan to eat every 4 to 6 hours. This will help you have better control over your blood sugar.
Don't skip meals to save your calories for later in the day. You need to eat some food at each meal. If you are at a party or larger function with a lot of food, you still need to try to hold your food intake to the normal amount you are used to eating.
Low carb and low sugar slow cooker recipes can help you on the road to eating healthier meals.
Checking your glucose level before and after particular meals can help you determine which types of foods negatively impact your blood sugar and which do not.
Fiber that is found naturally in foods tends not to change into glucose and will not raise your blood sugar.

Regulating the Food You Eat With Slow Cooker Recipes

When trying to manage diabetes, it is important to pay attention to the types of foods that would raise your blood sugar. It is also important to pay attention to the quantities of food that are safe to help keep your glucose levels at a normal level. Here are some tips for how to look at your food in a new way.

Take some time to look at the carbohydrate count in each of the slow cooker recipes you are planning to cook. You need to strive to keep your carbohydrate count at a lower level, preferably below 45 carbohydrates for your entire meal.
Cutting down on critical carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice is incredibly important. These foods are the ones that typically produce the largest amount of carbohydrates in your body.
Lowering your portion size when eating your slow cooker dish or any other dish, in general, is critical to keeping your blood sugar down. You should think about cutting back one-half to two-thirds of what you eat at a normal meal.
Balance your plate at each meal. Fill your plate with a healthy amount of proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates.
Stay away from sugar alcohols such as maltitol, xylitol, and erythritol, which are used in diet foods like sugar-free candy. Counter to what you may think, some of these ingredients, including malitol, will actually raise blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.
Be careful when reading labels to obtain the carbohydrate count. Sometimes there are other chemicals that add to the carbohyrate count that are not counted in the grand total. You may be eating more carbohydrates than you think.

Bonus: 5 of Our Favorite Low Carb Recipes

If you are trying to manage your diabetes, you need to be aware that there are certain foods that you can only eat small amounts of per day. Think about these foods when choosing which slow cooker recipes you want to make for your weekly meal plan.