Joey Wahler (Host): It's an important part of managing the disease. We're discussing cooking for diabetic patient's. Our guest is Toby Ross. She's a registered dietician with Ward Memorial Hospital. This is Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the official podcast of Ward Memorial Hospital. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Hi there, Toby.

Welcome.

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Hi. Nice to be here.

Joey Wahler (Host): Great to have you, Bo. We appreciate the time. So This is an interesting topic. First, what types of foods would you say should be limited or maybe even avoided altogether for someone with diabetes? And how can someone really assess whether a cooking ingredient is suitable for them?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Sure. So as a registered dietician, our goal is always everything in moderation. So there's really nothing that I would say. That you need to completely cut out of your diet. There are always foods and there are sometimes foods focusing on whole foods, whole grains, whole fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats are all good ways to maintain a healthful diet.

Joey Wahler (Host): Gotcha. And speaking of protein, how about the role of protein And also carbohydrates in a diabetic diet and how they affect the planning of meals?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: So whenever you have diabetes, if you are eating a carbohydrate, whether it be a fresh fruit, a sweet drink, your pastas, potatoes. Beans, peas, those sorts of things. Those are all considered carbohydrates. Even milk and yogurt, then that will affect your blood sugar, usually causes a rise or a spike in your blood sugar.

So it's always important to pair these carbohydrates with a protein or a healthy fat to help slow the digestion and absorption of glucose in your bloodstream so you don't see those. Spikes. our goal is to have gradual inclines and gradual declines in our blood sugar so that we avoid the spikes in valleys, if you will, in your blood sugar.

Joey Wahler (Host): you mentioned balance, and speaking of which, how about. Being able to balance flavor in a diet while still maintaining a healthy one for those with diabetes.

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Right. So when you think of flavor. You might immediately think of butter. The more butter the better. Sometimes people say, but I think that it's important to swap out butter as much as possible with olive oil instead, That is a much more healthy fat, and it also aids in the decreased, rate of absorption of glucose in your bloodstream.

So adding things like onions, garlic, peppers, Those are all great ways to enhance flavor while not affecting blood sugar.

Joey Wahler (Host): I love onion myself. I'll put raw onion or grilled onion on just about anything. how about sharing for us, if you would please? A few quick and easy recipes or even healthy snacks that are ideal for diabetic people.

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: So again, focusing on the whole foods, whole fruits and veggies, a great snack would be. Maybe some sliced cucumbers or some celery dipped in hummus. That way you have a little bit of carbohydrates with the hummus, but there's also protein in there because it's made from chickpeas, And then you're getting a good non-starchy veggie in there.

using some peanut butter whenever you're eating half of a banana. 'cause usually the bananas are huge now. So we wanna be about the size of our eyeglasses for a banana whenever we're making that choice. Maybe eight to seven grapes with some cheese. That's also a great way to have a carbohydrate as well as a protein and fat.

Joey Wahler (Host): And how about a recipe or two, something that's quick and easy to make, but also fits. The requirement, if you will.

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Okay, so a recipe like for a dessert, maybe since we're talking holidays, I think that you could make a pumpkin pie and instead of having a crust that would eliminate a lot of the carbohydrates there. Using a sugar substitute as opposed to just plain white sugar And then topping it with a sugar free or low fat whipped topping would be a great dessert recipe.

Joey Wahler (Host): Very nice. So you mentioned earlier, Toby, that oftentimes it's not so much what diabetic people are eating as much as how much of it they're consuming. So along those lines. How important is portion control overall when cooking for a diabetic person?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: portion control when cooking for a diabetic person and actually for any person in general, is so important. you can use what's called the MyPlate method, which was created by the USDA and it's such a great tool to help plan out your meals so that you're not overeating. so what that entails is you have your dinner plate.

just a regularized plate. Not one of those huge ones that we tend to see whenever we're out eating, filling half of that plate with non-starchy vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans, those sorts of things. Then a fourth of your plate should be a lean protein. So whether it's chicken, Turkey, pork.

Lean cuts of beef, fish, even beans. And then the other fourth of your plate you would fill with your carbohydrate. So, or your starches. Like whole grain breads. Whole grain pastas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole fruits, winter squashes, that sort of thing.

Joey Wahler (Host): What about someone trying to maintain a cultural or just a traditional cuisine when. Still adhering to a diabetic diet. How do you balance that out?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Yeah, so, using your typical cultural spices and ingredients, in your food. But choosing the whole foods, the whole fruits, the whole vegetables, sticking with lower fat proteins, lower fat ingredients, like the olive oil instead of the butter. if it calls for sour cream, a great substitution for that would be Greek yogurt, but focusing on the spices as opposed to.

The maybe undesirable food choices is a great way to maintain your cultural diet, but also focus on diabetic friendly and just overall general healthful food choices.

Joey Wahler (Host): Yeah, we keep hearing a lot in recent years about Greek yogurt And it's growth and popularity. In a nutshell, why is it considered better than other yogurt?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Right. So Greek yogurt has a much higher content of protein, so you get that added kick of protein. And lately too, everybody has been really pushing protein. it helps you feel fuller longer. Usually if you're getting just regular Greek yogurt, it doesn't have all the added sugars either that you might find with yogurts that have fruit on the bottom.

Say you just never really know unless you read your food label how much added sugars are in that. So choosing a regular plain Greek yogurt And then adding your own fruit to it is a great healthful snack.

Joey Wahler (Host): absolutely. So what innovations in food and cooking have been helpful for managing diabetes? And for instance, in addition to that, are there any modern kitchen gadgets or tools that can make cooking for diabetics easier?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: So, using sugar substitutes, I know that they've been around for a long time, but I think that we have a lot of more options lately, with. Being able to choose, say, Truvia or Splenda, as opposed to the sugar substitutes of the old days, which like aspartame in those things that have some negative side effects and connotations.

I think that that's a big innovation with diabetic cooking. As far as kitchen gadgets, I think that the air fryer is probably something that. It is very beneficial whenever cooking for somebody with diabetes And also just cooking for anyone in general because you can use much less fat, but still get that good, crisp taste and texture on whatever it is that you're cooking.

Joey Wahler (Host): A couple of other things. How about meal timing? Influencing blood sugar levels in diabetics, And what about the benefits of meal prepping of planning ahead? Knowing in advance what you're going to have, not just for the day, but for the week, because if nothing else takes a lot of stress away.

Right? So many of us constantly are thinking about what's for dinner tonight, right?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Right. So planning ahead is huge, especially in rural communities because. Sometimes we have limited access to fresh produce, quality foods. So, you know, I grew up in a very small town in Eastern New Mexico And we had to drive at least one hour to a quality grocery store or Walmart.

So planning what we're going to eat for that week was very important so that you can do your shopping ahead of time. staying consistent and not skipping meals is extremely important for somebody with diabetes because the goal is to be consistent with your carbohydrates. Remember I said that we want to avoid the peaks and valleys in our blood sugar, so if we skip meals, we're more likely to have a low blood sugar.

if we don't plan our meals, and, that happens on the day to day. But if we make maybe a poor choice, then we might experience a high blood sugar. So planning your meals and being consistent with the meals that you're eating in a day is so important for diabetes, and blood sugar control.

Joey Wahler (Host): Now, wait a minute, I have to follow-up here. You mentioned you grew up about an hour away from the nearest grocery store, so that really puts the P in planning, right, Toby, because you'd hate to drive two hours there and back And then get home and realize you forgot the milk, right?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Right. Well, we had a very small grocery store, but that grocery store didn't sometimes have the best produce because it's so far. So if we wanted, special items, then we had to really plan ahead.

Joey Wahler (Host): Absolutely. I'm sure you did. How about common misconceptions from your experience about cooking for diabetic patient's? Is there a myth or two that you can dispel for us here?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Yeah, so usually when patient's come to me, they think that it's the end of the world because they've been diagnosed with diabetes And that they cannot eat anything. Good ever again. And that's just not true. earlier we said that There are sometimes foods and there's always foods focusing on the always foods, the whole grains, the lean proteins, the complex carbohydrates, as opposed to simple sugars, sugary drinks, those sorts of things.

Really make a difference. So it's not about being restrictive, it's about making healthful choices and those small little things add up in the long run. So small changes really build on one another.

Joey Wahler (Host): And along those lines, in summary here, what advice would you give to someone who's just first learned their diabetic and need to change their eating? Habits, I would imagine you see a lot of those people And that they're often feeling a little bit overwhelmed and maybe some of those myths that, can be out there, come into play then where they're thinking that they can't eat certain things or that they really have to completely be restrictive and, what's the key thing for them to be aware of?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Well, I think that it's more of a key thing for them to seek professional help. every body is different, so my needs, if I were a diabetic, might be complete. Different from your needs if you were diabetic. So really focusing on your healthcare team, using that primary care physician, your dietician or endocrinologist and diabetes educator, using those professionals to help guide you along the way is so important.

try not to freak out. Everything is manageable and listening to your doctor is so important. staying focused on monitoring your blood sugar, but also taking your prescribed oral medications and insulin will also really help you.

Joey Wahler (Host): I guess really more than anything, even though you've given us a lot of great detailed information here, what it really comes down to is what you said toward the beginning of our chat, right? Moderation. It's not about cutting out certain things altogether. It's about just not overdoing it. Right?

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Right? Yeah. Moderation is key. Cutting back on portion sizes because in this day and age, everything seems to be the bigger the better. But with diabetes management, really portion control is key in moderation.

Joey Wahler (Host): Absolutely. I think that's great advice for everyone That is suffering from diabetes. Folks, we trust you are now more familiar with cooking for diabetics. Toby, keep up all your great work. It's an important. Job keeping these diabetics on the straight and narrow toward better health, and thanks so much again.

Tobea K. Ross, MS, RD: Thank you. I try.

Joey Wahler (Host): If you enjoyed this podcast, keep in mind you can share it on your social channels, and you can also check out the entire podcast library. For topics of interest to you by simply visiting ward memorial.com/podcast, thanks so much again for being part of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the official podcast of Ward Memorial Hospital.