2. Objectives
• 1. Participants will improve understanding of diabetes.
• 2. Participants will increase understanding of food basics.
• 3. Participants will identify challenges of planning meals
and feelings about food.
• 4. Participants will learn strategies for managing meal
planning.
• 5. Participants will identify goals and support network.
3. Relationship between food and diabetes
• Diabetes is a condition in which sugar levels in your blood
are high.
• What happens when you eat sugar (glucose)?
• The relationship between diabetes and food.
4. A review of blood glucose and insulin
Click to play movie.
5. The relationship between
diabetes and food
•Your cells need sugar for energy.
•Sugar from food makes your blood
sugar go up.
•Insulin lowers your blood sugar.
Activity: Describe the relationship
between food and diabetes.
6. Feelings about food and eating
• For many of us, food is an important part of
our lives.
Activity:
1.What do food and eating mean in
terms of likes/dislikes, family, culture,
religion?
2. How do we feel about food and the
choices we make?
10. What, How Much, & When???
Activity:
(1) Do you ever struggle with eating too
much?
(2) How do you know when you have
eaten too much?
11. Meal Planning & Strategies
Eat smaller portions
Single serving
Small plate
Serve meals on plates; not family style
Share a meal or dessert when eating out
Put down your form between bites
Gradually cut down on your food intake
Avoid skipping meals
12. Focus on serving size
Carb counting
3 Types of Carbs
• Starch
• Sugar
• Fiber
Don’t forget to count drinks!
16. The Plan
• Plan to Eat
• Plan to Engage your support network
• Plan to Engage your health care team
• Plan realistic changes you can make
Activity:
How can you better manage your diabetes?
17.
18. References
1. Apples are Awesome. (October 26, 2011). The 6 major
nutrients. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiOBhgxdhYo
2. Mechanisms in Medicine. (May 13, 2011). The role of
insulin in the human body. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYH1deu7-4E
3. USDA. (n.d.). ChooseMyPlate.gov. Retrieved from
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/print-materials-
ordering/graphic-resources.html
Editor's Notes
Please review objectives with the group.
This will be a quick review of diabetes:
Diabetes is a condition in which sugar levels in your blood are high and your body does not have enough insulin put the sugar into the cells.
2. A review of blood glucose and insulin: When you eat, some of your food is broken down into sugar (glucose). Sugar from food can be sugar itself, or it can be from carbohydrates that the body turns into sugar. Sugar travels in your blood to all your body’s cells. Insulin helps sugar move from your blood into your cells. Insulin is a hormone that is made by the beta cells in your pancreas.
A review of blood glucose and insulin: When you eat, some of your food is broken down into sugar (glucose). Sugar from food can be sugar itself, or it can be from carbohydrates that the body turns into sugar. Sugar travels in your blood to all your body’s cells. Insulin helps sugar move from your blood into your cells. Insulin is a hormone that is made by the beta cells in your pancreas.
[Please play the movie.]
Please read the following:
The relationship between diabetes and food: Your cells need sugar for energy. Sugar from food makes your blood sugar levels go up. Insulin lowers your blood sugar level by helping sugar move from your blood into your cells.
Activity: As participants to “describe the relationship between food and diabetes.” This is an open-ended discussion and can focus on personal experience (i.e. ‘when I eat ice cream, my blood sugar goes up’) or may be fact based.
[Please encourage participants to discuss the relationship between food and diabetes.]
II. Feelings about food and Eating
A. For many of us, food is an important part of our lives.
B. What do food and eating mean in terms of likes/dislikes, family, culture, religion?
[Please encourage participants to discuss these questions.]
The 6 major nutrients are: carbohydrates, protein, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals.
[Please play video.]
1. Carbohydrates – this is another name for sugars and starches. Your body burns this for energy and needs more of this nutrient than any other. This is the main kind of food that raises blood sugar levels
2. Fat – This nutrient has more calories per bite than any other nutrient. It also supplies energy, helps maintain healthy skin, and helps transport some vitamins
3. Protein – This nutrient helps to build and repair muscles, skin, and every cell in the body.
4. Water – this nutrient is essential for life. It does not have calories.
5&6. Vitamins and Minerals – These nutrients are needed in small amounts for your body to work correctly. You must get these nutrients from food because your body can’t make them.
The six food groups (starches/grains, fruits, dairy, vegetables, protein, fats and sweets). Each of these are important, in varying quantities throughout the day. The Plate method is an easy way to begin planning healthy meal choices.
ChooseMyPlate.gov is a resource to help focus on meal planning based on proportions.
Encourage participants to discuss their eating habits and struggles.
- How what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat can affect your blood glucose.
- Even when people are making healthy food choices most of the time, they often eat too much.
Please read the following as suggestions for meal planning:
eat smaller portions, only one serving, small plate, eat slowly, serve meals on plates – not family style, keep tempting foods out of the house, share a meal or dessert when eating out, put your fork down between bites, gradually cut down on your food intake, avoid skipping meals
Please review the following: Please use the booklet “Carb counting and meal planning”
B. Reading a nutrition facts label: focus on serving size
1. Portion sizes count: weigh and measure foods (p.19)
2. Estimate portion sizes (if you cannot weigh or measure): a fist = 1 cup; a palm = 3 ounces; a thumb = 1 ounce (p.20)
C. Carb counting
3 types of carbs (starch, sugar, fiber)
D. Check the serving size on the label
E. Don’t forget to count drinks
Please discuss Carb Counting – use the booklet “Carb Counting and Meal Planning.”
Carb Counting – discuss as a tool for managing diabetes for persons who use insulin.
See p.21 of this booklet for daily calorie goals.
Reading a Nutrition Facts label: Focus on calorie counting
1. The best calorie intake varies for each person, and everyone loses weight at a different rate
2. About 3,500 calories = 1 pound of body weight
3. Eating 500 fewer calories each day could help you lose 1 pound a week.
1. Harmful fats = Saturated fat and Trans fat
2. Healthier fats = Monounsaturated fat and Polyunsaturated fat
Please encourage discussion among participants. They can discuss their diabetes goals.
The importance of having a plan for eating and engaging your support network and health care team. An important part of managing your diabetes is being able to identify realistic changes you can make.
Please have participants complete their goals sheets to work on between now and the next session.