ARTA Wellness Diabetes Volume | Page 19

Diet Make changes to your diet. Start here: • Replace pop, sweetened hot or cold drinks, juice and alcohol with water. • Keep pre-cut, washed fruit and vegetables handy for easy snacking. • Check your portions with scales and measuring cups. • Eat a healthy breakfast and space meals out to six hours apart. • Use olive oil instead of margarine when cooking. Saturated fats promote inflammation, indirectly causing insulin resistance. Oleic acid and omega-3 fats can improve the insulin response for our organs. • Flavour your food with spices. Certain spices can be instrumental in type 2 diabetes prevention, including cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, turmeric and thyme. These aromatic substances improve glucose tolerance and have the ability to interfere with the creation of glycation products that damage blood vessel linings 8 . 15