- HubPages»
- Food and Cooking»
- Dietary Restrictions»
- Dietary Restrictions for Health
Can Eating Peanuts, Honey, and Dates Be Part of a Diabetic Diet
Nutrient Values for Peanuts, Honey and Dates
Food
| Measure
| Calories
| Carbs
| Fat
| Chol
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peanuts
| 1 Cup
| 875
| 22.3
| 76.5
| 0
|
Honey
| 1 TBSP
| 64
| 17.3
| 0
| 0
|
Dates
| 1 Date
| 66
| 18
| 0
| 0
|
Nutrition Planning
Peanuts, honey, and dates have no cholesterol and therefore will help to lower your LDL. If you are a diabetic you must take a closer look at these foods by portion size. You will notice that 1 cup of peanuts has a whopping 875 calories, 76.5 gm fat, and 22.3 carbs. Clearly, on a weight management program peanuts must be taken in moderation! Honey and dates have nearly 18 carbs per serving! Before reaching a conclusion about adding peanuts, honey, or dates to your diet you must understand some basic information about eating on a diabetic diet.
Carbs, Calories, Cholesterol, and Diabetes
Nutrition planning can be confusing when juggling carbs, calories, and cholesterol on a diabetic diet. Many people believe that there are foods that must be banned from your diabetic diet. A common misconception is that diabetics can never eat sugar. It is true that simple sugars should not be a large part of the diabetic diet but it is more important to gain an understanding about carbohydrates. Diabetics may need to lose weight so counting calories is important. However, the carbs are the culprits that spike your glucose or drop it to the danger level!
Diabetic Meal Plan
A diabetic meal plan should include foods from all the basic food groups. Managing your carbohydrate intake means you should eat enough carbohydrates throughout the day to keep your glucose levels within normal ranges without damaging spikes or lows. To accomplish this you should have 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner should have 45 carbs each while your between meal snacks should be about 15 carbs each. Here is a hub where you will find healthy food choices and information to help with portion control Resources for Diabetes Sufferers.
Basic Tips
Fat combined with white flour can be as detrimental to your health as eating foods high in sugar content. Potatoes and rice are converted into sugar in the digestive system. Moderation and portion control is the key to managing your diabetes. Eat healthy foods in the right portion to keep your glucose level balanced throughout the day.
Peanuts, dates, and honey are healthy additions to your diet as long as you count your carbs and use portion control.
Fun Facts About Peanuts
Peanuts are a very healthy food eaten all around the world. Americans consume about 6 pounds of peanuts yearly.
- One acre of peanuts make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
- In the United States products with peanuts must be 90% peanuts
- The top four candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter.
- two-thirds of all snack nuts consumed in the USA contain peanuts.
- Peanut butter is an $800 million industry in America.
- Former presidents Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter were peanut farmers.
- Six cities in the U.S. are named Peanut: Peanut, CA; Lower Peanut, PA; Upper Peanut, PA; Peanut, PA, Peanut, TN; and Peanut WV.
Exercise and Water
Eating the right foods in the right portion size are essential to good diabetes management. Another key to managing your diabetes is getting exercise and drinking enough water. These are two keys to keeping your glucose level under control. Walking ten minutes after eating is an excellent way to bring your glucose level down in a hurry. Walking stairs is even better. Adding extra bottles of water to your drinking habit will also assist in keeping your glucose levels down. When you add these activities to your diet along with portion control you can generally eat anything you want even peanuts, honey or dates.
- Preventing Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that presents when the pancreas is unable to create insulin. Type I diabetes usually presents in childhood, although it may present later in life. Type II diabetes occurs because the cells in the body do not react to the hormone - Exercise, Diabetes, and Counting Carbs
Understanding the basics of managing your diet when you have been diagnosed with Diabetes I or II is the first line of defense in your success in managing your disease.
Diabetes Management
What is the best way to manage your diabetes?
Allergies
Remember that many people suffer from nut allergies that include eating peanuts. If you are allergic to peanuts or any other type of nut, please do not eat them. Such allergies are life threatening.