Our main goal having diabetes is to have a stable, consistent and within range A1C (Glycated Hemoglobin).

A1C equals your average blood glucose, before and after meals, continuously over the past 3 months.

Here are some equivalences:

                                         Mean blood glucose

A1C                         mmol/L                     eAG mg/dL (estimated average glucose)

12%                          19.5                          345

11%                          17.5                          310

10%                           15.5                         275

9%                             13.5                         240

8%                             11.5                         205

7%                             9.5                           170

6%                             7.5                           135

-Under 7 is considered normal or ”good” if you already have diabetes, otherwise normal is below 5.7%

-From 5.7% to 6.4% is considered pre-diabetes

-From 6.5% or more indicates diabetes

In order to lower your A1C you need to replace high glycemic carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, and all heavily processed foods and sweet treats with vegetables, preferably organic and rich in nutrients.

You might be able to see changes in your blood glucose in a matter of days from my experience with my patients.

Your meals should consist primarily of a mix of vegetables, those should occupy the majority of space in your plate in every meal along with a source of protein and some healthy fats.

Your meals don’t have to be boring and pale tasting, you can mix up a very wide variety of vegetables (green beans, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, etc) delicious sources of protein (preferably plant-protein from beans, tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, but also wild salmon and fish, organic chicken, occasional organic beef, etc) healthy unprocessed grains (quinoa, wild rice, bulgur, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, farro, barley and steal cut oats) and healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil, seeds, nuts and free range eggs. Give your meals COLOR!

Once you remove processed grains and high glycemic carbs and sugar from your daily food intake your blood glucose will stop being so high and remain consistently stable. It is important you considerably limit them when you are diagnosed with diabetes in order to quickly take action on your blood sugar, because if it remains high you are in risk of many life threatening complications.

When choosing what to buy in the supermarket opt for whole foods. Buy fresh vegetables that are in season, buy frozen bags of vegetables to have stocks available at home when you don’t have time to cut and chop fresh ones, that way you won’t choose unhealthy foods instead.

Create an environment at your home that doesn’t allow you to eat unhealthy foods by simply not having any sweet treats, breads, pastries and so on, available.

Once a week, try to make time to prepare meals in advance by cooking pots of vegetables and protein, or vegetables soups and stews with protein and broth.

Do not buy products like yogurt or milk that are low fat as usually the fat is replaced by high amounts of sugar. Equally, do not buy low sugar products as the sugar in them is usually replaced with artificial sweeteners that are poison for our bodies. Try Stevia or Monkfruit sweeteners instead.

If you can, make sure your vegetables are organically grown and not full of pesticides and chemicals, perhaps you know a farmer not so far from you or have a local market with local produce from trusted farmers. If buying meat, opt for wild caught fish, organic grass-fed and hormone-free beef and chicken and free range eggs.

Stop seeing food as only pleasure, but rather healthy fuel for your body. Your body is your Ferrari, it needs quality fuel to run well.

Donuts, bread, rice, sodas, sweet drinks, chips and cakes do not contain anything healthy for you at all. Not one single healthy nutrient. The only thing they do is clog up your arteries and store fat around your organs.

Train your mind to care for your long term wellbeing more than you do for short term pleasure. The more crap you eat, the more it will be hard to get rid of, the more damage your organs go through.

Make sure you drink plenty of water every day.

And last but not least, make time for doing the things you love, treat yourself to some weekly activities you enjoy, go to the salon, get a new dress you’ll looking forward to wear once you shed a few pounds and show your body and mind you care for yourself. Show yourself some love and appreciation for all that you are.

Emotional wellbeing is the secret to battling diabetes consistently without ever falling off track again.