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Are sweet potatoes good for diabetics?

Sweet potatoes have a sterling nutritional profile, making them a great food for people with diabetes. Here's how to start incorporating them into your diet. Sweet potatoes are one of the most popular foods for diabetes at Everyday Health, and with good reason.

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7 Tips and Tricks for Preparing Sweet Potatoes if You Have Diabetes

If you have diabetes, you can eat sweet potatoes daily — as long as you factor the vegetable’s carbohydrate count into your meal planning. “Sweet potatoes are a source of carbohydrates, which raise blood sugars,” says White. “People with diabetes can eat carbs but need to watch portions of foods with carbs.” What this means: Limit portions to half a sweet potato per meal or snack. Then pair that portion with a protein source, such as chicken breast or eggs, to further stabilize blood glucose levels, advises Zanini. Now go ahead and try these ideas for preparing sweet potatoes, from culinary dietitians around the country. Add sweet potatoes to a smoothie. “I add cooked sweet-potato pieces to a smoothie with ½ of a small banana for sweetness, yogurt for a boost of protein, and a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger or pumpkin spice for an added aromatic flavor,” says Tracee Yablon Brenner, RDN, a certified holistic health counselor and the author of Simple Foods for Busy Families. Top it with nut butter and fruit. This is a go-to for Marisa Moore, RDN, a culinary dietitian in Atlanta. Just heat up half a baked sweet potato in the toaster oven or microwave, then add a dollop of peanut butter and a few sliced fresh grapes, she suggests. If you’re having this for breakfast, serve with a side of scrambled eggs for extra protein.

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Make sweet-potato toast. “I love cutting sweet potatoes into thin slices and toasting them to make sweet potato toast, says Abbey Sharp, RD, a culinary dietitian in Toronto. “You can then top them with any of your favorite healthy high-protein toppings.” Try cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, or eggs. Eat a baked potato side. Flavor half a baked sweet potato with chipotle pepper for sweet and spicy flair, suggests Moore. Or roll baked sweet ’tater pieces in nuts and seeds. Try a mixture of chopped pecans, walnuts, hemp seeds, and cinnamon, suggests Yablon Brenner. Mash ’em. To cut down on added sugar, Yablon Brenner suggests mashing cooked sweet potatoes with diabetes-friendly seasonings like cinnamon and ginger. “The cinnamon brings out the sweetness in the sweet potatoes,” she says. “Mashed sweet potatoes are a delicious side, as well as a breakfast dish when combined with yogurt, nuts, or nut butter.” Create a sweet potato bowl. Cube half a cooked sweet potato, then add it to a bowl with black beans, ½ cup of cooked quinoa, and sautéed spinach, suggests Toby Amidor, RD, of New York City, the author of The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook. Add ’em to soup. “Soups are nourishing, and sweet potatoes add a creamy texture and sweetness to soup,” says Yablon Brenner, whose favorite sweet potato soup is made with red lentils, carrots, onions, and a variety of spices and herbs.

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5 No-Sugar Breakfast Recipes Overnight oats. Avocado banana smoothie. Peanut butter cup oatmeal. Broccoli rabe egg toast. Breakfast tortilla.

Our sugar habit

Most Americans are consuming too much sugar. For optimal health, the American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day for men, and no more than 6 teaspoons for women. But most of us are getting more than double that. The national average is 20 teaspoons of sugar per day. That’s partly because sugar finds its way into even the healthiest-sounding foods, often listed on nutrition labels as maltose, dextrose, fructose, and other less obvious terms, such as barley malt, rice syrup, and evaporated cane juice. Breakfast foods, which are typically carb-heavy, are a common culprit. A bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios will give you over 9 grams of sugar per suggested serving, and even the most basic cereals, like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, will serve up about a teaspoon, or 4 grams, of sugar per bowl. However, eating breakfast is essential to maintaining a healthy weight and stabilizing blood sugars, so always make time for the most important meal of the day. You might recognize celebrity nutritionist and registered dietitian Keri Glassman of Nutritious Life from her appearances on shows like “The View,” “The Talk,” and “The Today Show.” Keri takes a “whole person” approach to wellness. That starts with what you put in your body when you wake up every morning. She’s come up with some quick breakfast recipes that are nutritious, delicious, and free of added sugar. Check them out below!

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