TODAY is World Diabetes Day and Thinking Slimmer is proud to give its support to this worldwide campaign to raise awareness of what causes diabetes and what we can all do to help prevent it. The current theme of World Diabetes Day is healthy living and this year the campaign is focusing particularly on the importance of starting starting each day in the best possible way by having a healthy breakfast.
I’ve got a free ebook on how to say no to sugar which I’d love you to have. And this weekend, November 14 and 15, I’m backing World Diabetes Day by giving you 30 per cent off any Slimpod or programme in the Thinking Slimmer store.
Yes, even our top-of-the-range Slimpod Gold 12-week programme has 30 per cent off. Just use the discount code DIABETES DAY. Offer ends at midnight on November 15.
Diabetes UK says a healthy breakfast should do two things: help stop your blood sugar levels from getting too high and keep you feeling full full through the morning.
The problem for most of us is that while cereal and toast may be quick and cheap, if that’s all you have for breakfast they raise blood sugar levels rapidly and may leave you hungry again before lunch.
I’ve been warning for several years that so-called “healthy” fruit juice can actually be doing ore harm than good. This is backed up by Diabetes UK and is one important message that will be emphasised on World Diabetes Day on November 14.
Their experts say that for a genuinely healthy breakfast you should consider cutting out the juice or at the very least having a smaller glass.
You might be shocked to learn (unless you’ve read my blogs!) that 150ml glass of unsweetened orange juice contains about 15g of carbohydrate and 13g of sugar – that’s more than three teaspoons of sugar!
So it’s far from being an ideal way to get one of your five a day fruits.
Diabetes UK advises that people with diabetes need to moderate their fruit juice intake as larger glasses of juice can substantially raise blood sugar levels.
Recently, regular consumption of fruit juice has been linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
What’s the problem with fruit juice? Without getting too scientific, a 250ml glass of unsweetened orange juice contains about 100 calories while an actual orange only contains 60 calories.
A lot of the sweetener put in concentrated orange juice is our old enemy fructose, a form of processed sugar which plays havoc with your metabolism.
Half a pint of fruit juice made from concentrate contains more fructose-based sugar than the World Health Organisation recommends as your maximum daily intake.
The other issue with fruit juice is that the juicing process strips out most of the fibre from the fruit.
Fibre is a health source of carbohydrate for energy because it doesn’t cause a significant spike in blood sugar levels and it’s especially important for people with diabetes.
It’s one reason why I recommend a juicer like the NutriBullet, which retains all the fibre in the drink.
This morning I’m going to raise a glass – of water – to the success of World Diabetes Day. Cheers!
