Many of us use food for comfort and most comfort foods are high carbohydrate, like mashed potatoes and gravy. Ice cream and cheesecake are favorites for many people when the blues hover over us. Chocolate, too, is a favored comfort food. All of them are dangerous for diabetics. When you have the blues, a spoonful of ice cream will not sooth. It will intensify the yearning and make the blues worse.
Getting depressed, even mildly, is dangerous to our glucose control. Most of us who have good control live a daily life feeling restricted and deprived of food pleasure. We may be proud that we can keep ourselves healthy, but still.. we know we go without. When we yearn for a little comforting indulgence, we know we will hurt ourselves to give in.
So, what can we do when we want to curl up with some comfort food? The mainstream advice is to have whatever you want, just control your portion size. Easy to say, hard to do even under the best of circumstances. When the blues move in, a controlled port just feels like more deprivation.
I like soup. Soups with unthickened broth, filled with tasty vegetables and chunks of chicken, fish or beef, give a warming satisfying feel. A hot mug of bouillon can be a comfort, too.
Chocolate gives a lift to moods, its a natural antidepressant. It works in your brain and in your mouth. Dark chocolate is a good choice, if you must have something. Sugar-free hot chocolate can bring a nice soothing comfort, just make it with water instead of milk.
There is no substitute for cheesecake or ice cream. Even the no sugar added forms of ice cream have carbohydrates from milk and loads of fat. Wish I could come up with something here. Homemade cheesecake, made with sugar substitutes can be very tasty, but still are a load of carbohydrates.
And that's why diabetics get the blues.
Getting depressed, even mildly, is dangerous to our glucose control. Most of us who have good control live a daily life feeling restricted and deprived of food pleasure. We may be proud that we can keep ourselves healthy, but still.. we know we go without. When we yearn for a little comforting indulgence, we know we will hurt ourselves to give in.
So, what can we do when we want to curl up with some comfort food? The mainstream advice is to have whatever you want, just control your portion size. Easy to say, hard to do even under the best of circumstances. When the blues move in, a controlled port just feels like more deprivation.
I like soup. Soups with unthickened broth, filled with tasty vegetables and chunks of chicken, fish or beef, give a warming satisfying feel. A hot mug of bouillon can be a comfort, too.
Chocolate gives a lift to moods, its a natural antidepressant. It works in your brain and in your mouth. Dark chocolate is a good choice, if you must have something. Sugar-free hot chocolate can bring a nice soothing comfort, just make it with water instead of milk.
There is no substitute for cheesecake or ice cream. Even the no sugar added forms of ice cream have carbohydrates from milk and loads of fat. Wish I could come up with something here. Homemade cheesecake, made with sugar substitutes can be very tasty, but still are a load of carbohydrates.
And that's why diabetics get the blues.
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