Health experts offer tips on managing diabetes during Thanksgiving
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With one in three people in the Rio Grande Valley diagnosed with diabetes, health experts are asking people to eat responsibly during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Eating responsibly, health experts say, doesn’t mean missing out on delicious food.
Diabetic friendly holiday options include roasting your chicken and turkey instead of frying them, and sweetening your desserts with cinnamon instead of sugar.
"In the RGV, we are the highest [population] predisposed for Type 2 diabetes,” Moises Arjona, director of the Weslaco-based organization Unidos Contra Diabetes, said. “We have the highest in the nation and the highest in the state."
Experts say making moderate changes to your everyday lifestyle such as what you eat and how often you exercise can help in diabetes prevention and reversal.
Pediatric physician assistant Gustavo Olivarez said he lost nearly 100 pounds after he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in April.
“The day that he gave me my diagnosis, it was crushing,” Olivarez said. “It was a really humbling experience. I felt this small."
Olivarez makes an effort to stay away from sugars and said his advice is to diet, but not in an extreme manner.
“Being on a diet should not be so restrictive that you're not happy,” Olivares said. “The diet that you're following has to be sustainable. Yes, you can enjoy family get togethers. Yes, you can enjoy Thanksgiving. It's a matter of healthy food choices and portion control."
Check out some diabetic friendly dishes you can try:
- • low-carb pumpkin bread
- • sausage, and feta stuffing
- • spicy sausage and cheddar stuffing
- • low-carb green bean casserole
- • quinoa salad with roasted butter nut squash
- • pumpkin spice cake with butternut squash
- • flourless pumpkin spice cookies
- • crustless pumpkin pie
- • apple cinnamon fruit bar
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