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Managing Diabetes

Easy Diabetes-Friendly Meals and Tips for a Healthier You


Jan. 22, 20255 min read

The content in this article should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider regarding your individual health needs. 
Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. More than just sustenance, it often reflects cultural heritage, linking humanity to memories and places and marking the most special moments with family and friends.
Yet one of the first topics of conversation doctors must have with patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is modifying diet, sometimes asking them to give up the foods they love most or that are part of their identity. And that’s one reason it can be a challenge for those diagnosed with diabetes to adopt “diabetes-friendly” meals and eating habits.
Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist Kim Rose understands the struggles they encounter. The Sebring, Florida, practitioner grew up in a Jamaican family and enjoyed the flavorful Caribbean diet that comes with that rich background. As a little girl, her Uncle Dennis was diagnosed with diabetes and was told to completely cut certain foods, including many of his favorites. He was given no other diet options or compromises, so he continued to eat what he wanted. Over time, he developed complications, including kidney failure, leg amputation and heart problems, ultimately passing away in his 50s.
“Seeing how it impacted him, myself and our family made me want to focus on diabetes,” Rose said. “No one should go through complications because they think they’re unable to enjoy the foods that are comforting 
for them.”
With 12 years of practice and her motto, “I believe food does not have to taste like cardboard and sadness,” Rose has a passion for helping people with diabetes live healthier lives while still enjoying flavorful foods.
We sat down with her to crack the code on creating easy diabetes-friendly meals.





We all love to snack. Do you have any recommendations for healthy snacks for those with diabetes?

Nuts, berries and whole grains are great options. I have a client who works in an office setting where there was always chocolate to snack on that she really enjoyed. So, I recommended she keep nuts on-hand, since nuts have healthy fats and fiber. If she wanted chocolate, she could have a small handful of nuts first and then the small piece of chocolate. Because for her specifically, eating was more of a bonding activity in the workplace. She just had to be mindful of the frequency of the snacking. I gave the client specific timing targets for her meals and based on what we saw on her Dexcom CGM, and together we found better times to take a snack.

And what about some healthy meal recipes or easy meals for those with diabetes?

Chicken Caprese! I enjoy that one, because it's easy, hands-off. You get home from work. You pop everything in the oven and leave it alone. Another one is turkey tacos. It's lean protein and you have your green leafy vegetables. For dessert, a chocolate mousse. The chocolate, which is loaded with antioxidants, can help to bring down inflammation, which is important in diabetes because diabetes can cause a lot of inflammation in the body.7
You can find those recipes in the cookbook I’m working on with Dexcom. If you aren't on a Dexcom CGM, you can get our cookbook for free when you get started on a Dexcom CGM.


1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, June 20). Diabetes and your heart. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-and-heart.html.
2 What superstar foods are good for diabetes?. What superstar foods are good for diabetes? | ADA. (n.d.). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/food-and-blood-sugar/diabetes-superstar-foods.
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022b, June 20). Fiber: The CARB that helps you manage diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/role-of-fiber.html#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20fiber%20can%20help%3A,the%20way%20other%20carbohydrates%20can.
5 Protein. Best Protein Choices for Diabetes |ADA. (n.d.). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/protein.
6 Shukla AP. et al. The impact of food order on postprandial glycaemic excursions in prediabetes. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2019; 21: 377– 381. 7 Tsalamandris S, Antonopoulos AS, Oikonomou E, Papamikroulis GA, Vogiatzi G, Papaioannou S, Deftereos S, Tousoulis D. The Role of Inflammation in Diabetes: Current Concepts and Future Perspectives. Eur Cardiol. 2019 Apr;14(1):50-59. doi: 10.15420/ecr.2018.33.1. PMID: 31131037; PMCID: PMC6523054.]
BRIEF SAFETY STATEMENT: Failure to use the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring System and its components according to the instructions for use provided with your device and available at https://www.dexcom.com/safety-information and to properly consider all indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and cautions in those instructions for use may result in you missing a severe hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) or hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) occurrence and/or making a treatment decision that may result in injury. If your glucose alerts and readings from the Dexcom CGM do not match symptoms, use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. Seek medical advice and attention when appropriate, including for any medical emergency.
Dexcom, Dexcom Follow, Dexcom Clarity, and Dexcom Share are registered trademarks of Dexcom, Inc. in the U.S., and may be registered in other countries. ©2023 Dexcom, Inc. All rights reserved.

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