Top tips for diabetics at Christmas

Diabetics needn’t miss out at the dinner table this Christmas, says award-winning writer Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne.

  • Eat regularly including sources of starchy carbs in your meals, such as potatoes.
  • Prepare food from scratch so you can control the salt, fat and sugar content, and check food labels to help you buy healthily.
  • Go easy on foods with a high saturated fat and sugar content, such as stuffing, turkey skin, Christmas pudding and mince pies.
  • Try stuffing the turkey with vegetarian stuffing to avoid eating high-fat sausagemeat. Cook the stuffing in a separate dish to the turkey.
  • Use olive oil rather than butter to moisten the turkey and flavour vegetables.
  • When you go to parties, take your own healthy snacks along to keep you going.
  • If you’ve been drinking alcohol, eat something starchy before going to bed.
  • Alternate alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and use diet mixers.
  • Let people at parties know you are diabetic so they don’t confuse the signs of a hypoglycaemic attack with being drunk.
  • Diabetes UK Careline: 0845 120 2960 or click here to visit the website.