Chapter 2
10 Healthy Food Swaps for Losing Weight
An elevated body mass index (BMI), where body weight to height falls into theoverweight, obese, or even higher category on that scale, is very common among people with type 2 diabetes, and it isn’t just a coincidence. Excess weight is a distinct risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, and excess weight makes blood glucose more difficult to control after diabetes is diagnosed.
The connection between weight and type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, where cells that normally respond to insulin, by allowing glucose molecules to leave the blood and enter those cells, become unresponsive to this powerful hormone.
Fortunately, losing only a modest amount of weight — as little as 7 to 10 percent of your current weight — can have a profound effect on insulin resistance. That’s in part because visceral fat appears to be the first fat to disappear as the pounds come off. Modest weight loss can have a huge effect on the course of diabetes.
A list of ten food swaps should not be considered a weight loss program in any sense. But, this simple list represents an important concept — little changes make big results. And importantly, little changes that are simple and easy can become new habits that eventually happen without thinking.
2.1 Lighten up your mayo.
Swapping your regular mayonnaise for a lower-fat version can save significant calories. Lightmayonnaise reduces calories per tablespoon to 35 or so, and total fat to between 3 and 4 grams per serving. Low-fat orreduced-fat varieties usually cut calories and fat to 15 and about 1 gram, respectively.
Going from 90 calories per tablespoon to 15 is a significant reduction, and when it comes to losing weight over the long term, these are the kinds of changes that really add up.
2.2 Try bacon of Canadian descent.
Swapping one ounce of American bacon for Canadian bacon saves 100 calories, 9 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, and 285 milligrams sodium. That is an incredible difference in nutritional composition for an incredibly simple change, and Canadian bacon also makes a wise swap for other meats like pepperoni.
Swapping your bacon is an excellent example of how you don’t have to completely abandon your dietary preferences to get big benefits.