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Helpful advice

To help you shop with a healthier lifestyle in mind, especially if you have diabetes, we've brought together bags of healthy eating tips to help you make you next shopping trip easier.

 Fruit and vegetables

These are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre.  Aim for a variety of 5 portions a day.

• Fresh, frozen and canned fruit and veg, 100% juice, and dried fruit all count.
• Spread your fruit intake throughout the day.
• Look out for our 5-a-day symbol. 

What's a portion?  

1 whole fruit (eg apple); a handful of grapes; a slice of melon; 2 small fruits (eg plums); 3 heaped tablespoons veg; 150ml glass of 100% juice; 1 heaped tablespoon dried fruit.
Dried fruit and fruit juice only count as 1 portion each, no matter how many you have. Limit juice to one glass each day and try to have this with a meal. 

Ready-meal and snacks

• Look out for the Sainsbury’s be good to yourself range for a quick way to find lower-fat options.  Use the front of the pack traffic light labelling to hekp you make a healthier choices between similar products, try to go for more greens and ambers and fewer reds.
• Try choosing pasta meals with a tomato sauce rather than a cheese or cream sauce
• Fresh soups are an excellent way to have more vegetables, served with wholegrain bread for extra starchy carbohydrate
• Try choosing pizza with lots of extra vegetables rather than extra cheese, or better still buy your own thin pizza base and load it up with healthier toppings, served with a crisp side salad.

Meat, fish and alternatives (lentils, pulses, eggs, nuts)

• Buy the leaner cuts of meat or trim off visible fat before cooking
• Choose extra-lean mince, and dry-fry (ie without adding oil)
• When cooking meat or fish, use methods such as grilling, baking, casseroling or stir-frying, which require a minimum amount of added fat
• Oily fish are also a good choice, eg sardines, pilchards and mackerel
• Try to include 2 portions of oily fish per week (women of child bearing age should not eat more than 2 portions of oil-rich fish per week as they can contain high levels of chemicals called dioxins)
• Fresh or frozen white fish is low in fat, like; cod or haddock.  Ask at the fish counter for ideas, or browse for hundreds of ideas in our recipe search
• Soya products such as quorn and tofu are a good source of protein as well as being low in fat, and can replace meat and poultry in many recipes
• Boiling, poaching and scrambling eggs is healthier than frying them.

What’s a typical portion? 

50-100g cooked lean red meat or poultry or oily fish; 100-150g cooked white fish; 1-2 eggs; 3 tablespoons beans, pulses or lentils; 2 tablespoons peanut butter or nuts.

Milk, dairy foods

• Cheese can be high in fat, particularly saturated fat, so use small quantities of strongly flavoured cheese for cooking, eg reduced-fat hard or matured cheeses
• Vegetarian cheese has the same fat content as ordinary cheese
• For a healthier option go for cottage cheese, reduced fat mozzarella or Sainsbury’s be good to yourself cheese
• Try choosing skimmed, semi-skimmed milk or Sainsbury's 1% fat milk (orange top) 
• Try low-fat or low-calorie yogurt or fromage frais instead of cream, and try to choose ones that are low in sugar too.

Milk and dairy foods are a rich source of calcium and one of the easiest ways to achieve your daily calcium requirements is to consume 3 portions.

• Go for lower-fat varieties where possible

What’s a typical portion?

200ml glass of milk; 150g pot of low-fat yogurt; 40g hard cheese; 2 tablespoons cottage cheese.

Pasta, rice and cereals

• Include these foods at each meal to help maintain your blood glucose.  Add vegetable sauces rather than creamy ones as they are lower in fat
• Try wholewheat pasta or brown rice, which are more filling and also provide more fibre which helps to keep your digetive system healthy
• Rice and pasta salads make excellent main meals and snacks.  Try adding pulses such as kidney beans to increase the fibre content
• For more variety try cereals such as bulgar wheat and couscous for a great salad that's very easy to prepare.

 

Pulses & beans

• Dried and canned pulses can be used in a variety of dishes, eg butter beans, chickpeas, lentils and even baked beans can be added to soups, salads, casseroles and mince dishes.
• Beans and pulses can help to manage blood glucose levels and blood fats.
• Dried beans need to be soaked and cooked carefully before use, so if time is an issue opt for ones that are ready-prepared in a can – there’s a large variety available instore and they are great value.
• Three tables spoons of beans or pulses counts as one of your 5-a-day.

 

Canned and frozen vegetable

• Canned and frozen vegetables are a useful alternative, and can be just as nutritious as fresh
• Keep a selection of canned vegetables in the cupboard as they’re useful for casseroles, soups and mince dishes.

Foods containing fats and foods containing sugars

• Consumng too many foods and drinks high in fat and sugar can lead to weight gain and poor blood glucose control.
• Look at the label and choose lower-fat and lower-sugar versions.
• Use small amounts of unsaturated fats, such as olive and rapeseed oils and spreads, as these are better for your heart.
• Use less oil in cooking.  Try using oil sprays and non-stick frying pans. 

 

 

Canned fruit and dessert

• Instead of syrup on your desserts use canned fruit juice
• Make homemade fruit crumble with plenty of fresh, frozen or tinned fruit, and use porridge oats and polyunsaturated margarine for the topping, serve with Sainsbury’s no-added sugar custard powder
• Use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk to make custards or milk puddings, and try reducing the amount of sugar the recipe suggests by up to half.

Bakery

• Choose higher fibre varieties whenever you can, such as, wholegrain, wholemeal, granary or rye bread .

 

Sweeteners & homebaking

• People with diabetes can choose to use artificial sweeteners as an alternative to sugar, Splenda (sucralose), Nutrasweet (aspartame) and Swee 'n' Low (aspatame and acesulfame/k) are the main ones.
• In baking use wholemeal flour or a mixture of wholemeal and white , try to reduce the amount of sugar in your recipe where possible

Breakfast cereal aisle

• ‘Breakfast’ cereals can be a healthy snack at any time of day, especially if you choose cereals that are high in fibre, such as bran, wholewheat, or fibre-based rather than refined or sugar-coated ones.  Look out for our front of pack traffic light labelling and try to choose green and ambers and fewer reds.
• Go for muesli that is unsweetened, or with no added salt and sugar
  
• Try adding fresh bananas or strawberries if you have a sweet tooth.  Try porridge, as it has low GI and make it with either skimmed, semi-skimmed milk or Sainsbury's 1% fat milk (orange top) 
 

Soft drinks 

• Soft drinks can contain high levels of sugar, so choose diet or low-calorie fizzy drinks, and sugar-free squash and cordial
• For sweeter hot drinks you could choose sweeteners instead of sugar
• Fruit juice should be limited to 1 glass a-day and try to have this with a meal.
 

Alcohol

For information on alcohol speak to your GP, dietitian or visit the diabetes UK website.