No vacation from controlling diabetes

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- People with diabetes don't get days off from managing blood sugar, taking medication, exercising or eating healthily, a U.S. expert says.

"People with diabetes can't take a vacation from diabetes," Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, said in a statement. "They need to make decisions to manage their diabetes 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Diabetes involves a lot of goal-setting -- such as goals about what you can eat and, more importantly, can't eat and goals of being physically active, but people without diabetes should also manage these same lifestyle decisions to prevent diabetes.

Rodgers said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said healthy food choices should include:

-- Food with less fat. Limit foods high in saturated fats or trans fat, such as: fatty cuts of meat; fried food; whole milk and dairy products made from whole milk; cakes, candy, cookies, crackers and pies; salad dressings; lard, shortening, stick margarine and non-dairy creamers.

-- Fewer foods that are high in sugar, such as: fruit-flavored drinks; sodas; tea or coffee sweetened with sugar.

-- Using less salt in cooking and at the table. Eat fewer foods that are high in salt, such as canned and packaged soups, canned vegetables, pickles and processed meats.

-- Food high in fiber by eating more whole-grain foods. Whole grains can be found in breakfast cereals made with 100 percent whole grains; oatmeal; whole grain rice; whole-wheat bread, bagels, pita bread and tortillas.

-- A variety of fruit and vegetables every day.

-- Plenty of dark green veggies such as broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts; orange veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and winter squash; and beans and peas.