Eating to beat diabetes: change up your drinks

A lot of people, when planning out a diet, forget to change up what they drink. Here's a guide to making your drinks as healthy as your food:

Each 350 millilitre (12 ounce) serving of regular soda contains about 150 calories — virtually all of it sugar. That's equivalent to nine packets of sugar!

• Studies show that soda calories don't fill you up the way food does, so you end up consuming more calories throughout the day than you would if you got those calories from something solid.
• If you usually drink three cans of soda a day — not unusual if you drink soda more out of habit or convenience than desire — you can easily cut an impressive 450 calories a day by switching to another beverage, such as:
• Water: It has zero calories and quenches thirst better than sugary drinks. If you drink bottled water, though, beware of flavoured brands, which can have as many calories as soft drinks. Check the label.
• Diet drinks: These often have no-calorie sweeteners.
• Sparkling water: choose plain water or sugar-free, fruit-flavoured varieties.
• Iced tea: make your own by steeping two tea bags in a tall glass of cold water. If you drink bottled iced tea, check to be sure it's sugar-free and calorie-free.
• Lemonade: make your own with fresh lemon juice and sweeten it with a sugar substitute. This cuts out the calories, saving more than the 100 calories you consume with a store-bought lemonade.

Love your morning coffee? Go ahead and pour yourself a cup.

• Numerous studies have shown the diabetes-friendly effects of coffee.
• Recently, scientists discovered that it's not the caffeine in coffee that lowers blood sugar but other compounds, most likely ones called chlorogenic acids.
• In fact, you're better off drinking decaf, since caffeine hampers insulin's ability to draw glucose out of blood.
• Not a coffee drinker? Try green tea. Compounds called polyphenols in green tea also appear to do battle with diabetes.
• In one recent study, cells from diabetic rats that drank green tea soaked up twice as much blood sugar as cells from rats that drank plain water. Black tea did not have any effect on blood sugar absorption.

Add a dash of cinnamon to beverages whenever you get a chance. What's special about cinnamon?

• Recent research finds that the spice lowers blood sugar by boosting the activity of insulin. As little as two millilitres (1/2 teaspoon) a day can lower blood sugar by as much as 29 percent.
• Brew up a pot of cinnamon tea: Boil one litre (four cups) of water, add four cinnamon sticks and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain before drinking.
• Use cinnamon to flavour your coffee: Add two millilitres (1/2 teaspoon) of cinnamon to the ground coffee in your coffeemaker before brewing. It's delicious and the aroma is heavenly.

Switching up your beverages is not as hard as you might think, especially compared to switching up your diet to something healthier. It's mostly about breaking habits and avoiding sugar -- something that is much easier if you simply don't buy these drinks. Try switching out you beverages for a week and see how great you feel!