Diabetes Awareness Month: United Supermarket’s 3 Tips for Healthy Holiday Meals

November is National Diabetes Month. In one sense, it's a rough time to talk about diabetes as we're all coming down from our Halloween sugar high and planning holiday meals and gatherings. But it's also a great time to discuss how to eat sensibly during these traditionally big meals.

It's something that many Texans need to think about, according to United Supermarkets' corporate dietician Brenda Garcia. There are 2.3 million people in Texas who have been diagnosed with diabetes — or about 11 percent of the population. However, there are around 7.1 million people with pre-diabetes or undiagnosed diabetes. That's about a third of the state's population..

As Brenda says, the way that people with diabetes eat is the way we should all eat anyways — piling veggies on our plates and watching our carbs and sugars. But how does that translate to turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie? Brenda has a few tips:

1) Look for hidden sugar. Check those nutrition labels, especially for sauces. Ketchup, BBQ sauces, and many others have more sugar than you might expect but there are low sugar alternatives such as Keto Crafters BBQ sauce.

2) Think about portions. With the plate method, you're looking to fill half your meal plate with non-starchy veggies. If you're not there yet, Brenda suggests thinking about gradual changes you'd be willing to make so you hit that goal more often. Naturally, that would mean you're getting closer to a more moderate carbohydrate and protein intake. Read more on meal planning here.

3) Consider flavor-packed substitutions. For example, Brenda and her team at United Supermarkets shared a recipe for mashed pumpkin sweet potatoes, which has fewer carbs than traditional mashed potatoes. Watch their blog, Happy + Nourished, all month for more ideas!

To ensure you don't miss out on any of Happy + Nourished's great tips, scroll down to the bottom of their website and sign up for their newsletter. You'll get the latest right in your inbox!