The Diabetes Food Pyramid: Milk

People with diabetes are at the same risk for osteoporosis as the general public.  Fat-free (skim) and low-fat (1%) milk and yogurt will provide the calcium you need without saturated fat and cholesterol.  A serving of milk or yogurt can be used as a snack or part of a snack -- milk and crackers or yogurt and fruit.  Also, you might find that fat-free milk or yogurt makes a good food to treat low blood glucose reactions.  They both provide as much carbohydrate as a serving of starch or fruit.

Easy ways to get more milk and yogurt into your meal plan:

• Eat more hot cereal, use milk to substitute for at least half (if not all) the water, use more milk on the cereal as you eat it.
  
• Eat more high fiber dry cereal, it is a way to drink more milk and get a good boost of fiber.  Don't limit cereal and milk to breakfast, it can be a quick and easy lunch, dinner or snack.  It is a great way to work in another fruit serving.
  
• Blend together fruit with fat-free milk or yogurt to make a tasty shake for a quick snack.  Put a serving of milk or yogurt in a blender, toss in a serving of fruit -- banana, strawberries, or peaches, add a bit of extract, vanilla, rum or maple -- blend it up and sip it down.
  
• Create your own yogurt combo -- take plain fat-free yogurt or frozen yogurt and toss in Grapenuts® and/or low-fat granola cereal, dried fruit -- diced dried apricots, apples or pears.  A few (not too many) nuts add good crunch.
  
• Drop a few tablespoons of refrigerated yogurt on fresh or canned fruit.
  
• Use plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream on baked potatoes. Mix in fresh herbs, garlic, Dijon mustard, cayenne or curry (or any combination) for some extra kick.
  
• Make yogurt cheese by "hanging" yogurt over cheesecloth or coffee filter and a strainer.  Make it the thickness of cream cheese and add some no sugar jelly to spread on bagels or toast.
  
• Keep containers of yogurt in the refrigerator to use as a quick and convenient snack or part of a meal.
  
• Add dry milk to recipes where the taste will blend in -- meatloaf or meatballs, soups, casseroles, gravies.
  
• Add fat-free milk or dry milk to eggs mixed for scrambled eggs, omelette or French toast.

Adapted from the book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy. Written by Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, a nationally recognized expert on healthy eating and diabetes.