It's not an oxymoron -- it's quite possible to control the rise of blood sugar with the foods you eat. This does not entail culinary tomfoolery, skipping meals or any shenanigans you ordinarily would expect from a quick fix. Many of these tips come from a fully certified dietician, Joy Bauer.

Joy suggests pairing every meal with a lean protein. Protein helps slow the absorption of carbohydrates, so include lean red meat, skinless turkey and chicken, egg whites, seafood, legumes or tofu with every meal. She also suggests you choose blood-sugar friendly carbs, such as those higher in fiber. Fiber is that part of the food that we cannot break down and absorb. As Americans looked for convenience, many people turned to processed foods and away from the fresh vegetables and fruits that could provide adequate fiber, which also slowed the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. If you must eat pasta -- cook your pasta al dente. The more pasta cooks, the more starch breaks down, making it easier and quicker to digest (thus, raising blood sugar faster). For those of you who are willing to give it a try, checkout Dreamfields pasta. It has only 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving and 5 grams of fiber.

Focus as much as possible on the fiber-rich foods. Joy suggests eating more legumes. This is accomplished by adding chickpeas to salads and stir-fry's, kidney beans to chili, and lentils to soups, or pureeing beans to make dips. One more little tip to reduce the sugar shock into the body: add acid to your meals! Vinegar, yogurt and lemon can each slow blood sugar response. Enjoy vinaigrette on salad, yogurt with fresh fruit, or fresh lemon juice on vegetables. If you'd rather eat your fiber in a good old fashioned muffin, check out Miracle Muffins. Just add water and bake. With approximately 100 calories per muffin and over 6 grams of fiber you can't go wrong. Bon appétit, everybody!

Would you like to reduce your daily insulin requirements by a third or stop all diabetes medicines? Lofty goals, yes - but given the Eat To Live program - it's quite possible.

Regardless of my attempts to downgrade insulin dose in the last 15 years - my blood sugars would not take the hint. Had I known Dr. Fuhrman had figured this one out long ago - instead of badgering feats of diabetic noncompliance I would have picked up his book, Eat To Live. Dr. Fuhrman explains the best diet for humans to live longer in good health is also the best diet for one with diabetes. A diet comprised mostly in nature's perfect foods-green vegetables, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, raw nuts and seeds and limited fresh fruit, allows for people to eat as much as they want and still lose weight, drop their cholesterol, and their blood pressure relatively quickly.

The Eat To Live dietary style is a vegetable-based diet designed to maximize nutrient per calorie density. It is the most effective treatment for those with diabetes, more effective than drugs. For a type 2 diabetic, this approach has resulted in complete reversal of the diabetic condition in the vast majority of patients and for a type 1 diabetic it solves the problems with excessive highs and lows and prevents the typical dangerous complications that too frequently befall those with diabetes. Joel Fuhrman, M.D is a board certified family physician specializing in nutritional medicine for overweight and diabetic patents.

The results of a new study show that those who consumed more fiber were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less fiber.

The researchers note that consuming fiber may help with the body's ability to handle blood sugar. The pooled results of several studies showed that people who ate the most cereal fiber had a 33% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least. A study conducted at Harvard confirmed foods including whole grain breads, high-fiber cereals, yogurt, beans and peanut butter lessened the probability of developing diabetes by 28%.

The miraculous benefits of fiber keeping adding up. Whether your motive is to reduce your risk of diabetes, lower cholesterol, hamper IBS, or suppress your hunger -- there's a reason for each of us to invite a little more fiber into our diet. Snack on your cereals, bake your muffins, or enjoy a fresh cup of blueberries -- fiber is your friend. Friends don't let friends develop diabetes.

Diabetic members of ethnic minority groups may face a dilemma when they compare their traditional diets and foods with what the doctor says they should be eating...and find there's much room for improvement. This is a big problem amongst Hispanic communities, but advice and assistance is out there for those who go looking. The Orlando Sentinal has published an article on this topic and profiles a Type 2 diabetic, Linda Landaverde (pictured) of Orlando. Landaverde knows that eating a lot of beans is a no-no because of the carbohydrates, but she says she just can't face a future of salads and fruit, as recommended by her doctors and nutritionists. What to do? Well, Landaverde started out by attending a Spanish language seminar on diabetes management, which provided some much-needed guidance and helped her make some healthful compromises to her diet. That way she has not been forced to give up all the foods she loves.

Apparently, food manufacturers who count Hispanics as important to their customer base are beginning to respond to a demand for healthier products too. This article cites the example of Goya, which has introduced light, no-sodium and low-sodium beans, and also has plans to launch a line of organic beans.

A great place for Hispanic web-searchers to begin looking for advice is the American Diabetes Association's Spanish-language page. There's a lot of info on there. Check it out!