A diabetes eating guide can help you make healthy decisions about your diabetic meals. The diabetes eating guide provided here is mostly based on information provided by American Diabetes Association (ADA); therefore,in general the guidelines are reliable. However, you should still check with your physician or dietician, and review the information provided, before changing your own personal diet plan.

The following diabetes eating guide offers general guidelines to remember as you make your food choices:

  • For the most part, a diabetic diet should include a lot of vegetables and fruits. Try to choose a rainbow of different colors as this will ensure that you are getting a good variation in nutrients as well as in flavors.
  • Non-starchy vegetables are the healthiest for you. These include vegetables such as spinach, carrots, and broccoli.
  • Eating whole grain foods rather than processed grains are much healthier for your body. Most importantly they have much lower carbohydrate levels. So, choosing whole wheat spaghetti over the more common processed types and brown rice over white rice, for example, will help you build much better plates with less of a worry about your blood sugar levels spiking.
  • It is recommended by the ADA that you include fish in your meals several times a week. The oil in the fish raises your HDL cholesterol, which is a healthy form of cholesterol.
  • When choosing meats, such as pork and beef, you should choose the leaner cuts and remove the skin from chicken and turkey. As a general rule, choose meats that have “loin” in their name, such as pork loin or sirloin.
  • Including beans and lentils in your meals is a very healthy way to give your body the protein that it needs.
  • Choosing to drink water often is a very healthy way to live, especially if you drink it instead of drinks like soda, punch, or sweet tea.
  • Try to avoid snack foods and desserts that are high in calories/carbohydrate content. Chips, cookies, cakes, rolls, pizza, and ice-cream are just a few examples.
  • When shopping choose the non-fat variety of dairy products, such as skim milk, non-fat cheese, and non-fat yogurt.
  • Use liquid oils, such as olive oil, instead of solid fats like Crisco, margarine, butter, when cooking.
  • Keep your portion sizes small. Even healthy foods can make you gain weight if you eat too much of them. Many people, for example, will eat twice as much of a food if it is labeled “fat-free” than they normally would. This way of thinking generally causes people to gain weight, not lose it.

 

Diabetes Eating Guide Tips

 

Just because a food contains carbohydrate, doesn’t mean you can’t eat it. You just have to be careful how you eat it. Setting a limit for the maximum amount of carbohydrates you eat and keeping track of how much you intake are the first steps in controlling your blood sugar levels. There are three main types of carbohydrates:

Starches – Starches are known as complex carbohydrates, which are healthier than simple carbohydrates, but still should be consumed at low levels. Foods which are high in starch include peas, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, and grains like oats, barley, and rice.

Sugar – There are naturally occurring sugars, such as those found in milk or fat, and then there are those which are added when a food is being process. When shopping, check the nutrition facts label for the number of sugar grams in the product. This way you can have a general idea of which foods contain sugars and what you should cut back on.

Fiber – Fiber comes from plant foods. It is very beneficial to consume large amounts of fiber in your diet, and most people don’t get enough of it. Adults should eat between 25 to 30 grams of fiber each day.