Nutrition for Diabetes

Find out how to eat a healthy and satisfying diet to get the best nutrition for diabetes.

One of the first thoughts when a person receives the diagnosis of diabetes is what can I eat.  For many people with newly diagnosed diabetes diabetic eating seems like the only thing they can do to control diabetes. Along with other important aspects good nutrition for diabetes does play an important part in glucose control.   Here are a few facts and tips to help you get the proper nutrition for diabetes. 

 First, diabetic eating is much like any other eating.  There is not a specific type diabetes diet.  The key is to eat a healthy and balanced diet while at the same time matching your carbohydrate intake with your basic needs and activity level. 

 Paying close attention to what you eat and how much is a necessary part of controlling diabetes.  Once you understand how and why watching your food intake is not difficult…plus the results you see are well worth the effort of changing food habits.    

 Good nutrition for diabetes begins with a basic understanding of how what you are eating affects your diabetes and your blood sugar ranges.  Balancing food you eat with your activity levels and your diabetes medications or insulin will help you get your blood sugars closer to a normal range blood sugar.  Of the three main food categories carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, carbohydrates have the most impact on your blood sugar levels.   

 Managing Intake of Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins for Good Nutrition for Diabetes

 If you are like most people, you automatically think, “I can’t eat sugar.”, or “Sugar is bad for my diabetes.  While I’m not advocating that you continue to eat as much sugar and sweets as you did before your diabetes diagnosis, I will say you don’t have to eliminate sugar or your favorite foods from your diet completely.  Portion control is one of the main keys to good nutrition for diabetes.

Learning to count your carbohydrate intake is criticall for nutrition in diabetes and to getting better blood sugar control.  Controlling the number of carbohydrates you eat each day will help you control not only your blood sugar, but it will also help with weight control.  A good place to start for most is to consume 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal. You doctor or other health care professional can help you determine your exact needs.   Once you understand how many carbohydrates you should be eating choose the food and size of serving to match your needs.

Counting carbohydrates is important because carbohydrates you eat make your blood sugar levels go up.  Eating to many carbohydrates can elevate your blood sugar to dangerously high levels.  Eating too few carbohydrates can cause low blood sugar, especially if you are on diabetic medications or insulin.  Foods that contain carbohydrates are:

• Beans, legumes, grains and starchy vegetables
• Fruits
• Snack foods and sweets
• Dairy products   

All food labels will contain the number of grams of carbohydrates per serving.  Aim for a serving of food that contains15 grams of carbohydrates. 

Concentrating on how many carbohydrates you are eating can cause you to pay little attention to how much protein and fat you are eating.  It is important to balance your diet with a proper portion of protein and fats.  A single serving of protein per meal is recommended. 

 Fats are important in the diet.  All fats are high in calories, so be sure to watch your consumption of fats.  When you do eat fats make sure to eat healthy fats.  Healthy fat are monounsaturated, omega-3, and polyunsaturated fats.  Don’t think you need to eliminate all fats from your diet.  Good nutrition for diabetes and for everyone must include some fats, just make sure you choose fats that are healthy.  Reading the label is a good place to begin to find out just how much fat you are consuming on a daily basis.

One good way to begin to make sure you are consuming good nutrition for diabetes is to begin to use the plate method.  Start by visually marking your plate in half.  Then mark on half into half again.  Fill the half of the plate with green vegetable preferably uncooked.  Then fill one-half of the other half of the plate with protein.  Finally fill the other half of the half with beans, potatoes, or other starchy vegetable. Finish the meal with fruit for dessert.  You are on your way to good nutrition for diabetes.