Diabetic Diets & Counting Carbs

Having diabetes doesn't always mean you need a special meal plan. Rather, many patients each all types of food in moderate amounts and stick to a regular eating schedule. Your diet should consist of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Keeping a consistent diet is important because your blood sugar will rise if you eat too many calories or fat. Counting carbohydrates helps diabetics ensure that their timing and amount of carbs are the same every day.

Glycemic Index

• Choose foods with a low glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index are made of refined sugar and cause greater spikes in your blood sugar. When these spikes drop off, you're left with cravings and low blood sugar. A low glycemic index, however, indicates a food made of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs make your body work harder to break them down. Choose healthy carbs--fruits, vegetables, legumes such as peas and beans and whole grains.

Fiber

• Diabetics should pay attention to the amount of dietary fiber in their food. This includes all parts of plant foods that you can't absorb or digest. High-fiber foods make you feel full longer, decreasing cravings. Fiber also helps you control your blood sugar level and decreases the risk of heart disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, you should try to eat between 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily. Good foods to choose include fruits, vegetables, whole wheat flour, legumes such as lentils and beans, wheat bran and nuts.

Limitations

• Diabetes can lead to stroke and heart disease because it quickens your body's development of clogged and hardened arteries. That's why you need to limit the amount of saturates and trans fats you eat. The Mayo Clinic advises you to consume no more than 7 percent of your daily calories from saturated fat and to attempt to completely avoid trans fat. To accomplish this, use low-fat options of dairy products, limit solid fats like butter, choose monounsaturated fats like olive oil and polyunsaturated fats like nuts. Eat everything in moderation because fats contain calories. Diabetics should also limit cholesterol by choosing lean meats, egg substitutes and skim milk over the higher-fat options.

Counting Carbs

• Carbohydrates should make up about 50 percent of the calories you eat every day. It's helpful for diabetics to work with a nutritionist or dietitian to come up with a diet plan that includes how many carbs should be eaten daily. Carbohydrates break down into sugar, causing your blood sugar levels to fluctuate. If you know how many carbs you've eaten, you'll be able to predict how your glucose level will react. The more you've eaten, the higher the level will go. Starch, fruit and milk all contain carbs. Anything on an ingredient list that ends in "-ose," such as fructose and sucrose, are sugars. When counting carbs, look at the nutrition label for the carbohydrate grams and keep track. One serving of milk, for example, contains 12 grams; half of a banana is 15 grams. If there is no nutrition label, you need to measure or weigh the food to determine the carbohydrate grams.