How to Plan Meals for People With Diabetes

The American Diabetes Association, describes diabetes as a disease that causes the body to not properly use or produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually appears in adolescents, requiring daily insulin injections to prevent serious medical complications. Type 2 diabetes develops later in life and is most common form of diabetes. People with diabetes have to make critical nutritional choices such as those described below.

Things You'll Need

• Non-starch foods (green beans, meats, tomatoes)
• Starchy foods (breads and grains, corn, potatoes)
• Computer with Internet access (optional)

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Instructions

• 1

  Know what foods cause blood glucose levels to go up more quickly than others, such as carbohydrates and sugars. If you have diabetes, you can still eat carbohydrates or sugars, but you need to balance meals to keep the blood glucose level on track.

• 2

  Use a blood glucose meter to check glucose levels before a meal. A healthy range is between 80 and 120. If it reads higher than 120, prepare a meal that has hardly any carbohydrates or sugars. Better yet, leave them out altogether since such foods will raise glucose levels even more. Likewise, if the meter reads below 80, add a little extra starch to the meal.

• 3

  The American Diabetes Association suggests you divide your plate into three sections with imaginary lines. Imagine one line down the middle of the plate and another dividing one of those halves in half.

• 4

  Starchy food--such as beans, corn, and potatoes--should go in one of the smaller sections. If you do serve bread, which is also high in starch, put one roll or biscuit in the other small section. Save the large section for food that is low in starch--meats, green beans, spinach and tomatoes.

• 5

  Serve a small dessert portion. Sugars will raise blood glucose levels quickly, so cut a small piece of cake or pie. Better yet, chose a fruit cup or low fat yogurt and save the sweets for special occasions.