How to Read Food Labels for Diabetics

Diabetics face a number of issues every day. They must control their blood sugar so they do not have highs and lows. They must control their fat intake so they do not develop cardiovascular disease. Weight is an issue, as well. The more obese a diabetic, the more chances of complications with insulin control, the possibilities of neuropathy (nerve damage), kidney failure and even blindness. Reading food labels is an important skill the diabetic must learn to help maintain sugar control and a healthy weight.

Things You'll Need

• Diabetic exchange list

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Instructions

How to Read Food Labels for Diabetics

• 1

  Learn the serving sizes important for a diabetic. A serving size for carbohydrates is 15 grams, which the diabetic should limit to 30 to 50 grams per meal, depending upon weight, age and gender. A serving size of protein is 1 ounce, which the diabetic should limit to no more than 6 ounces a day. A healthy serving size of fat is no more than 3 total fats or no more than 1 saturated fat, which the diabetic should limit for healthy nutrition.

• 2

  Check the serving size on the label. Most foods have more than one serving. This is important for the diabetic because what a company considers one serving, may be two servings for a diabetic. For example, single serving bags of microwave popcorn are two servings for a diabetic. A granola bar with two bars in the package is two servings for a diabetic.

• 3

  Check the grams of carbohydrates and fiber. If the fiber is greater than 5 grams, subtract half of the fiber from the total carbohydrates. For example, if the total carbohydrates are 18 grams, and the fiber is 6 grams, subtract 3 from the carbohydrates. This brings the carbohydrates to 15 grams, one serving of carbohydrates.

• 4

  Check the fat grams. The diabetic needs to watch fat intake. Avoid foods that are more than 1 gram of saturated fats per serving and more than 3 grams of total fats per serving. Even though a food may include the words, "low fat," it does not mean it is low fat for a diabetic.

• 5

  Learn the names of nutritive sweeteners. Sucrose is table sugar. Fructose is fruit sugar. Sugar alcohols are Sorbitol, Mannitol, Xylitol and Isomalt. Other sugars are corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, dextrose and maltose. If a food contains more than five grams of sugar alcohol, you can subtract half the sugar alcohol from the carbohydrate grams. For example, if the total carbohydrates are 20 grams and the sugar alcohol is 10 grams, subtract 5 grams from the carbohydrates. This will bring the carbohydrates to 15 grams or one serving of carbohydrates.