|  | Conditions Treatments | Diabetes

Step-by-Step Diabetic Diet

According to information from the Mayo Clinic, diabetes is a disease whereby the body's ability to regulate blood sugar becomes impaired. Coping with a chronic disease like diabetes can be difficult, especially when you are first adjusting your lifestyle to deal with this unexpected turn of events. While there is a wealth of information available both online and in print as to dealing with diabetes through dietary manipulations, sometimes it helps to take things one step at a time.

  1. Count Carbohydrates

    • Counting (and regulating) your daily intake of carbohydrates through use of a carb-ceiling is the first step to dieting for diabetes. Carbs can be counted by looking at the labeling and nutritional information for any given food and determining how many grams of carbs are in a single serving. Weigh or otherwise measure your food to ensure that your tally is accurate at first. After some time on a diabetes diet you can abandon this process as you will get an intuitive feel for portion sizes. Set yourself a daily carb limit of 150 to 200 grams at first, spread out evenly across your daily meals. This should give you enough leeway to still enjoy carbohydrates while keeping your blood sugar levels under control.

    Control Carbohydrates

    • Control carbohydrate consumption by regulating the types of carbs which you consume while on a diabetic diet. The best carbs to eat are those which have a nominal impact on your blood sugar levels. This is measured by a tool called the Glycemic Index, which ranks how significantly certain types of food impact your blood sugar levels, with foods possessing a higher score causing a correspondingly higher increase in blood sugar. Eat only those carbs which have a low score on the glycemic index, including vegetables of all kinds, fruits like apples, grapefruits, oranges, cherries, plums, pears, and peaches, and whole grains such as barley, wheat, and rye.

    Round Out the Diet

    • Add in both protein and fat-containing foods to round out your diabetic diet. While fruit, veggie, and carb consumption should make up the bulk of your intake, the remainder should be split fairly evenly between protein and fat. Healthy protein sources are those which are relatively low in saturated fats like poultry, low-fat meat, and seafood. Healthy sources of fat are those that are natural, such as the fat contained in coconuts, avocados, nuts, legumes, seeds, and oils. Include both a protein and a fat source with each meal to round out your diabetes diet.

Diabetes - Related Articles