How to Track Carbs for Diabetes

An essential part of your diabetes diet is carefully monitoring the amount of carbohydrates you consume daily. According to the American Diabetes Association, carb counting is a meal-planning technique to help maintain your blood glucose levels. The key to balancing your carbohydrate intake is to reduce simple carbohydrate consumption and focus on complex carbohydrates. Also known as "good" carbohydrates, complex carbs provide vitamins and nutrients and digest slowly, which prevents you from overeating and raising your blood glucose levels. Complex carbohydrates can be found in vegetables, legumes, and whole wheat foods such as bread, pasta, cereal and oatmeal.

Instructions

• 1

  Read the nutrition labels. These labels are often located on the back or side of food packaging. You should speak with your doctor first to determine how many grams of carbs you should consume daily.

• 2

  Count your servings. Although a meal or can of beans may be low in carbohydrates, check the serving size to make sure you aren't consuming more than one serving.

• 3

  Check out the grams of total carbohydrates. According to the American Diabetes Association, total carbohydrates include sugar, starch and fiber.

• 4

  Keep a food journal. Write down what you eat for every meal, including the serving size. Your physician can help keep you on track with your diet.