Bland Diet for Diabetics

The diabetic is encouraged to eat foods from a wide range of selections on the food pyramid. She has to learn what foods and what food groups help her keep her blood sugar under control. If she has to restrict herself even further because of a stomach condition, she can moderate her diet so she doesn't eat spicy, greasy or high-fiber foods that will worsen her condition.

Foods on the Bland Diet

• For a diabetic who also has digestive problems, the correct diet is critical. If you have both stomach problems and diabetes, you have to balance what your gastrointestinal system can tolerate with what your body needs in order to balance your insulin or oral medication and blood sugar.

  The foods on the bland diet are generally soft and lightly spiced. The fiber content is low so your stomach doesn't have problems digesting the food. This diet is usually prescribed for people who have peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), dyspepsia or chronic gastritis. Because you're diabetic, you have to be especially careful of what you eat. Your doctor will tell you to eat low-fiber cereals like cream of wheat, canned seedless (low sugar) fruits and applesauce, green beans and cooked carrots. Your doctor will tell you to eliminate caffeine and alcohol from your diet, as well as chocolate and highly spiced and greasy foods. You will have to avoid several raw vegetables and fruits since they contain fiber, which will upset your stomach.

How this Diet Can Benefit a Diabetic

• Because you need to include as many foods as possible from all or most of the food groups, you need to eat everything that will help you keep your blood glucose and insulin in balance. You need to eat lean meats and fish, dairy, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Your doctor will order you to cut back on your alcohol intake and to cut down on the amount of sugar, fat and sweets you consume.

  These suggestions from your doctor fit in with the bland diet. You can eat eggs. The bland diet allows eggs as long as they aren't fried. If you have stomach issues, you can leave the pepper off as well. You need to eat carbohydrates, and if you're on a bland diet, you can restrict these to cereals made from refined grains or you can eat cooked cereals. You also need to restrict your bread intake to white breads.

  You can drink low-fat or fat-free milk and if you are on a bland diet, but you'll have to stay away from chocolate milk. You can eat cream-based soups as long as you stay away from spicy soups or soups with meat or forbidden vegetables. You can eat chicken, turkey, bacon and fish as long as you avoid spicy sauces like barbeque sauces.

  You can eat cooked vegetables; if you have trouble with tomatoes, you need to keep those out of your diet. You can eat cooked or canned fruits without seeds or the peels, but make sure canned fruits are not packed in sugary juices. Your doctor will instruct you to stay away from juices because of the high sugar content.

Comparisons Between Diets

• The diet for a diabetic patient is similar to that of a patient on a bland diet. Doctors for both patients will advise their patients to eat as many normal foods as their conditions will allow them to eat. Both patients will be advised to eat smaller, more frequent meals--for the diabetic, this is so she can keep her blood sugar stable longer and for the gastric patient, she'll feel more comfortable eating smaller meals.