If you are diabetic or have someone in your family who suffers from this disease you have probably found that a healthy meal plan takes practice and planning. There are many ways to eat and still be able to keep a healthy glucose level. Your diabetic diet should work with your lifestyle, keep you at a healthy weight, and improve your glucose level, your cholesterol count and blood pressure. Proper nutrition, exercise and a healthy lifestyle are vital to prevent further complications from diabetes.
Instructions
1. See a dietitian or your doctor about the different kinds of programs that educate you on your nutritional needs. Understand fully how diabetes works, and what you can do to keep your levels stable.
2. Counting carbohydrates is one of the best ways to control diabetes. This is a simple task; the food nutrition labels on packaged or canned foods show you the total carbohydrates per serving. According to the American Diabetes Association, you should aim for 45 to 60 g of carbohydrates at each meal. Frequent checks of your glucose level will guide you and your physician in knowing whether this number needs to be increased or cut down.
3. Educate yourself about the glycemic index for foods. The index, sometimes called GI, measures how much each food raises your blood sugar level. Acquainting yourself with foods that are low or high on the glycemic index is a good way to recognize quickly which foods will benefit your diet.
4. Create your meal on a plate; experienced diabetics use this visual aid to select foods to eat each meal. Visually divide your plate in half, and then on one-half of the plate, divide it again in half. This will give you one large section and two smaller ones. On the largest section of the plate, fill it with non-starchy vegetables, such as green beans, peppers, mushrooms or salsa. In one of the smaller sections, place a starchy food such as whole grain bread, pretzels, beans and peas, corn or potatoes. In the last remaining small section, place meat or protein serving such as eggs, tofu or cheese. Add a healthy beverage and a piece of fruit and now you have a healthy diabetic meal.
5. Use the Diabetes Food Pyramid, which can be found at the American Diabetes Association website. This pyramid divides food into six groups and shows you the portions that are allowed. If you eat the minimum portions on the pyramid this would be a total of about 1600 calories per day. Ask your physician what caloric range you should aim for.
Tags: glucose level, American Diabetes, American Diabetes Association, Diabetes Association, each meal, glycemic index, keep healthy
