Health Information > Diabetes

[ What is Diabetes | Exercises for Diabetes | Nutrition for Diabetes | Additional Information ]

Nutrition for Diabetes

From "American Diabetes Association", for further details, please visit the website.

People with diabetes have the same nutritional needs as anyone else. Along with exercise and medications (insulin or oral diabetes pills), nutrition is important for good diabetes control. By eating well-balanced meals in the correct amounts, you can keep your blood glucose level as close to normal (non-diabetes level) as possible.

Making Healthy Food Choices

What foods are healthy? What foods are unhealthy? How do you establish a plan for eating healthy foods? Let the American Diabetes Association help point you in the right direction.

What foods are healthy?

No single food will supply all the nutrients your body needs, so good nutrition means eating a variety of foods.

Food is divided into four main groups. They are:

• Fruits and vegetables (oranges, apples, bananas, carrots, and spinach).
• Whole grains, cereals, and bread (wheat, rice, oats, bran, and barley).
• Dairy products (whole or skim milk, cream, and yogurt).
• Meats, fish, poultry, eggs, dried beans, and nuts.

It's important to eat foods from each group every day. By doing that, you ensure your body has all the nutrients it needs.

The main nutrients in food are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Nutrients help your body work correctly, and make young bodies grow.

Carbohydrates give you energy. Healthy choices are dried beans, peas, and lentils; whole grain breads, cereals, and crackers; and fruits and vegetables. Protein is needed for growth and is a good back-up supply of energy. Healthy choices include lean meats and low-fat dairy products.

Foods high in fiber are healthy, too. Fiber comes from plants and may help to lower blood glucose and blood-fat levels. Foods high in fiber include: bran cereals, cooked beans and peas, whole-grain bread, fruits, and vegetables.

Which foods are unhealthy?

Fat is a nutrient, and you need some fat in your diet. But too much fat isn't good for anyone. And it can be very harmful to people with diabetes.

Too much fat or cholesterol may increase the chances of heart disease and/or hardening of the arteries. People with diabetes have a greater risk of developing these diseases than those without diabetes. So, it is very important that you limit the fat in your diet.

Fat is found in many foods. Red meat, dairy products (whole milk, cream, cheese, and ice cream), egg yolks, butter, salad dressings, vegetable oils, and many desserts are high in fat. To cut down on fat and cholesterol, you should:

• Choose lean cuts of meat. Remove extra fat.
• Eat more fish and poultry (without the skin).
• Use diet margarine instead of butter.
• Drink low-fat or skim milk.
• Limit the number of eggs you eat to three or four a week and choose liver only now and then.

Too much salt may worsen high blood pressure. Many foods contain salt. Sometimes, you can taste it (as in pickles or bacon). But there is also hidden salt in many foods, such as cheeses, salad dressings, and canned soups. When using salt or fat, remember that a little goes a long way.

People with diabetes should eat less sugar. Foods high in sugar include: desserts such as frosted cake and pie, sugary breakfast foods, table sugar, honey, and syrup. One 12-ounce can of a regular soft drink has nine teaspoons of sugar.

Finally, good advice is to stay away from alcohol. If you like an alcoholic drink now and then, ask your dietitian for advice.

How do you set up a plan for eating healthy foods?

You and your dietitian should work together to design a meal plan that's right for you and includes foods that you enjoy. A diabetes meal plan is a guide that tells you how much and what kinds of food you can choose to eat at meals and snack times.

A good meal plan should fit in with your schedule and eating habits. The right meal plan will also help keep your weight where it should be. Whether you need to lose weight, gain weight, or stay where you are, your meal plan can help.

[ back to top ]

Meal Planning Exchange Lists

Newly expanded and updated meal planning exchange lists have been published by The American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association. The meal planning exchanges are available through your registered dietitian or diabetes educator. While the basis for meal planning calculations remains the same, lists have been grouped to allow more flexibility in choosing foods. Many foods have been added to this revision, reflecting the interest in reduced fat food products, vegetarian food products, and fast foods. The booklet emphasizes the importance of label reading, and provides valuable label reading tips.

Meal planning highlights

• A greater variety of commonly consumed foods
• Carbohydrate counts for each food
• Portion weights in ounces
• Reduced fat or fat-free foods
• Vegetarian alternatives
• Fast foods
• Very lean meats
• Saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats.

Meal planning lists added

Other Carbohydrates - provides meal planning exchange information for cakes, pies, puddings, etc. Foods from this list can be substituted for foods from the Starch, Fruit, or Milk lists. Some foods on the Other Carbohydrate Lists will also count as one or more fat choices.

Very Lean Meat and Meat Substitutes - provides meal planning information for types of poultry, fish, shellfish, game, cheese, and other meats and substitutes that contain 0 - 1 grams of fat and 35 calories per ounce. Cooked dried beans, peas, or lentils count as one very lean meat and one starch exchange.

Meal planning lists grouped

Carbohydrate Group - contains the Starch, Fruit, Milk, Other Carbohydrates, and Vegetable lists. This new grouping will allow for more convenient exchange among these meal planning lists, allowing more flexibility in choosing foods.

Meat and Meat Substitute Group - contains the Very Lean, Lean, Medium-fat, and High-fat meat and substitute lists. A greater variety of substitutes and leaner options are now available.

Fat Group - contains the Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, and Saturated Fats lists. The type of fat consumed can now be more carefully planned, and a wider variety of fats are listed.

[ back to top ]

Using the Diabetes Food Pyramid

The Diabetes Food Pyramid has six sections for food groups. These sections vary in size. The largest group -- grains, beans, and starchy vegetables -- is on the bottom. This means that you should eat more servings of grains, beans, and starchy vegetables than of any of the other foods. The smallest group -- fats, sweets, and alcohol -- is at the top of the pyramid. This tells you to eat very few servings from these food groups.

Eat servings from all the food groups other than the fats, sweets, and alcohol, every day. Eat the recommended number of servings on the pyramid within each food group. The exact number of servings you need depends on your diabetes goals, calorie and nutrition needs, your lifestyle, and the foods you like to eat. Divide the number of servings you should eat among the meals and snacks you eat each day. The Diabetes Food Pyramid makes it easier to remember what to eat. For a healthy meal plan that is based on your individual needs, you should work with a registered dietitian (RD) with expertise in diabetes management.

The First Step

For most people, a great first step to healthier eating habits is to make a few simple changes. Perhaps you decide to eat more fruits and vegetables and to go lighter on the meats and sweets. If you make these changes and stick to them, pat yourself on the back. Before you make more changes, make sure you maintain the ones you have made. When you are ready, decide on the next change. Keep it easy to accomplish.

As you continue to change your eating habits to manage your diabetes, the diabetes food pyramid can help you and your whole family eat healthier. Here are some more healthy eating tips:

• Eat a wide variety of foods every day. Try new foods. Eating a wide variety of foods, even from the same food group, helps you get all the nutrients to be in good health. For example, within the fruit group, bananas are a good source of potassium and oranges are a good source of vitamin C.

• Be physically active every day. Try to accumulate 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Start slowly, by taking the stairs and walking more, or doing more yard work.

• Eat high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. These are the foods you should primarily eat. They provide lots of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, yet they provide the least concentrated sources of calories.

• Use less added fat. It is well known that eating many foods that are high in fat, particularly ones with too much saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, can contribute to the development of clogged and narrowed arteries. This can lead to heart disease and people with diabetes are at an even greater risk for developing heart disease.

• Use less added sugar. Sugary foods, like jelly beans and regular soft drinks, and sweets, like ice cream and cookies, are not healthy for anyone. They provide a bunch of calories with little or no nutrients. Yet sugary foods and sweets are enjoyable to eat. Strike a balance -- practice moderation.

• Use less added salt and sodium. Americans eat more salt and sodium than they need. Most of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods like cold cuts, prepared foods, canned soups, and pickles. To keep your salt and sodium intake moderate, shake the salt shaker lightly and use more fresh and unprocessed foods.

• If you choose to drink alcohol, limit the amount and drink it with food. Check with your health care professional about an amount that's safe for you.

Next Step ... Learn More

Starches and Diabetes

Eat more starches! It is healthiest for everyone to eat more whole grains, beans, and starchy vegetables such as peas, corn, potatoes and winter squash. Starches are good for you because they have very little fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol.

Vegetables and Diabetes

When it comes to vegetables, people with diabetes should eat at least three servings a day Vegetables are healthy, chock full of vitamins and minerals, and some give you much needed fiber. The best part: vegetables are naturally low in calories.

Fruit and Diabetes

Questions about fruit keep coming up. Will fruit juice increase blood glucose levels more quickly than a piece of fruit? Should you avoid fruit in the morning because your blood glucose might be higher than at other times in the day? Is it better to eat fruit with meals rather than snacks?

Milk and Diabetes

People with diabetes are at the same risk for osteoporosis as the general public. Fat-free (skim) and low-fat (1%) milk and yogurt will provide the calcium you need without saturated fat and cholesterol.

Protein (Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Cheese, Eggs, Etc.) and Diabetes

People with diabetes have no less or more need for protein than the general public. The American Diabetes Association nutrition guidelines suggest eating between 10 and 20% of your calories as protein. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Fat and Diabetes

Fat ought to make up about 30% of your calories. The total amount of fat you eat should be based on the foods you like and your goals for eating healthy and blood lipid (blood fats) and glucose control. You need an individualized meal plan.

Sugar and Diabetes

Research studies show that, gram for gram, sugars, like table sugar, do not raise blood glucose any more quickly than do other carbohydrates, like potatoes, rice or pasta. This research holds true for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Alcohol and Diabetes

Beyond all the health and safety concerns about alcohol, if you have diabetes and are on diabetes medications that lower blood glucose, you need to practice caution. The action of insulin and some diabetes pills, sulfonylureas and meglitinides (Prandin), is to lower blood glucose by making more insulin. So, you should not drink when your blood glucose is low or when your stomach is empty.

[ back to top ]