Diabetes Diet Guidelines
A healthy diet is important to manage diabetes. It helps keep your blood sugar at a healthy level and helps prevent heart disease. A diet for diabetes does not mean that you have to eat special foods. You can eat what your family eats, including sweets once in a while. But you do have to pay attention to how often you eat and how much you eat of certain foods.
Managing the amount of carbohydrate you eat is an important part of a healthy diet for diabetes. Carbohydrate is found in sugar and sweets, grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and milk and yogurt.
You may want to work with a dietitian or a certified diabetes educator (CDE) to help you plan meals and snacks. A dietitian or CDE can also help you lose weight if that is one of your goals. How can you care for yourself at home?
• Learn which foods have carbohydrate.
• Bread, cereal, pasta, and rice have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 slice of bread (1 ounce), 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, or 1/3 cup of cooked pasta or rice.
• Fruits have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 small fresh fruit, such as an apple, banana, or orange; 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit; 1/2 cup of fruit juice; 1 cup of melon or raspberries; or 2 tablespoons of dried fruit.
• Milk and no-sugar-added yogurt have 12 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 cup of milk or 1 cup of no-sugar-added yogurt.
• Starchy vegetables have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes, sweet potato, or squash; 1/2 of a small baked potato; 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans; or 1/2 cup cooked corn or green peas.
• Learn how much carbohydrate to eat each day. A dietitian or CDE can teach you how to keep track of the amount of carbohydrate you eat. This is called carbohydrate counting.
• Try to eat about the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal. Your dietitian or CDE can tell you how much carbohydrate to eat at each meal and snack. Do not "save up" your daily allowance of carbohydrate to eat at one meal.
• If you are not sure how to count carbohydrate grams, use the Plate Method to plan meals. It is a good, quick way to make sure that you have a balanced meal. It also helps you spread carbohydrate throughout the day. You divide your plate by types of foods. Put vegetables on half the plate, meat or other protein food on one-quarter of the plate, and a grain or starchy vegetable (such as brown rice or a potato) in the final quarter of the plate. To this you can add a small piece of fruit and 1 cup of milk or yogurt, depending on how much carbohydrate you are supposed to eat at a meal.
• Limit saturated fat, such as the fat from meat and dairy products. Choose lean cuts of meat and nonfat or low-fat dairy products. Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or shortening when cooking. This is a healthy choice because people who have diabetes are at higher-than-average risk of heart disease.
• Do not skip meals. Your blood sugar may drop too low if you skip meals and take certain diabetes pills or insulin.
• Work with your doctor or other clinician to write up a sick-day plan for what to do on days when you are sick. Your blood sugar can go up or down depending on your illness and whether you can keep food down. Call your doctor or other clinician when you are sick, to see if you need to adjust your pills or insulin.
• Check with your doctor or other clinician before you drink alcohol. Alcohol can cause your blood sugar to drop too low. Alcohol can also cause a bad reaction if you take certain diabetes pills.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. As a partner in your health care, you can do things like keep all scheduled visits, be sure you know the results of all tests and labs ordered as part of your care, and keep an up-to-date personal list of the medicines you are taking. Know how to contact us between visits, and call your doctor or other clinician if you have signs that you are having problems.
A healthy diet is important to manage diabetes. It helps keep your blood sugar at a healthy level and helps prevent heart disease. A diet for diabetes does not mean that you have to eat special foods. You can eat what your family eats, including sweets once in a while. But you do have to pay attention to how often you eat and how much you eat of certain foods.
Managing the amount of carbohydrate you eat is an important part of a healthy diet for diabetes. Carbohydrate is found in sugar and sweets, grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and milk and yogurt.
You may want to work with a dietitian or a certified diabetes educator (CDE) to help you plan meals and snacks. A dietitian or CDE can also help you lose weight if that is one of your goals. How can you care for yourself at home?
• Learn which foods have carbohydrate.
• Bread, cereal, pasta, and rice have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 slice of bread (1 ounce), 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, or 1/3 cup of cooked pasta or rice.
• Fruits have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 small fresh fruit, such as an apple, banana, or orange; 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit; 1/2 cup of fruit juice; 1 cup of melon or raspberries; or 2 tablespoons of dried fruit.
• Milk and no-sugar-added yogurt have 12 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1 cup of milk or 1 cup of no-sugar-added yogurt.
• Starchy vegetables have 15 grams of carbohydrate in a serving. A serving is 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes, sweet potato, or squash; 1/2 of a small baked potato; 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans; or 1/2 cup cooked corn or green peas.
• Learn how much carbohydrate to eat each day. A dietitian or CDE can teach you how to keep track of the amount of carbohydrate you eat. This is called carbohydrate counting.
• Try to eat about the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal. Your dietitian or CDE can tell you how much carbohydrate to eat at each meal and snack. Do not "save up" your daily allowance of carbohydrate to eat at one meal.
• If you are not sure how to count carbohydrate grams, use the Plate Method to plan meals. It is a good, quick way to make sure that you have a balanced meal. It also helps you spread carbohydrate throughout the day. You divide your plate by types of foods. Put vegetables on half the plate, meat or other protein food on one-quarter of the plate, and a grain or starchy vegetable (such as brown rice or a potato) in the final quarter of the plate. To this you can add a small piece of fruit and 1 cup of milk or yogurt, depending on how much carbohydrate you are supposed to eat at a meal.
• Limit saturated fat, such as the fat from meat and dairy products. Choose lean cuts of meat and nonfat or low-fat dairy products. Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or shortening when cooking. This is a healthy choice because people who have diabetes are at higher-than-average risk of heart disease.
• Do not skip meals. Your blood sugar may drop too low if you skip meals and take certain diabetes pills or insulin.
• Work with your doctor or other clinician to write up a sick-day plan for what to do on days when you are sick. Your blood sugar can go up or down depending on your illness and whether you can keep food down. Call your doctor or other clinician when you are sick, to see if you need to adjust your pills or insulin.
• Check with your doctor or other clinician before you drink alcohol. Alcohol can cause your blood sugar to drop too low. Alcohol can also cause a bad reaction if you take certain diabetes pills.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. As a partner in your health care, you can do things like keep all scheduled visits, be sure you know the results of all tests and labs ordered as part of your care, and keep an up-to-date personal list of the medicines you are taking. Know how to contact us between visits, and call your doctor or other clinician if you have signs that you are having problems.
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