dietary guidelines for diabetes
diabetes is proving to be one of the scariest illnesses i have ever had but easy to manage so far. Over the last 6 years I have done very well managing my type 2 diabetes with a healthy diet and exercise, the lack of which has been the cause of my problem in the first place. I am not a doctor and I do not play one on the Internet, so do not do anything in this article without consulting with yours. But, because it seems so difficult at first, I want to share with you a few things I discovered that made the whole diet thing simpler for me.
diabetic diet programs are everywhere, but many are so harsh or complicated that we can’t follow them. When my doctor diagnosed me, he gave me a copy of a typed diet sheet that really took all the joy out of life…no sugar, bread, rice, cakes, ice cream…etc. Fortunately, he sent me to a diabetic diet class that taught me that you don’t have to give up sugar and other carbs…all you have to do is control them. That has made all the difference! In fact, to control type 2 diabetes, all we have to do is eat the balanced diet we should have been eating all along.
The American Diet for Diabetes recommends that we get 50-60% of our calories from carbohydrates, 12-20% from protein, and less than 30% from fat. In my personal diet, I lean towards 50-30-20% in those groups. As you can see, 50-60% carbs isn’t exactly eating anything… is it? We’ll look at easy ways to eat this balance later. I found that the biggest dietary adjustment I had to make was to take 3 large meals a day and break them down into 3 small meals and 2-3 snacks. This is necessary to maintain a balanced blood sugar (glucose) level. The funny thing was that after about a week I noticed that I had more energy and never felt hungry. Needless to say, I started to get excited.
Eat healthier generally: The smallest adjustment was eating healthier… you know the exercise: more fresh fruits and vegetables, more fresh meat, fish, and poultry (lean cuts), and less fruit juices and processed foods. More cookies and less chips. More whole grain breads and pastas and less processed white flour. More brown rice and less white. Low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese, yogurt, salad dressings. Eat cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream, soft drinks, etc. less often and preferably low-fat, sugar-free varieties if possible. The amazing thing to me was that there was literally nothing I couldn’t eat… I just had to control the way I ate. This is not as difficult as people think.
food exchanges of the American Diabetes Association [http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-recipes/nutrition/exchangelist.jsp] make it quite easy to classify your foods and know how much of each you should eat. Here are some general classifications to get you started. Fats include butter, margarine, oils, and nuts. Proteins include meats, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, and cheese (milk and cheese are high in fat). Carbohydrates include bread, cereal, beans, grains, and potatoes. Sugars are refined carbohydrates and should be taken in very small amounts. Almost all fresh vegetables are “free” because they are high in fiber and nutrients without being high in fat, carbohydrates, etc. All packaged foods have labels that indicate a serving size and how many carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, fats, and calories are in a serving. This is more important to read than the price.
Portion size it is easy to calculate for food. By learning the trade-offs and serving sizes for certain foods, you’ll never have to count carbs, calories, etc. Just watch what you’re eating. Here’s a little chart to get you started:
American Diabetes Association Portions [http://www.diabetes.org/youthzone/portion-sizes.jsp]:
A portion of… It measures… And it’s about as big as…
Cheese – 1 ounce – Four dice.
Rice – ½ cup – Half a baseball.
Bagel – 4 ounces – A hockey puck.
Meat – 3 ounces – A deck of cards.
Peanut butter – 2 Tablespoons – A ping-pong ball.
Pasta – 1 cup – A tennis ball.
A simple diet guide for diabetes: I manage my diet through exchanges and portion control without measuring anything. I found that each day I can balance my diet and keep my blood sugar normal by managing my servings as follows: 5-6 carbs, 5-6 protein, 5-6 fruits and vegetables (mostly greens), less than 3 fats, and 2-3 quarts of water. Be sure to include fiber-rich foods in your fruits and vegetables to help maintain good blood sugar and fat levels. I lost about 50 pounds in a year and kept it off for 5 years from the start of my illness. I am now starting to lose the last 40 pounds to reach my goal of 180. That’s it! Of course, you’ll want to study as much as you can and ask your doctor to fully control your diabetes, but I hope this article has removed some of the mystery and given you a good starting point for taking control of your diet. You can do it!