Basic Diabetic diets
For a diabetic, living healthier can be just a matter of changing their life style: Paying strict attention to their diabetic diet, getting exercise, and learning how to control blood sugar levels so that they can reduce their dependence on medication.
Healthy diabetic diets consists of simply planning meals based on how our bodies work to assimilate and break down various food components.
Everything you eat is eventually broken down into sugar. Sweets and fruit hit the bloodstream almost immediately, followed by the slower starches (carbohydrates, or carbs), which break down slower (1-2 hours) depending on their complexity.
Next are proteins, which take around 4 hours to break down. Last, and hopefully least, are fats which take the longest to break down (6-8 hours).
Diabetic diets: Goals
A good diabetic diet plan will differ from person to person as it’s based on each diabetic’s daily nutritional needs and the type of diabetes they suffer with.
The goal of a healthy diabetic diet is to consume a well-balanced, portion controlled meal that will allow your body to remain on an even keel throughout the day as each food component hits your system.
Ideally, eating five or six small meals from each food category every two or three hours is best allowing them to adequately break down at their different rates.
This will help deliver a steady trickle of sugar into the bloodstream thereby allowing for a stable energy level.
That manner of eating in concert with light exercise after each meal will help kick start your digestive system thus preventing a spike in your sugar levels.
Diabetic diets: Sample meals
The ideal diabetic meal consists of a combination of foods: bread products, which are high in fat, dairy items, which provide, protein, and starchy vegetables.
Your needs will vary depending on the time of day and how much physical activity you engage in. The following is a sample diabetic diet meal:
- 1 serving of protein (approx. 3 oz. of chicken, lean beef or fish)
- 1 serving of bread (whole grain roll, or ½ cup pasta)
- 1 serving of dairy (cheese, milk or low-fat sour cream)
- 1 serving vegetables (fist sized portion or a small bowl of salad)
- 1 serving fruit (tennis ball sized or ½ cup sliced)
- Small amounts of unsaturated fats are also needed, so add a little dressing or a pat of soft margarine.
- Foods that should be avoided include; fatty red meat, organ meat, highly processed food, fried food, fast food, high cholesterol food and foods rich in saturated fat.
- Avoid sweets and instead substitute with fruit.
