Eating Guidelines
Eating
The thing to remember is eating for diabetes is nothing like going on a diet. It is all about making small healthy changes and creating an overall balanced diet. If you eat a couple of salty or sugary foods now and then it is not going to ruin all your hard work, as long as you know your limits. Here are some ideas you can use to plan your meals in the day.
Breakfast
All breakfast cereals are good to eat and there are many choices that you should integrate into your daily diabetes diet. You should eat, bran flakes, fruit and fibre and porridges. Use semi skimmed milk on your cereal to cut down on fat and add some fruit to your cereal, this way you are starting off the day with one of your five portions. Any fruit is good, either fresh, stewed, dried, canned or frozen.
With your cereal you can also drink one glass of fruit juice so you would have had 2 of your 5 a day already at breakfast time. Remember no matter how much fruit juice you drink in the day it will only count as one portion, you need to add different varieties of fruit and vegetables.
Toast, muffins and crumpets can serve as a good alternative to cereal. The best types are wholegrain versions as they help with your diabetes control and can make you feel full for a longer period of time. Chose to spread your bread with a low fat spread or one that is based on monounsaturated fats. Look in the supermarket for reduced sugar versions of jams and marmalades.
Lunch
To control your diabetes effectively you need to space your meals out over the day, not only does this help control your diabetes but also your appetite. For lunch you can eat, beans, eggs, soups, lean meat, fish and salads, these can go well with granary breads, pita bread, pasta, rice and jacket potatoes.
Also try to eat a low fat yoghurt or add a piece of fruit to add to you daily portions of fruit and vegetables.
Snacks
Snacks can soon add up to your overall weight so be careful what you eat. The best snacks come in the form of colourful fruits and doing so will help you easily achieve you five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Remember some diabetes medicine require you to eat certain types of foods as snacks so always check with your doctor or healthcare team.
Main meals
You should try to eat a main balanced meal everyday at dinnertime. By ensuring these foods are on your plate you will know you are going in the right direction.
Your plate should include these types of foods if you are trying to lose weight:
Rice, pasta, potatoes (or other starchy foods), bread 30%
Meat, fish, beans, eggs, cheese or a vegetarian alternative, always chose low fat versions. 20%
Fruit and vegetables – 50%
Your plate should include these types of foods if you are trying to maintain weight:
Rice, pasta, bread, potatoes – 35%
Fruit and vegetables – 35%
Meat, eggs, fish, cheese, beans – 30%
Eating right is essential for people living with diabetes. You can find tasty low carb recipies such as low carb beef recipies and low carb chicken recipies. We also have great low carb recipies for soup and desserts too.