The family that has a member recently diagnosed with diabetes finds it has to change shopping, cooking and eating habits. Because diabetes is a potentially deadly disease, learning how to manage blood sugar with a healthy diet is critical. Diabetics are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, so they need to monitor and reduce their intake of foods high in cholesterol, saturated fat and sugar. This effort ideally requires the diabetic's family members to learn to identify healthier foods.
Step 1
Read the definition for a diabetic diet: "One prescribed in diabetes mellitus, usually limited in the amount of sugar or readily available carbohydrate," as described in the "Free Medical Dictionary."
Step 2
Study a sample diabetic diet plan. Because your family member needs to manage his blood glucose level, his goal should be to select a meal plan that meets his personal nutritional and metabolic needs, while still fitting in with his lifestyle, writes the Colorado State University Extension Service. Colorado State points out that each diabetic needs his own meal plan; these include diabetes exchange lists, the plate model, the Food Guide Pyramid and counting carbohydrates.
Step 3
Show your family member the different options and explain that she can still enjoy good-tasting foods and doesn't have to eat dull, tasteless foods. As you discuss the meal plans she can choose from, remind her that she might be under doctor's orders to lose excess weight and increase her level of physical activity so she can control her blood sugar level more easily, says the Colorado State University Extension Service.
Step 4
Look for new food choices that meet the recommendations of both the Food Guide Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Show your family member how he can eat sufficient amounts of protein and cut down on his consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol. Point out that he can increase his daily intake of fiber--complex carbohydrates, vegetables and fruits. Let him know that he needs to limit his daily intake of protein to no more than 15 to 20 percent of his total daily caloric intake. Your family member can have foods containing small amounts of sugar, but he has to substitute these for other carbohydrates, according to the Colorado State University Extension Service.
Step 5
Read different meal plans with your family member. Show her that she can have a healthy, filling breakfast, lunch, dinner and two nutritious snacks. She needs to have a fruit and whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk and a sweetener for breakfast, a piece of fruit for a mid-morning snack, a complex carbohydrate, lean meat, fruits, vegetables and a small amount of salad dressing for lunch, a mid-afternoon snack consisting of a complex carbohydrate and a lean protein, complex carbohydrate, vegetable and a glass of juice for dinner, according to the Every Diet website.
Tips and Warnings
- Even though your family member can't indulge in foods loaded with sugar, saturated fats and cholesterol, he can still enjoy good-tasting, nutritious food that helps him lose weight and feel more healthy. Go to the store with your family member and spend time reading the nutrition labels on different foods. Learn how to shop based on nutrition labeling.
