Diabetes is a chronic illness characterized by high blood sugars due to an inability to make enough insulin or an inability to properly use the insulin they make. When left uncontrolled, high blood sugars lead to serious complications, including heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and nerve damage. Most of the food you eat turns into sugar, and diet plays an important role in managing your blood sugars. There are a number of different plans you can follow to help you better manage your blood sugars. Consult with a doctor or dietitian before making major changes to the diet.
Carbohydrate Counting Diet
Carbohydrate containing foods such as foods found in the starch, fruit and milk and yogurt group, have the greatest impact on blood sugar. The carbohydrate counting diet helps you lower high blood sugars by controlling the amount of carbohydrate you eat at each meal. Consult with a doctor or dietitian to help determine how much you need. However, most people start at 45 to 60 g, or three to four servings of carbohydrate per meal, according to the American Diabetes Association. The carbohydrate counting diet works best for people when they have a good understanding of standard serving sizes. For example, 1 cup milk, 2/3 cup of yogurt, 1 slice of bread and a small apple all have about 15 g of carbohydrate. You can also use food labels to help you calculate carbohydrate grams. Vegetables, meats and fats contain minimal amount of carbohydrates and do not need to be counted. But you should include these foods at each meal for balance.
Diabetes Exchange Diet
The diabetes exchange diet is more structured than the carbohydrate counting diet and helps control your intake of all foods to help manage weight and high blood sugars. Being at a healthy weight also helps to improve blood sugars, according to the American Diabetes Association. Foods are divided up into basic food groups, including starches, fruits, milks, nonstarchy vegetables, meat and meat substitutes and fats, based on similarities in their nutrient composition. When following the diabetes exchange diet, you eat a certain number of portion- controlled servings, or exchanges, from each of the food groups based on your calorie needs. Foods within each group can be exchanged for one another to vary your meal intake. For example, at lunch you can exchange 1 cup of milk for 2/3 cup serving of nonfat sugar free fruited yogurt.
Diabetes Food Guide Pyramid
The diabetes food guide pyramid can help you make healthy food choices to control your high blood sugar. Like the diabetes exchange diet, it too divides foods into groups based on similarities in nutrient composition and allows you to eat a select amount of servings from each of the food groups based on your calorie needs. The pyramid design acts as a visual aid that encourages you to eat more foods from the bottom of the pyramid, including foods from the starch, fruit and vegetable group, and fewer foods from the top of the pyramid, including sweets and fats. Foods on the bottom of the pyramid contain more fiber, and the fiber in these foods slows digestion allowing for a slower release of sugar into the blood stream.
