If you are diabetic, making the right food choices can be a matter of life and death. Unless you are preparing all of your meals at home, feeding yourself can seem like a minefield of hidden sugars. The diabetic food exchange helps people who are diabetic manage their blood glucose through a modified diet of dietary exchanges within food groups.
Glucose-Insulin Connection
The fats, carbohydrates and protein in your diet transform into glucose when you eat. That glucose provides the fuel your cells need for energy. However, the glucose in your body needs insulin to turn it into energy. If you have diabetes it means that your pancreas stopped making insulin, has trouble making insulin or your body does not recognize insulin. All of these issues with insulin lead to high levels of unused glucose in your blood, which is detrimental to your health.
Carbohydrates
Since carbohydrates provide the most glucose in your diet, much of the food exchange is centered around making healthier carbohydrate choices. According to the American Diabetes Association, most diabetics need approximately the same amount of carbohydrates per day. Skipping meals can lead to low glucose levels and hunger that causes you to eat the wrong things.
Meal Planning
A healthy meal contains a good balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The American Dietetic Association lists a healthy daily meal as one that contains "2 servings of fruit, 2 to 3 servings of non-starchy vegetables, 6 servings of grains, beans and starchy vegetables, 2 servings of fat -free or low fat milk, approximately 6 ounces of meat or meat substitutes and only small amounts of fat and sugar."
Food List
The American Diabetic Association and the American Heart Association have partnered to offer diabetics a list of specific starch, meat and milk food groups that are similar in calories and carbohydrate content. This starch list includes cereals, grains, pasta breads, crackers, starchy vegetables, lentils and cooked beans. The fruit list includes fresh, canned and frozen fruit and the milk list includes reduced fat, skimmed and whole milk. According to the American Diabetic Association, foods that contain less than 20 calories and less than 5 g carbohydrates are considered free foods. These foods along with meat and sweets round out the rest of the exchange list.
Determining Carb Exchanges
The process of using the exchange list begins with a consultation with a registered dietitian who assigns a specific number of carbohydrates to eat from each food group. Since each food on the list contains approximately the same 15 g of carbohydrates, each food on the list can be exchanged for another food within its food group.
References
- "Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes"; American Dietetic Association
- The Mayo Clinic: Your Diabetes Eating Plan
