Diabetes doesn't mean a life of restrictions and unhappiness. It means you watch what you eat and live a happier, healthier life with greater control over your blood sugar. You are not a dietary outcast, but rather one of the many who should be eating better, diabetic or not.
Function
Diet therapy -- or medical nutrition therapy -- treats diabetes using basic concepts, such as eating more nutritious foods in moderate amounts on a regular basis. Through these concepts, you increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while lowering the amount of fat and calories you consume. This helps manage your blood sugar and aids in weight loss, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Types
Eating the right foods is key to managing your diabetes. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice and rolled oats fall into this category. The sugar in these foods takes longer to break down, resulting in very little blood absorption and impact on your glucose levels. Your doctor can determine a safe amount of carbohydrate consumption for you.
Lean protein such as fish or skinless, white-meat poultry is a healthy alternative to red meat or pork. Both are lower in fat and cholesterol, although fish is the best option.
Vegetables should make up a majority of your food intake. Green vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, celery, spinach and cucumbers are the best options, but cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and turnips are low in carbs also.
Fruits contain a large number of vitamins and minerals, but are also high in natural sugar. Limit yourself to two or three pieces each day.
Control your fat intake to temper your risk of heart disease and limit calories. Avoid vegetable oil and lard for cooking, replacing them with canola, olive and sunflower oils instead. Replace whole-fat dairy products with nonfat/skim, and eat egg whites or egg substitutes instead of egg yolks.
Portion Control
Controlling your portions prevents you from eating too many calories and prevents weight gain. HelpGuide.org suggests dividing your plate into three sections -- 1/2, 1/4 and 1/4. Fill the largest section with complex carbohydrate veggies--such as onions, tomatoes and carrots--eating them before anything else. Place a 3 oz. portion of lean protein in one of the 1/4 sections and a white starch such as potatoes in the other 1/4 section. Eat your protein before delving into the starch.
Schedule Meals
Sit down and make an eating schedule based on your personal schedule. Stick to this schedule every day. Eat each meal at the same time, consuming the same amount of calories every day. Doing this prevents hunger and regulates your blood sugar levels.
Considerations
Use the glycemic index to determine how many carbohydrates are in each food you eat. The foods on the index all contain carbohydrates, but they rank these foods from 1 to 100 according to the number of carbs they contain -- the lower they rate, the fewer the carbs and the less of an impact on your blood sugar.
