Diabetes is caused by your body either not making enough insulin or not responding properly to it. Because your body uses insulin to lower blood sugar levels, people with diabetes have chronically high blood glucose. One way of treating diabetes is to follow a healthy diet. The diabetic exchange diet is designed to help diabetics plan a healthy and well balanced diet.
Goal
A healthy diet for diabetes involves a mixture of starches and grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats. The goal of any diet for diabetes is to help patients keep their blood glucose levels low while simultaneously decreasing their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The diabetes exchange diet was designed to make it easier for diabetics to plan out a healthy diet by dividing foods into categories.
Exchanges
With the exchange diet, foods are broken down into six different categories: starches, meats, vegetables, milks, fruits and fats, the New York Times Health Guides notes. Every food can then be broken down into its respective exchange values; for example, a small piece of fruit will count as one "exchange" of fruit and an ounce of bread or a half cup of cooked cereal or grain constitutes one exchange of starch. In some cases foods may have exchange values in multiple categories if they have elements of different food groups; for example, a cheeseburger may count in both the starch, meat, milk and fat groups. Depending on your diet plan, you will get a certain number of exchanges in each food group.
Groups
The rationale behind the different groups is that one exchange of an item in any group is nutritionally equivalent to any other food item in that exchange group. For example, a half cup of cooked cereal provides essentially the same nutrients as an ounce of bread. Of course, different food items in the same group may have different serving sizes, so it is important to accurately measure out the amount of every food that you eat so you can properly count your exchanges.
Exchange Plans
The number of exchanges of each group that you are allotted each day depends on your size, gender and activity level. For example, according to the guidelines published by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders, a person eating between 1,600 and 2,000 calories each day should consume eight starches, three fruits, four vegetables, up to four fats, 4 to 6 oz. of meat and two milks.
Free Foods
Free foods are also a part of the diabetic exchange diet. As the MayoClinic.com explains, any food which has less than 20 calories and five grams of carbohydrates per serving is considered a free food. Free foods include beverages such as diet soda, bouillon broth and unsweetened coffee, as well as condiments such as mustard and vinegar. Salad greens and gum are also considered "free" foods. Free foods do not count in any exchange group and can be eaten freely.
