You can meet most if not all of your nutritional needs on a Chinese diet. If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, some changes to a traditional Chinese diet -- brown rice instead of white rice, for instance -- can help you manage your blood sugar levels. You should also avoid or limit your intake of some popular dishes served at Chinese restaurants in the United States.
Healthy Diet for Managing Diabetes
A healthy diet for person with diabetes includes a combination of starchy foods, protein, vegetables, fruit, dairy and fat. On a Chinese diet plan for diabetes, you could meet your need for starches by eating rice, noodles and black beans. Seafood, tofu, beef and poultry could help you meet your need for protein, and you can meet your vegetable need with choices such as broccoli, spinach and zucchini. Fruit choices include mangosteen, and lychee, and fruits eaten as vegetables such as bitter melon. You may not get enough dairy in a Chinese diet, but you could obtain calcium in soy and fortified juices and breakfast cereals. A Chinese diet also contains healthy vegetable oil.
Brown Rice
Brown rice will prove better than traditional white rice for managing symptoms of diabetes. Qi Sun and researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, the Channing Laboratory and Brigham and Women's Hospital tested the health benefits of white rice against those of brown rice. They found that brown rice proved much better at reducing a person's risk for diabetes -- by as much as 42 percent. The preventive properties of brown rice extend to managing diabetes, according to the report published in the "Archives of Internal Medicine" in June 2010.
Portions
You can better manage your diabetes if you eat small meals throughout the day and eat about the same amount at each meal, according to the American Dietetic Association. If you're eating at a Chinese restaurant in the United States, this may mean dividing a single entrée into several as portion sizes tend to be large. Each meal should also include a mix of foods. A sample Chinese meal that would help you get a good balance of nutrition could include wonton soup, steamed vegetable dumplings and chicken with black bean sauce.
Foods to Avoid
Refined carbohydrates such as those found in table sugar and white rice can cause sudden elevations in your blood sugar levels. Avoid sugary sauces such as those included with dishes like sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken and orange crispy beef. If you do opt for a sweet sauce, ask for it on the side and use as a dipping sauce rather than pouring it over your food. You can help combat the effects of a sweet sauce by pairing it with vegetables, protein and whole grains.
References
- American Diabetes Association: Create Your Plate
- Purdue University; Asian Vegetables - Selected Fruit and Leafy Types; Marita Cantwell, et al;;1996
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, Nutrition Action: A Wok on the Wild Side
- "Archives of Internal Medicine"; White Rice, Brown Rice, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women; Qi Sun et al; June 2010
- American Dietetic Association, Eat Right: Diabetes and Diet: Disease Management and Prevention
- Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm: Lychee
