As a diabetic, one of your primary concerns is maintaining a consistent carbohydrate supply. Waiting too long between meals or eating too many carbohydrates at once can cause potentially dangerous blood sugar fluctuations. Because each diabetic has a unique set of needs based on overall health picture, the doctor will make a referral to a dietitian upon making a diagnosis of diabetes. Two factors to discuss with your dietitian are total calorie allowance and the percentage that should come from carbohydrates. On average, that percentage is 55 to 65 percent.
Step 1
Calculate the total number of calories you plan to eat daily.
Step 2
Multiply the number of calories by the percentage of calories you plan to eat as carbohydrates. For example, if you are on an 1,800-calorie diet with 65 percent carbohydrates, you should eat 1,170 calories from carbohydrates because 1,800 times 0.65 equals 1,170.
Step 3
Divide the calories from carbohydrates by four to calculate the number of grams of carbohydrates you should eat each day. For example, 1,170 divided by four equals 292.5 g of carbohydrates.
Step 4
Divide the number of carbohydrate grams by the number of meals and snacks you plan to eat each day. This will give you the average number of grams of carbohydrate each meal should provide. For example, if you plan to eat six times per day from a total of 292.5 g of carbohydrates, each meal should average 48.75 g of carbohydrates because 292.5 divided by six equals 48.75.
References
- "Nutrition and Diagnosis-Related Care: Sixth Edition"; Sylvia Escott-Stump; 2008
- "Krause's Food and Nutrition Therapy: 12th Edition"; L. Kathleen Mahan, et al.; 2008
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