The exchange diet was created by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association so that people with diabetes have a uniform, healthy diet plan to help control their blood sugar. However, the exchange diet is nutritionally balanced and allows a wide variety of foods, so it can be used by anyone.
Definition
Foods are divided into basic groups, with each item in the group having a specific portion size and all of the items in one group having the same number of calories, fats, protein and carbohydrates. The food items are called "exchanges" because items within the same group can be exchanged with each other.
Starches, Fruits and Vegetables
One serving in the group of starches contains 80 calories, 15 grams (g) of carbohydrates, 3 g of protein and 1 g of fat. Beans, peas and lentils are starches, but they count as one starch plus one lean meat exchange. The serving sizes vary because of the variety of foods.
Each serving in the fruit group has 60 calories, 15 g of carbohydrates and no protein or fat. Vegetables provide 25 calories, 2 g of protein, 5 g of carbohydrates and no fat. Vegetable serving sizes are 1/2 cup cooked and 1 cup of raw vegetables. Salad greens are considered a free food that can be eaten any time.
Sweets and desserts are allowed as long as they are eaten with a meal so they don't cause blood sugar to spike.
Proteins and Fats
The milk category is subdivided according to the amount of fat (0 to 8 g) and calories (100 to 160). Otherwise, one serving has 12 g of carbohydrate and 8 g of protein.
Each serving in the meat category is about 1 ounce and provides 7 g of protein, but this group is also subdivided into lean (0 to 3 g of fat and 45 calories), medium-fat (4 to 7 g of fat and 75 calories) and high-fat (8 or more g of fat and 100 calories) proteins.
The exchanges in the fat category contain 45 calories and 5 g of fat.
How It Works
The eating plan for an exchange diet is based on the total number of calories a person is going to consume in a day and described in terms of the number of exchanges the person can eat from each group a day. As one example, a 2000 calorie a day diet may include 11 exchanges from the bread group, eight from meat, four from vegetables, three from fruits, four from fats and two from milk.
Considerations
The goal is to maintain a consistent blood sugar level, so it's important to eat regular meals and to not save exchanges for a big splurge. One advantage of the exchange diet is that it allows you to choose the foods you prefer from each group. A disadvantage is that you must take the time to calculate exchanges for food choices that consist of more than one ingredient.
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