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Foods That Diabetics Can Eat

Posted by admin in Prescription Diabetes Drugs on February 20th, 2011

Understanding the Diabetic Food Pyramid will help simplify learning about the foods that diabetics can eat and allow for making smart food choices.

The Diabetes Food Pyramid

The diabetes food pyramid divides foods into groups, the basic contents of each particular food determines its membership in a group.

In order from the top of the pyramid to the bottom is:

Top- Fats and Sweets

Level 1 - Milk Group and the Meat and Meat Substitutes Group

Level 2 - Vegetables Group and Fruits Group

Bottom - Starches

We’ll take a look at which foods fit into each of these groups in a moment.

What you do is eat more foods from groups at the bottom of the pyramid and fewer from groups at the top. Blood glucose levels are affected more by the foods from the lower 3 groups i.e. starches, vegetables, fruits and milks and they have the highest carbohydrate content.

Foods That Diabetics Can Eat - Starches

Starches provide carbohydrate, fiber, minerals and vitamins. Bread, cereal, grains, starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn and my favorite pasta are all starches. For an even healthier diet use whole grain starches because they have more fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Starches are good for diabetics as well as non-diabetics so eat some at every meal.

Examples of starches are:

bread

pasta

corn

pretzels

potatoes

rice

crackers

cereal

tortillas

beans

yams

lentils

Foods That Diabetics Can Eat - Vegetables

Vegetables provide fiber, vitamins and minerals and low in carbohydrates.

Examples of vegetables are:

lettuce

broccoli

vegetable juice

spinach

peppers

carrots

green beans

tomatoes

celery

chilies

greens

cabbage

Foods That Diabetics Can Eat - Fruits

Fruits provide carbohydrate, minerals, fiber and vitamins.

Examples of fruits include

apples

fruit juice

strawberries

dried fruit

grapefruit

bananas

raisins

oranges

watermelon

peaches

mango

guava

papaya

berries

canned fruit

Milk is easy, it’s milk

Milk provides carbohydrate, protein, calcium, vitamins, and minerals.

List of Foods for a Diabetic to Eat - Meat and Meat Substitutes

The meat and meat substitutes group includes meat, eggs, fish, poultry, cheese and tofu. Eat small amounts of some of these foods each day.

This group provides protein, vitamins, and minerals.

Meat and meat substitutes examples:

chicken

beef

fish

canned tuna or other fish

eggs

peanut butter

tofu

cottage cheese

cheese

pork

lamb

turkey

Foods that Diabetics Can Eat - Fats and Sweets

Let’s face it, fats and sweets are not very nutritious, have lots of calories and should be eaten in small amounts. If you want to lose weight and control your diabetes limit the intake of this group.

Fats include:

salad dressing

oil

cream cheese

butter

margarine

mayonnaise

avocado

olives

bacon

Sweets include:

cake

ice cream

pie

syrup

doughnuts

This is the first step in learning how to control your diabetes from a diet standpoint. Here are the other things you will need to learn to develop a daily meal plan:

1. How much is a serving size for each food.

2. How many servings of each group do I have at each meal.

3. What are the best ways to cook and eat each food.

For more information about diabetic diets including a wealth of recipes, visit http://netproductscenter.com/mealplan.