Knowing you have diabetes is a first step. The next step, as you have probably already been told by your doctor and nutritionist, is to modify your diet to control your diabetes. There are great recipes for diabetics and you can create your own diabetic diet plan with your favorite foods if you know the basics.
First, start with the foundation of giving your body what it needs. Diabetic research shows that keeping the carbohydrate content of your meals to 45-60 grams at each meal is effective in controlling blood sugars.. Fibers show the best benefit of keeping your blood sugar level so plan to get the recommended amounts of fiber every day. Split your meals into 5- 6 smaller meals each day and divide your daily caloric intake among them. Breakfast is my biggest meal of the day so I spend my greatest amount of calories there. Each meal should be about 3-4 hours apart. Whole foods that are unprocessed are the best so I recommend you emphasize these in your plan.
So what are some creative ways to plan what you want into your diet? If it's a food you love that costs too much in terms of carbohydrates, try substituting with a food that is a better fit for your diabetic diet plan. Example: if you like orange juice, try one of the new lower sugar brands on the market and plan it into a meal. Another way to be creative is to prepare foods in a way where they are just as tasty but fit into your plan. You can also include some the specialty foods such as shakes bars and frozen foods that are commercially prepared just for diabetics.
Desserts and treats are one category of food that can be difficult to deal with at times. When possible, try to get the low or no sugar equivalent of these so it doesn't send your blood sugar rushing to the sky. Russell Stover sugar free candies are my life saver when I have a chocolate craving that just won't quit. You can also find dessert recipes for diabetics online. Splenda and Stevia are the two most used artificial sweeteners right now and you can find a wide range of products that use these two that will help to take the edge off of your sweet tooth.
The next thing you will want to do is to keep track of what you eat in conjunction with the readings you get from your blood glucose meter. The point of keeping these records is to identify what foods spike your blood sugar and how much. Usually foods like fruit juices and milk tend to spike blood sugars for me and I have learned to measure how much of these I take in at a meal. If you keep to measuring carbs at each meal, the process of limiting problem foods will be made easier and you can fine tune the whole process. Recipes for diabetics often have the information for carbs included with the recipe itself.
Putting together your own diabetic diet plan is easy when you know the basics. Diabetic research shows that keeping the carbohydrate content at each meal to 45-60 grams is effective in controlling blood sugars. When planning your own diet, you can include your favorite foods by substituting lower sugar foods, preparing foods so they are more diabetic friendly or by using foods prepared commercially just for diabetics. Keep up with what foods affect blood sugars so you can limit these in your diet. Planning a diet when you are a diabetic can be easy when you know the rules.
Get more information about creating your own diabetic diet plan [elridgejones.com/diabz1] on my web site.
No comments:
Post a Comment