If you are diagnosed with diabetes or have pre-diabetes, your doctor or nutritionist generally suggests making changes in your diet. It is essential to become mindful about what to eat and how much to eat to manage this condition.
A diabetes diet is not a restricted diet; you can still enjoy your pizza night, birthday cakes, and dinners. It is more about your daily food choices and meal planning.
A diabetes diet is a healthy eating pattern. It includes naturally rich nutrients, low in fat, and low-calorie foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It is the best diet plan for almost everyone.
This article helps you understand better about diabetes and prediabetes diet and their benefits.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is the condition in which your body does not process the food properly; your body either doesn’t produce sufficient insulin or cannot use its own insulin as it should. This results in the rise of glucose levels in your blood.
Diabetes, if ignored or not treated, can cause serious health complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney problems, and even amputations. It is one of the leading causes of death in the United States (1).
What is Pre-Diabetes?
Prediabetes is a condition although your glucose levels are higher than usual, it’s not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Even prediabetes is a serious health condition and needs to be treated. If left untreated, it increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, and stroke (2).
What is The Role of a Healthy Meal Plan in Diabetes?
Many factors increase the risk of diabetes and prediabetes. Genetics can play a role; when diabetes runs in your family, you might be at a high risk of getting it. However, there are other factors that play a more prominent role in the development of the disease and increase the risk of several other conditions. Your diet plays a significant role in the management and controlling of diabetes (3).
A diabetic diet will help you control your blood sugar, manage your weight, control the risk of heart diseases, and control your high blood pressure and body fats.
When you overeat, you develop extra calories and fat; your body creates an undesirable rise in your blood glucose levels. If you are in prediabetes and if your blood glucose isn’t kept in check, then it can lead to several complications. Persistent high blood sugar may lead to long-term complications such as nerve, kidney, and heart damage (4).
A diabetic diet helps to keep your blood glucose level in a safe range and helps to track your eating habits. This diet has several other advantages such as weight management, body fat control, and maintaining your blood pressure (5).
Healthy Eating Habits
It is essential to track your calories with these nutritious foods. A diabetic diet includes healthy carbs, fiber-rich foods, fish, and good fats. We might not be able to control all risk factors associated with diabetes and pre-diabetes. A healthy diet will definitely help you reduce the risks associated with diabetes. It also allows you to control and manage your diabetes.
It is essential to choose healthy foods with fewer calories and more proteins. Here is a list of foods you can choose from in your diabetic diet.
The food groups are
Non-Starchy Vegetable: broccoli, carrots, greens, peppers, and tomatoes
Starchy Vegetable: corn and green peas
- Fruits: oranges, bananas, apples, pomegranate, berries, watermelon, and berries
- Whole Grains—at least half of your grains for the day should be whole grains
wheat, brown rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, and quinoa
Brown bread, pasta, cereal, and tortillas
lean meat
chicken or turkey without the skin
fish
eggs
nuts and peanuts
meat substitutes, such as tofu
Low-fat milk
yogurt
cheese
You can include vegetable oils in your diet.
Nuts and Seeds
Fishes such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel
Avoid butter, cream, cheese, and any processed foods.
Look for Glycemic index on the foods before you eat
A Glycemic index is a particular value of a food that helps you to understand how slow or fast the glucose is released. Low GI indicates that the release of glucose is slow and steady and high GI indicates that the release of glucose is rapid.
Foods that have a high GI will raise your blood sugar faster; low GI foods have less effect on your blood sugar. Hence choose the foods which have a low GI value. For example, fiber-containing veggies have low GI whereas high-carb foods like white rice, bread and packed juices, and soda have a high glycemic index.
Foods to Avoid in the Diabetic and Prediabetic Diet
There are certain foods you should avoid in your diabetic diet; it includes
- Processed foods and foods with high saturated and trans fat
- Reduce the salt in your diet
- Avoid process sugar and baked goods
- Avoid beverages such as packed juices, regular soda, or energy drinks.
Keep yourself hydrated; drink plenty of water instead of sweetened beverages.
Alcohol should be avoided; you can have it occasionally. In case if you are already on medications and insulin, alcohol can drop your glucose level leading to further complications. If you have to consume alcohol make sure to have food along with it; do not drink on an empty stomach.
When to Eat and How Much to Eat?
It is better to maintain regular timings for your meals if you are already diagnosed with diabetes and pre-diabetes. Speak to your nutritionist to understand the number of carbs you need to take every day. In case if you are on meal-time insulin, your eating schedule can be more flexible.
If you are on diabetes medicines or insulin, you must take a regular meal; skipping any meal can drop your blood glucose level. Follow the diet chart provided by your dietician; the meal plan changes from person to person.
Meal Plans
Plate method and carbohydrate counting are the suitable methods that help you plan how to eat if you have diabetes. Your dietitian can help you decide which is ideal for you.
Plate method
The plate methods help you control your portion sizes. In this, you don’t need to count your calories, and it is perfect for lunch and dinner. In this method, you will know the amount of each food group you eat.
Use a 9-inch plate in which add non-starchy vegetables, proteins on one-fourth of the plate, and grains or other starch on the last one-fourth. You can also include a fruit bowl or small low-fat milk.
Carbohydrate counting
In this method, you will count the number of carbs you eat and drink each day. Crabs are converted into glucose; they affect your glucose levels. If you are on insulin, it’s crucial to keep track of your carbs; it affects your blood glucose.
A carbohydrate counting meal plan is best for the one with diabetes who takes insulin. Most carbs are from milk, rice, starch, and sweets. Limit your carbs intake from refined grains, processed foods, and sweets. You can eat carbs from veggies, fruits, whole grains, and brown rice.
Exercise and Diet Together
Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise and meditation are best for diabetes and pre-diabetes to maintain their glucose levels.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), exercise can help the muscles use glucose for energy and allows the cells to work more effectively with insulin.
The NIDDK recommends doing 30 mins exercise or workouts for 5 days a week. Physical activities like walking, dancing, or riding a bicycle should be followed every day (6).
Final Words
A diabetic diet is a simple diet that helps you control your diabetes and several other health problems. By following a healthy diet and with positive lifestyle modification you can effectively control your blood glucose. Consult your dietitians and take advice before you start your diet plan.