There is much valuable nutritional advice available to individuals managing diabetes. In addition to professional guidance, consider the tips below in designing your menu when you have diabetes.
When you are diagnosed with diabetes you will learn to consider the glycemic index in foods. This measurement will tell you how much specific foods will raise your blood sugar. For instance if a food has a glycemic index of 50 it is considered to raise your blood sugar half the amount it would be raised if you ate pure glucose. Pure glucose is considered as 100 percent for the calculation of glycemic index. When the glycemic index is lower, the food is considered as raising your blood sugar less.
It’s important to monitor your blood sugar because it varies during the day. You will be advised by your health professional how to monitor your blood glucose. Eating affects your blood glucose levels fairly rapidly so that you’ll want to create a list of foods that have a low glycemic index that you can eat without worrying about drastic changes in your blood sugar level as you’re becoming adjusted to monitoring your diabetes.
Give yourself a chance to become familiar with the glycemic index of the foods you regularly eat on your diet. As with all diets, your diabetes diet will not include every food because you prefer certain foods. You’ll soon know the glycemic index for such foods so that you don’t feel like you have to walk around with a chart before eating. There are phone apps you can download to help determine the glycemic index of foods.
Portion size is critical to managing diabetes so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with healthy portion sizes. Most of us ignore the information for portion size of the foods we eat, which throws off all the numbers from the glycemic index to the calories.
Eating out does not need to present difficult situations for diabetics. Most restaurants have healthy choices that include fewer fried foods, lower fat salad dressings and baked or broiled rather than breaded options for foods. Even fast food can be a part of most diabetics’ diets as long as you pay attention to portion size, and stay away from the unhealthiest choices.
Modifying eating habits can be especially confusing when you try to incorporate your diabetes management into common knowledge about the food pyramid or food plate. The good news is that there are many helpful online tools for diabetics including charts that are focused on glycemic exchange rates rather than other nutritional requirements as a basis for food exchange rates.
It is important that diabetics learn how to substitute different foods for one another based on a comparison of glycemic index, rather than a comparison of calories or protein contained in a specific food. Looking for these glycemic index exchange charts can help create opportunities for varying menus while maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.
Preparing quick meals is also very manageable when you have diabetes. As you become more familiar with foods that are better for diabetes management and as you read through the plentiful information online about menu options and suggestions for diabetics, you’ll find that preparing meals in advance, creating quick meals and feeding your family while accommodating your diabetes are all still possible and will become easier as your knowledge about eating right with diabetes improves.
Managing your food menu and choices when you have diabetes is very important. Use the tips above to transition your menu to one that will work best for you and your diabetes.