symtoms of diabetes

A well prepared diabetic diet chart can be very handy in maintaining the blood glucose level in your body. But the guidelines provided in diabetic diet chart must be followed properly. Here, I have divided the diabetic diet chart into two parts. The first part contains fruits and vegetables.

Grains, Beans and Starches: This section mainly contains bread, rice, pasta and cereal. It also contains grains such as wheat, rye and oats. You can eat below mentioned food items 6 times or more than that a day in small quantities. You can include 1 slice of 30 grams bread or 15 grams bagel or 5 crackers or 1 granola bar. ½ English muffin or pita bread can also be tried.

You can also have ½ hamburger or hot dog bun or a 6 inch long tortilla or 2 tacos. Or you can consume ½ cup cooked cereal, cooked beans, lentils, corn, peas, sweet potato, yam, potato or pasta. Another meal type includes 1 cup winter squash and 1 cup soup. ¾ cup dry cereal is also recommended. If you do not like all those food items, then try 1/3 cup rice or 3 cup plain fat free popcorn.

Vegetables: Vegetables are abundant in vitamins, minerals and fiber. They can either be included in meals or consumed as a low calorie snack since they are low in fat. This section contains chicory, broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, sorrel, kale, Swiss chard, cucumbers, bok choy, tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce.

You can eat a certain amount of vegetables 3 – 5 times in a day. You can have 1 cup raw vegetables or ½ cup cooked vegetables or ½ cup tomato or vegetable juice.

Fruits: Fruits offer plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber though they have carbohydrates. This section contains strawberries, blackberries, peaches, grapes, cantaloupe, pears, oranges, apricots, apples and bananas. You are allowed to eat fresh fruits 3 times a day. Consume 70 grams of small fruit or ½ cup of canned fruit or ¼ cup of dried fruit. You can also try 1 cup of melon or raspberries or 1¼ up of whole strawberries. You can also consume ½ cup of fruit juice but it should be free from sugar.

Diabetic people have to be very careful when it comes to their diet. Diet plays an important role in managing the diabetes. The main goal of a diabetic diet plan is to keep ideal body weight as well as specified blood sugar levels in a body. A diabetic diet plan is based on height, weight, age, sex, physical activity and status of diabetes. A diabetic diet plan can be used individually or in combination with insulin doses or with oral hypoglycemic drugs.

The care should be taken when including foods in a diabetic diet plan. Though a food type can be low in carbohydrate level but has protein and fat which can increase the blood sugar level. In simple words, foods which are low in calories but good in nutrition should be included in a diabetic diet plan. In my next post, you will see a diabetic diet chart which helps you to manage blood sugar level.