Diabetes Diet

Being diagnosed as diabetic is a difficult thing to deal with, because it brings so many lifestyle changes. What you can eat, and what types of foods to avoid, are important to your overall health as a diabetic, as well as helping you to maintain a healthy weight level.

Many diabetics don't realize just how important food is to their overall wellbeing. By keeping a strict control over what they eat, and following diabetes diet guidelines, you can make a big difference to how well your diabetes is managed. As a result, this has a huge impact on your life daily. Unfortunately most diet plans focus on weight loss, and are not specifically designed for diabetics.

The best place to begin finding out about eating healthily as a diabetic is the American Diabetes Association. They have developed a Diabetes Food Pyramid. This is closely linked to the USDA's Food Pyramid, with a few subtle changes specifically for the benefit of diabetics. Following these principles will help you control your blood sugar, weight and diabetes.

Basically, the diabetes food pyramid contains six groups of varying size. The bigger the group, the more foods you need to eat daily from that group. The six groups are:

• Grains and starches (carbohydrates)
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Milk and milk products
• Meat
• Fats, sweets, alcohol etc

I have listed these groups in order from biggest to smallest, to make it easier for you to see what your food priorities need to be. The grains and starches group is definitely the biggest, and it's recommended that you eat between 6 and 11 servings of food from that group every day. Generally you should stick to the lower number of servings, unless you specifically require extra calories, for example if your work is strenuous. Some foods to choose from include pasta, rice, cereals, breads, potatoes, peas, corn and many beans.

In the vegetables group, you should aim for 3 to 5 servings a day. Vegetables are naturally low in fat, so they're always a good choice if you want to lose some weight or keep your weight stable. Some of the more starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and corn, are in the grains and starches group. However the vegetable group still contains a wide variety of options, including broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and cucumbers.

The third group of fruits is wide and varied; so you have plenty of choices, including berries, apples, bananas, melons, grapes and a whole lot more. You should include 2 to 4 servings of fruit in your diet daily.

Milk and milk products should comprise 2 to 3 servings per day. If you're looking to lose weight, or have cholesterol issues, then you should choose low-fat dairy products.

Meat is near the bottom of the list, and you should only eat a small amount of meat, around 4-6 ounces, each day. The meat group is quite large including things such as beef, chicken, fish, eggs, turkey, dried beans, peanut butter and cheese. Cutting down on servings in this group is often one of the most difficult for people following a diabetic diet.

Finally, there are the fats, sweets and alcohol group. This is basically a "catch-all" type of group for all those foods that you probably should avoid eating most of the time. An occasional treat is okay, but certainly don't eat these foods on a daily basis.

Now that you have some understanding of what's involved in eating healthily as a diabetic, you need to decided whether to hunt around and find recipes that are suitable for diabetics, modify what you're already eating, or consult a diabetic nutritionist. It can often be helpful to consult a nutritionist no matter how experienced you are with food and diet plans, simply because different diabetics have different nutritional needs. A nutritionist can help you to refine your diet to specifically suit your own needs.

Don't waste your energy getting frustrated about having diabetes. Instead focus on developing a diet plan that suits your tastes and needs, so that you can live a healthy and active lifestyle. Instead of thinking these guidelines are like going on a diet, which has a negative ring to it, think of it as making healthier diet choices on an ongoing basis. Maintaining good health will make it worthwhile.