Diabetic Diet Menu
To initiate a diabetic diet can be very confusing and overwhelming. When to eat, what to eat and how much to eat are some common questions that intimidate most of the people. In addition to this, one needs to learn about carbohydrates, insulin levels, glucose, counting the carbohydrates and understanding its effect on our body.
Meal planning can be a daunting task, but is essential if you are trying to lose weight, gain weight or dealing with a health condition, such as diabetes. With preparation, thought and modifications that suit your lifestyle, you can create a diet plan that is able to offer all the essential nutrients in your daily menu.
Diabetic Diet Menu
Making wise and practical food choices can make profound difference to your insulin levels and blood glucose. Diabetic diet menu aims to help you lose weight by creating a calorie deficit. There are three diabetic diet menu that are most commonly used to create this deficit and these are 1800 calorie diabetic diet, 1500 calorie diabetic diet and 1200 calorie diabetic diet. A deficit of 500 calories each day results in loss of one pound every week.
During special occasions, such as birthday parties or Thanksgiving, it is easy to adjust the food intake so that food items like ice creams and cakes can fit into your normal diabetic diet menu. Try to eat less at dinner so that you can have a small serving of these forbidden foods. You can also skip the ice cream and cake, and ask for calorie free beverage. Taking regular dinner followed by desert is fine as long as you manage to go for a brisk walk.
The basic diabetic diet menu should supply almost 7,500 Kj and 180g of carbohydrates each day. The main food items of this diet should be low-fat or skim milk, oats porridge, whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat biscuits, grilled chicken breast, boiled potatoes, tomato and lettuce salad, oranges, low-fat yoghurt, lite margarine, lean pork chop, rice cakes, roast beef, pawpaw cubes, steamed baby marrow and lots of fruits and vegetables. All the cooking should be done in non-stick pan with Spray and Cook. The daily meals should comprise of breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, supper and bedtime snack.
Diabetic Diet Menu For Type 2 Diabetes
People with type 2 diabetes have higher risk of developing complications if they smoke, have high cholesterol levels, or have history of heart disease. Understanding the basic principles of diabetic diet menu and adopting it in day-to-day life can offer innumerable benefits. Diabetic diet menu is mainly low-sugar and low-carb diet, that helps in keeping the blood sugar level in control thus preventing various diabetic complications. Diabetic diet menu should contain lots of dietary fibre, less fat, less sugar and less salt. It is also equally important to take well balanced diet, and get regular moderate exercise every day. Keep the blood pressure under control, check the cholesterol levels from time to time and stop smoking.