Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon

Diabetic diet is a phrase you’ll hear constantly, and what could be more discouraging than to imagine yourself sentenced to an eating plan that’s so restrictive only people with diabetes have to subject themselves to it? The truth is almost the complete opposite. An eating plan that works for diabetes would be an appropriate eating plan for nearly anyone. It’s a balanced eating plan with two clear objectives as follows:

  • Help your body manage blood glucose levels as effectively as possible.

  • Provide adequate nutrition with a focus on reducing recognized risks for heart disease.

Other medical conditions, including common comorbidities like celiac disease or complications caused by long-term poorly controlled diabetes, may lead to adding an emphasis to other dietary concerns, too. Without any pressing health issues other than diabetes, however, the story is pretty simple.

The specific focus for accomplishing those two objectives is managing carbohydrates and managing dietary fat. Be assured, however, that managing does not mean eliminating. An effective diabetes eating plan commonly recommends that 50 percent of daily calories come from carbohydrates, and 30 percent of daily calories come from fat.

It won’t shock you to learn that whole-grain pasta primavera with a little olive oil is a better option to satisfy this calorie distribution than a frosted donut. It may shock you to learn that pasta is allowed at all.

Forbidden pasta is only one of the inaccurate pieces of unsolicited advice you can get freely on line, from friends, or from perfect strangers. You can reate your own eating plan, adopt popular and commercial diets for diabetes, and even eat healthy away from home. It’s all about knowing what’s most important.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Toby Smithson, RDN, CDE, has managed her own diabetes for more than 40 years, and founded DiabetesEveryDay.com to share her insights into diabetes self-management. Alan Rubin, MD, is the author of several successful diabetes books, including Diabetes For Dummies and Diabetes Cookbook For Dummies.

This article can be found in the category: