Staying In Control with Type 2 Diabetes

Having a healthy diet and planning appropriate meals is important for everyone, but it is critical for people with type 2 diabetes. Making sure that you are eating the right kinds of foods can be a life or death decision so the more information you have, the more likely you are to make wise choices. A healthy, balanced diet plan for diabetes can slow down the disease, mitigate the complications, and in some cases halt its progression. Here are some general guidelines for creating your healthy eating plan for type 2 diabetes.

The best diet plan helps you achieve your ideal weight, and maintain normal blood glucose levels, and it will limit foods that increase the risk of heart disease. The easiest way to begin is by having several meals a day instead of eating larger meals two or three times a day. This will keep your blood sugar level more even and give your body time to keep up the insulin production.

Choose to eat more fiber and avoid refined carbohydrates such as white flour. Fiber rich foods take much longer to digest and this helps keep blood sugar levels steady. Cutting down on sugar takes a little more work than just the obvious avoidance of candy bars. Soda and sweet drinks also have plenty of sugar in them. Unfortunately, some fruits are also on the list of foods to avoid, tropical fruits top that list.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that around half of daily calories come from carbohydrates. Having diabetes is not the time to go on a high protein diet, in fact no more than 12-20% of your calories should come from protein says the ADA. Raw foods are the best choice for snacking and meals because they do not create the blood sugar spike that cooked foods do.

Study the food pyramid for more information on healthy eating choices. Grains, beans, and complex carbohydrates compose the bottom section, and should make up about 50% of your daily calories. Next in line are the fruits and the vegetables. Of course, you can eat all the vegetables you want, but you need to be a little careful with the fruit servings. Spread them throughout the day so the sugars do not get into your body all at once. Your type 2 diabetes will respond well to a careful diet plan.

• Grains, Starchy Vegetables, and Beans: 1 slice of bread, ½ small bagel, only ½ cup of cooked pasta or cereal or ¾ cup of cold cereal. For corn, peas and beans ½ cup will do the trick.
• Vegetables: 1 cup of raw vegetables or ½ cup of cooked vegetables.
• Fruits: 1 fresh fruit. For canned fruit or fruit juice, make do with ½ cup.
• Milk/Dairy: Stick with 1 cup of low-fat milk or yogurt.
• Meat: 2-3 ounces of lean meat, poultry, or fish; 1 egg, and 2-3 ounces of cheese.
• Sugar, Alcohol, and Fats: Limit yourself to 1 tablespoon of butter, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and salad dressing. A ½ cup of ice cream should make up for that though.

This is a good start on all the diet plans for Type 2 Diabetes. It can be overwhelming but start with small amounts of information and you are well on your way to staying in control of this disease.