Your Diabetes Meal Plan—Personalized Just for You

A healthful meal plan is an essential part of managing your diabetes. It helps you avoid high and low blood glucose throughout the day, reduces your risk for health problems such as heart disease and stroke, and helps prevent, delay or manage diabetes-related complications.

Your meal plan will be specially designed for you by a Registered Dietitian (RD) or Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), who works closely with your doctor as part of your diabetes care team. The RD or CDE takes into account your lifestyle, your food likes and dislikes, whether you need to lose weight or lower your blood cholesterol or blood pressure, and any medications you’re taking.

There’s no single “diabetes diet,” but generally, following the healthful eating guidelines of MyPyramid is good for people both with and without diabetes. And because type 2 diabetes tends to run in families, healthful eating habits, along with regular physical activity, may help prevent the onset in “at risk” family members. Learn about diabetes risk factors.

Your RD or CDE will help you establish a meal plan that includes:

• A variety of foods from the MyPyramid food groups, with emphasis on fiber-rich whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and low fat or fat free dairy products.
• Modest portions of unsaturated fats (i.e., monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) such as those in salmon, nuts and vegetables oil.
• Limited amounts of foods containing saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars.
• Three to six planned meals and snacks a day, timed so you don’t go longer than four to five hours between a meal or snack.
• Total calories and appropriate portion sizes to meet your blood glucose and weight management goals.

No Sugar-Coating: All Carbohydrates Count

Carbohydrates are found in foods such as bread, cereal, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables and dairy products, as well as in sweet foods such as cookies, cake, ice cream, soft drinks, honey and table sugar.

If you have diabetes, it’s important to monitor all the carbohydrates you eat. This might surprise you if you thought you only needed to be careful about the sugar in your diet or that choosing “sugar free” foods was enough. But, the fact is, carbohydrates from any source are quickly broken down by the body into glucose.

So, what’s most important is to monitor the total amount of carbohydrates you eat, and to eat about the same amount at each meal and snack according to your meal plan. Your RD or CDE may teach you to count the grams of carbohydrates you consume to manage your blood glucose levels.

If you enjoy desserts and other sweet foods and want to include them in your meal plan, do some smart planning. Learn how to make a Diabetic Meal Plan.

The Lowdown on Physical Activity

Regular physical activity can help you manage your blood glucose and your weight. A good goal is to be active for 30 minutes on most days of the week (60 minutes is recommended if you’re looking to lose weight). It’s fine to accumulate this amount in shorter time periods of 10 or 15 minutes. What’s more, you can choose activities you like: brisk walking, swimming, biking, dancing, strength training—even housework and gardening.

If you haven’t been active for awhile, walking briskly for five or 10 minutes a day is a terrific start. Before you begin, check with your doctor or CDE to learn how to fit physical activity into your meal plan and medication schedule.

Learn more about being physically active when you have diabetes.

Blood Glucose—Check!

Your blood glucose levels are affected by many factors including what and how much you eat, how physically active you are, what medications you take, and whether you’re sick or under stress.

An important part of managing diabetes is checking and recording your blood glucose levels daily according to the schedule recommended by your doctor, CDE or RD. They may also ask you to keep a food diary listing everything you eat and drink, how much and at what time. This information helps your diabetes care team make any needed adjustments to your meal plan, physical activity or medications to keep your blood glucose in good control.

Checking your blood glucose is especially important if you are recently diagnosed with diabetes, or when you have trouble keeping your blood glucose in control. Your doctor may also periodically give you an A1C test to check the average amount of glucose that’s been in your blood for the previous two or three months. This test is another measure of whether your blood glucose is in control.

A Team Effort

When you have diabetes, you’re not alone. You’ll see your doctor, CDE and/or RD for regular check ups. You also may see specialists such as an ophthalmologist, podiatrist, exercise physiologist or mental health professional.

The bottom line is that together, you and your team can manage your diabetes—it’s a great feeling to be in control!

For more information about diabetes

To locate an RD in your area, go to the American Dietetic Association Web site at www.eatright.org and click on the Find a Nutrition Professional link.

To locate a CDE in your area, go to the American Association of Diabetes Educators website.

The American Diabetes Association: www.diabetes.org.