Until several months after I had been diagnosed, I could not use this diabetic sample diet without problems. It would make my blood sugar level soar. As I used the diet based on the Exchange system and designed by my dietitian, I couldn't help feeling I was missing something.
But who wouldn't want a diet containing high fiber complex carbohydrates, high antioxidant, zero cholesterol foods, without saturated fats or trans-fats?
You would want a diabetic sample diet for any or all of these reasons:
you want to know how to prepare meals that help control diabetes,
you're looking for ideas on diabetic meal preparation,
you want to control your diabetes by eating the right foods.
For these and similar reasons, you will find my personal breakfast example very helpful; but to use it will require other changes.
A diabetic sample diet would normally include example meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. However, my anti-diabetes diet approach has helped me get rid of snacks - only 3 meals per day. So this is my breakfast example. [Food items are in random order].
Fruits (blueberries, strawberries, mango). I include high antioxidant foods in my meals. Diabetics especially need foods high in antioxidants for repair of damaged tissues. The rates of wear and tear which lead to organ failures in diabetics are higher than in other people so ensuring you get enough antioxidants in your diet is key.
Food supplement. I use a fucoidan-rich seaweed supplement quite frequently, as well as Milagro de la Selva tea. I drink 1 cup of this tea approximately 30 minutes before each meal to effectively control my diabetes. The producers say it does not interfere with any known medication **and** I have not had any contraindications with it, so this is good.
Oat bran cereal. Avoid those sugar coated cereals that are geared towards captivating kids' tastes. They are counterproductive to any weight control efforts and only make blood sugar control worse. I found that whole oats is better than regular oats. In general, the less processing put into preparing and preserving the food, the better it is for us.
Source of Omega acids. I frequently use a healthy mix of ground seeds with my cereal. Most often this includes 3 or 4 of these: flax seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and brewer's yeast flakes. The pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds are especially vital.
Soy milk - since I do not use animal products, my cereal comes with soy. It's always zero-cholesterol and low-fat.
Whole wheat bread - You will need lots of energy if you are on a regular exercise program. It doesn't matter your age or mobility status. Exercise is a must for diabetics.
Soy cheese, nut butter
Spinach - cooked or raw; it could be a vegetable salad as well
This diabetic sample diet example is **NOT** based on a calorie counting scheme. It is not presented as a recipe either. I really want to emphasize nutritive information, and the need for making wholesome food choices in the diet of diabetics. Counting calories was not a part of this preparation, so if you are on a low carbohydrate or calorie restricting diet without medication, this breakfast example may have increased calories. However if the quantities are not applicable to your situation, the food selections should still be.
Instead of restricting carbohydrates (carbs) in general, we need to restrict low fiber carbohydrates and processed foods. Choose high fiber complex carbohydrate foods such as 100% whole wheat bread (instead of white bread or partial whole wheat bread), brown rice instead of white rice.
This diabetic sample diet includes some of the healthiest foods. The popular Mayo Clinic website carried an article listing the 10 healthiest food items to include in your diet. Note that most items on my list are included in theirs. Most notably also, almost all those "superfoods" are unprocessed, plant products.
That's how everyone should eat. That is what the anti-diabetes diet espouses. That is what a diabetic sample diet should look like. That is the best way diabetics can undo and offset the damages done by this debilitating disease and not create health problems as a result of side effects from synthetic drugs.
Copyright ? 2009 by Bentley Thompson
Bentley writes about lifestyle-related conditions such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. He advocates the anti-diabetes diet which he describes on his website. You may visit his website and blog using the following URLs:
winthecholesterolwar.com winthecholesterolwar.com
anti-diabetes-diet-supplements.com anti-diabetes-diet-supplements.com
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