Diabetic Diet Basic The basics to diabetic diet meal planning are simple once we understand the way our body breaks down food. Everything we eat is broken down. Diabetes Meal Planning. Management of your blood sugar glucose is essential to avoid further complications such as blindness, amputations and kidney disease. Whilst diabetes often requires medication for control, its important to remember that proper nutrition through meal planning is equally critical in diabetes care. Bacon Wrapped Appetizers more. Nutritional management, in the form of a meal plan designed especially for you, will help you to maintain blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible, and maintain or lose weight. You may feel apprehensive about meal planning, particularly if youve struggled with dieting in the past. It can be difficult knowing where to start, and for this reason, putting together a meal plan that fits your lifestyle with the help of a dietitian comes recommended. The following table illustrates this General Dietary Guidelines. Diet Meal Planning' title='Diet Meal Planning' />General Dietary Guidelines. Summary of General Guidelines for Diabetics. Eat a variety of foods. Eat a variety of foods Balance the food you eat with physical activity maintain or improve your weight. Balance the foods you eat with your insulin, oral medication and your physical activity. Maintain or improve your weight. Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits. For added fibre include whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. The amount of calories from fat should be no higher than 3. Choose a diet moderate in sugars. Avoid foods containing significant amounts of sugar. Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium. IIFYM meal plan shows macro amounts for each meal and daily totals shopping list. If youre just starting the Atkins diet, you may think there isnt anything to eat. In the plans first phase, known as the Induction phase, dieters are. A moderate sodium restriction is recommended. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation and see a dietician about fitting it into your meal plan. Diabetic Meal Plan Systems. There are two main meal planning systems, exchange lists and carbohydrate counting. With your health care team, you will decide which system best meets your needs. You might be able to use a combination of systems for greater flexibility. The exchange lists group foods into three categories Carbohydrates including lists of starches, fruits, vegetables, milk, and other carbohydrates such as dessert type foods. We rate the Best Home Delivery Diet Services for 2017. Read our reviews of weight loss meal delivery services such as DiettoGo, Bistro MD and more Meal Planning Diet for Pregnant and Nursing Moms. Meat and meat substitutes, and. Fats. Within any one of the categories a food can be exchanged with another. The amount of energy provided by a specified serving size of the food is essentially the same. You choose from the different categories to design a plan for your meals and snacks. With carbohydrate counting, the focus is on the amount of carbohydrates in the foods that you choose to eat. Your insulin or oral medication must be matched to the foods you eat. Your meal plan will tell you how many carbohydrate choices you can eat and when you can eat them. The carbohydrate can come from any type of food containing carbohydrates. Its recommended to choose carbohydrate from lower GI sources and fresh fruit and vegetables. In the beginning, this system will require that you to test your blood sugar a number times a day, as well as weigh and measure your food. An example meal plan is shown below BreakfastPorridge or wholegrain breakfast cereal e. Branflakes, Weetabix. Wholemeal breadtoastroll Fruit fresh or tinned without sugar. Mid Morning Light Meal Soup Breadtoastrollbaked potatochapattis Small portion lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese or baked beans. Large portion salad or vegetables. Fruit as main meal. Mid Afternoon Main Meal Soup, for example broth, lentil, vegetable Small portion lean meat, chicken or fish Potatoes, bread, pasta, rice or chapattis Large portion vegetables or salad. Fruit fresh, stewed or tinned without sugar or. Unsweetened milk pudding or diet yoghurt. Bedtime If you require a between meal andor bedtime snack the following. Fresh fruit, Diet yoghurt. Toast. Crackers. Two plain. Wholemeal scone. Join the Diabetes Newsletter.