Diabetes Diet Information and Guidelines

One of the best sources of diabetes diet information is the food pyramid guidelines developed by the Department of Agriculture. In fact, if everyone were to follow these guidelines, we'd have much lower incidences of obesity and type 2 diabetes in this country.

The food pyramid focuses on getting you the nutrients that you need while limiting your amounts of fat, sugar, and assorted bad food choices. In fact, if you don't have diabetes but your family history reveals that you have a greater than average chance of eventually getting it, following the food pyramid is a good way of maintaining a pre diabetes diet. And it may prevent you from ever getting the disease.

In general diabetics have trouble assimilating food into their bodies because of the inability of their body to either produce insulin or to utilize the insulin that it does have. Because of this, they - more than other groups of people, have to be especially aware of how and what they eat. And even though the food pyramid was developed for non-diabetics, it is well suited to serve those with diabetes as well.

The base of the food pyramid consists of breads and grains. Whenever possible, choose the whole grain variations of these food choices. For example, instead of white bread, choose whole brain breads. In addition, many breakfast cereals in the marketplace now have whole grain versions in addition to their non-whole grained choices. Whole grains are good because they impact the blood glucose levels as a slower rate than more refined grains. For the diabetic, this means less spiking of the blood sugar levels.

One moderation in their diet that diabetics may want to modify when looking at the various categories in the food pyramid is to replace high glycemic foods in that group with lower glycemic foods. A perfect example is breads, White bread has a higher glycemic rating than rye bread. So, if you want bread with your meal, choose the rye bread or a similar low glycemic bread to eat.

The same goes for vegetables, milks, nuts, grains, and so on. Whenever you have a choice, choose the food with the lower glycemic value. This way your glucose level will remain more stable throughout the day.

A diabetes diet does not only concentrate on what you eat, it focuses on when you eat it as well. As much as possible, try to be consistent in your meal choices. That is, try to eat at around the same time each day. And try to eat about the same quantity of food at each sitting. This helps to maintain your glucose levels at a constant range.

Additional Diabetes Diet Information

• Those with diabetes should eat a diet high in dietary fiber (soluble fiber)
• Restrict the amount of fat that you eat, especially saturated fat.
• Limit your intake of sweet foods in the diabetes diet.

Following the correct diabetic diet information, in addition to helping you to live with your diabetes, will probably help to extend your life expectancy as well.

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