How to Identify Safe Diabetic Food Exchanges
A diabetic is totally dependent on having a good diet with lots of variety in their food. Insulin only goes so far in taking care of the diabetes syndrome. Food is the healer or the tormentor-whichever the case may be. Even though everyone is different and needs varying degrees of flexibility in their food strategies, one of the best options for diabetics is the Exchange Diet.
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Things You'll Need
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Lean meats, fish and poultry
- Whole grain cereals and pasta
Instructions
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Discuss your dietary needs with a nutritionist. This gives you the opportunity to ask questions relating to diabetic choices. Find out the appropriate diet for you. Even though you don't want to have to count calories, a good 1,800-calorie diet gives you serving sizes for your foods. Even the Exchange Diet from the Mayo Clinic is divided into amounts for various caloric needs.
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Follow the Exchange Diet rules to lose weight and have balanced nutrition. Categories of foods have been taught to students in general science class in the past few decades. Foods listed within the same group interchange within the category without changing your diabetic caloric intake.
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Prepare a menu plan before grocery shopping. When you shop, look on the back or sides of most food packaging to see the food pyramid. This lets you know if you are on the right track. Carry cards with you as "cheat sheets" to help you stay on the right track for a diabetic when you eat out. This way, you know what to eat and can avoid problem foods. You consider exchanges as opposed to serving sizes.
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Choose your meats according to the lists that are on the Exchange Diet. The categories for meat and cheese are low, medium and high fat content. Low fat one-ounce servings of protein are approximately 55 calories, medium are 75 calories and high fat are 100 calories. With each of these being one-ounce servings, you eat between 165 and 300 calories with your protein exchange alone.
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Study what constitutes the exchange rate in other foods. Take bread for instance, an exchange is 15 grams of carbohydrates. That translates into one slice for most breads, possibly a half slice if the bread is thick or has a lot of ingredients. Cereal and pasta exchanges are one-half cup. In this case, the exchanges and the serving sizes are the same. As a diabetic, you don't want to eat very many starches, so keep this as low as you can.
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View the healthy choices with excitement. Vegetable exchanges are an average of 25 calories each and are a diabetic's friend. One cup of raw vegetables (sliced, diced, grated) equals five grams of carbohydrates and two grams of protein. This is how you figure the exchange-by substituting one vegetable for another. You can have a cup of carrot sticks, one half cup of steamed green beans or a half of a cup of juice and make it one exchange (or serving).
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Select sweets wisely. Fruit has more calories (an average of 60 per serving) than vegetables, but an exchange is only about 15 grams of carbohydrates. A serving consists of one small orange, a half of a banana or a half cup of canned fruit (packed in water).
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Tips & Warnings
Three ounces of meat is one serving, but three protein exchanges.
You and your dietitian decide if and how often you can have medium and high fat meats.
Meat, poultry, fish, cheese, dried beans, cheese and eggs all fall into the protein exchange categories.
