How to Understand Diabetic Exchange Diet

Diabetes occurs when the body isn’t producing enough insulin, a hormone needed to covert starch and sugar into energy, according to the American Diabetes Association. There are currently over 23 million adults and children in the United States affected by this condition. Diet plays a large role in treating diabetes, and dieticians often recommend using a “diabetic exchange diet” when managing diabetes.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Understand how It works. When planning your meals, make sure to watch carbohydrates carefully when planning food exchanges. If you eat too many or too few carbohydrates in a day, your blood sugar may be affected. Once your dietician has recommended a healthy intake of carbohydrates based on your circumstances, talk about how you should adjust your medication doses.

2. Watch carbohydrates. When planning your meals, make sure to watch carbohydrates carefully when planning food exchanges. If you eat too many or too few carbohydrates in a day, your blood sugar may be affected. Once your dietician has recommended a healthy intake of carbohydrates based on your circumstances, talk about how you should adjust your medication doses.

3. Understand general meal guidelines. The Mayo clinic recommends eating the same amount of food during the same time of day. Eat a variety of foods that contains 65% of calories from carbohydrates, 20% of calories from protein and 35% from fat, according to the Mayo Clinic. While planning meals, focus on eating healthy carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and beans.

4. Limit certain foods. Limit solid fats such as butter and shortening. When cooking, use low fat substitutions such as applesauce instead of oil and low-fat yogurt on a baked potato instead of butter. Also, try using sugar free jams on toast instead of high calorie options. When choose meats, avoid organ meat and use egg whites instead of whole eggs. Also, eat fresh water fish such as salon and herring, which are rich in omega fatty acids.