One of the skills that a diabetic has to pick up quickly is that of drawing up suitable diabetic diet plans for himself or herself. After having been diagnosed with diabetes, it is important for a diabetic to reorient the way he or she thinks about food and the role that food plays in his or her life. This is where diabetic diet plans come in.
Formulating diet plans for diabetic patients
Diabetic diet plans revolve around a few principles. One of them involves getting into the habit of counting the calories for each meal. Doing this helps one to keep track of food intake and of the conversion of that food into energy in the body. Some foods are high in calories but have low nutritive values. These include highly processed or refined foods which are either high in sugar or in fat. Commercially baked goods made of refined flour and sweetened with sugar fall into this category. Eating such foods once in a while is fine for the average person. However, for the diabetic, it is a dangerous risk. Such foods have the unfortunate effect of drastically raising the blood sugar levels, and this is something that diabetics are well-advised to avoid.
However, it must be pointed out that counting calories alone does not constitute an intelligent approach to thinking about food and to planning one’s diabetes diet. It is possible to eat a low calorie meal and to get very little nutrition out of it. Therefore, one must consider, not just the calorie count, but also the nutritive value of any food ingested. Cereal-based foods are best when they are made from whole grain cereals. It is also advisable to prepare foods using minimally processed and refined ingredients. Fresh fruits and vegetables are ideal, particularly when they are high in fiber and eaten raw. They make great sources of vitamins, minerals and various antioxidants. Sources of protein in the form of meat, tofu, cheese, eggs, beans and lentils are also ideal.
Another important part of formulating diabetic diet plans is reading labels. By reading labels on the packaging of food products, diabetics can determine whether those items have a place in their diabetic diet meal plans. One might think that a food item is perfectly alright, but then find out upon reading its label that it has excessive amounts of sugar for a diabetic. In such a situation, the label would be a godsend. Labels also have information about the other nutritional components of food products. They indicate the fat content of the foods. They also indicate the amount of sodium and other additives that have been incorporated into the food products.
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