Diabetic Diet Plan

There are various reasons like obesity, heredity, incorrect lifestyle with unhealthy diet and poor nutritional diet that lead to diabetes. When a person is diagnosed with diabetes, there is nothing more than he can do, except to keep it under control. Along with medications, there is one more thing which is directly responsible for both aggravating and controlling this health condition called diabetes, which is the diabetic diet. Diabetic diet is often called medical nutrition therapy for diabetes. There is often an assumption that diabetic diet is very restrictive with a lot of limitations on what to eat and what not to eat. This assumption is actually wrong, since diabetic diet planning is nothing but healthy and moderate eating. As we know, there are various types of diabetes, and hence, there are various types of plans as well.

Diabetic Diet Plan Explained

When a person gets diagnosed with diabetes of any sorts, first thing that his physician and nutritionist does is to get him a diabetic diet planner with dietary modifications, medications and special diabetic diet plan to lose weight or maintain it when it comes to gestational diabetes. These diet plans also keep a check on the blood glucose level and avoid other health conditions like hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Diabetic diets are actually personalized and they are determined on health goals, activity level and tastes of that individual. Still, there are a few benchmarks of a healthy diabetic diet meal plan that remain constant. Well, here are the basic things to avoid and include in a healthy diabetic diet to lose weight. Once you get acquainted with that, then you can plan diabetic diet for different types of diabetes.

Things to include in a healthy diabetic diet include: a low carb diabetic diet with healthy carbohydrates (fresh vegetables, fruits legumes, nuts and low fat dairy products), healthy fish (fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, herring, mackerel), good fats or mono-unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (peanut oil, olive oil, canola oil, walnuts, almonds, avocados, pecans, etc.) and high fiber foods (fresh vegetables, fruits legumes, nuts and whole wheat). While the foods to avoid in a healthy diabetic diet to lose weight include, sodium rich foods (more than 2000 mg sodium a day), saturated fats (high fat dairy products, beef, sausage, hotdogs, bacon, etc.), cholesterol (high fat dairy, high fat meat, shellfish, egg yolk and other animal protein sources, etc.)

Type 1 Diabetes
The diet plan for type 1 diabetes is nothing but maintaining a perfect balance between insulin levels of the body and the overall food consumption per day. It is the reason why a person must be well aware of the foods that he is consuming and the way it will affect his insulin levels. Along with consuming a well-balanced diabetic diet menu, one should also indulge into light exercise routine and keep a track of the diet as well as amount of exercise that he does on a regular basis. A sample plan for type 1 diabetic diet looks like:

Breakfast	Lunch	Snacks	Dinner
2 whole wheat bread slices 1 cup skim milk 1 boiled egg 1 apple	2 slices bread or 2 corn tortillas 8 oz low fat milk 3 to 5 oz grilled chicken or grilled fish Green salad with low-fat dressing	1 small fruit 1 cup cottage cheese 10 fat free tortilla chips with salsa	2 cup pasta 1 medium potato 1 or 2 cups vegetables Salad greens with low fat dressing Diet soda, optional

Type 2 Diabetes
The diet for type 2 diabetes is generally a weight loss diet for diabetics, since it is associated with obesity. Along with abiding the above mentioned dos and don'ts, a person should also follow a low calorie diabetic diet to lose weight. Once you follow these simple rules to avoid high sugar, high cholesterol, high carb foods and fatty foods, then you can easily follow the diabetic diet for type 2 diabetes. A sample diabetic diet menu plan for type 2 diabetes is given below. However, make sure that you consume these given food items in combination and not all at a time!

Breakfast	Lunch	Snacks	Dinner
½ cup oatmeal ½ cup skimmed milk 2 toasts ½ cup fat free yogurt Orange Berries	Salad with olive oil dressing Brown bread vegetable meat sandwich Whole wheat tortillas with filling	Pistachios Sunflower seeds Almonds Pumpkin seeds	Pinto beans Lentils over brown rice Baked or grilled fish Bowl of dark green leafy vegetables

Gestational Diabetes
When a woman gets diagnosed with gestational diabetes, it gets very important for her to plan a diet during pregnancy in such a way that provides correct nutritional levels required by both the mother and fetus. A well maintained diabetic diet during pregnancy can also be an ideal solution to avoid all the diabetic medications and insulin injections that are needed for gestational diabetes. Hence, it is better to consult your obstetrician and nutritionist and get a personalized diet plan for yourself. A sample diabetic diet plan for pregnancy should be like:

Breakfast	Lunch	Snacks	Dinner
½ banana ½ cup skim milk ½ cup oatmeal ¼ egg substitute 1 slice whole wheat bread toasted w/ 1 teaspoon margarine	1 small apple 1 cup vegetable soup with 4-6 crackers 1 turkey sandwich with 2 whole wheat bread slices, 1 oz turkey and 1 oz low fat cheese, 1 teaspoon margarine	3 cups light popcorn ½ cup artificial sweetened chocolate pudding	½ cup cooked carrots 2 cups cooked brown rice 1 small whole grain dinner roll with 1 teaspoon margarine Vegetable salad with 2 tablespoons low-fat dressing 4 unsweetened canned apricot halves 1 small slice angel cake 4 oz broiled chicken breast

Before you follow any of the above mentioned diabetic diet menu ideas, it is advised that you should consult your health care professional first.