Food

The best way to manage your carbohydrate intake is to have three regular meals (4-5 hours apart) that are made up of about half the foods below and about half with other foods like meats/veges/fruit. In between meals you could also have 2-3 snacks that also have some carbohydrate in them depending on your insulin type, how much exercise you do / don’t do and how hungry you are (for example, if you are still growing or recovering from being newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes).

See the ‘carbohydrate snacks’ section for good snack ideas.

Carbohydrate containing foods:

Bread and bread rolls
Breakfast cereals
Dairy and soy milk, yoghurt, ice cream and custard
Fruit and fruit juice
Starchy vegetables like potato, sweet potato and corn
Rice, pasta and noodles
Baked beans and lentils
Snack foods like biscuits, chips, muesli bars
Sugars and sugary foods
Takeaway foods like pizza, fries and burgers

PROTEIN

Protein-containing foods should be about a quarter of your plate. This is like 1-2 palmfuls of the foods below per day. It doesn’t matter when you eat these foods in your day because unlike carbohydrates, these foods won’t affect your blood glucose levels.

Protein-containing foods:

Meat
Fish
Chicken
Eggs
Nuts
Cheese

These foods are important for growth and repair in your body. You need protein foods to build muscle too!

FAT

We need some fat in our food choices too, but not too much or it can lead to weight gain and other bad side effects like high blood lipids.

Fatty foods are:

Butter
Margarine
Oil
Cream

BUT there are also lots of places in the diet where fat hides as well, such as:

Crisps, chips and fries
Biscuits
Chocolates
Cakes
Donuts
Takeaways
Fatty meats – chicken skin, meat fat, salami, bacon etc
Fried foods

SO it is a good idea to only eat from this group of foods as a treat.

GOOD SOURCES OF FAT IN THE DIET ARE:

low fat milk, yoghurt and cheese
vegetable oils/margarine for cooking
nuts/seeds
avocado
fish

OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:

TIMING OF MEALS

Depending on the insulin you’re on, you might need to eat a meal or a snack every 3 hours or so. If you forget to eat, skip meals or leave it too long until you eat, you might have a hypo. If you have an insulin pump, you can be a bit more flexible with the timing of your meals.

SUGARY FOODS

High glucose foods like fizzy drinks, cordials and lollies can make your blood glucose levels go too high. It is best to drink diet fizzy or cordials.

These foods can be used in small amounts to treat a hypo, which means they cause a quick rise in blood glucose so you know that means if you eat them when you’re not having a hypo they will make your blood glucose level rise quickly then too!

HYPO TREATMENT

To treat a hypo, you need to quickly eat or drink something sweet, wait 10 minutes and then eat something else straight away to stop the hypo from coming back.

To treat a hypo, quickly eat or drink something sweet like:

Mentos or
Dextrotabs or Vita tabs or
125 – 200ml fruit juice or
1/3 – ½ can regular soft drink (not diet) or
Honey or jam (2 teaspoons) or
2-3 tablespoons of glucose powder dissolved in half a glass of water

Then eat something else to stop the hypo from coming back, like:

A piece of fruit or
A slice of bread or
Two plain sweet biscuits or
A glass of milk
If it’s just before a meal, eat or drink something sweet then eat your meal

Don’t forget to always carry glucose and snacks with you. Make sure you don’t ignore a hypo even if you’re worried about what everyone else will say. No one likes to be embarrassed, but ignoring a hypo can make you feel worse and can be more embarrassing if you don’t treat it.

HEALTHY FOOD AT SCHOOL/ UNI / WORK

Here are some ideas for lunch:

Sandwiches

try different types of breads like rolls, grain bread, Turkish bread, bagels, lavash or pita bread
use fillings like salad, low fat cheese, vegemite, ham, chicken, tuna, salmon, egg, baked beans, spaghetti or banana

Pasta, potato or rice salad
Fresh pieces of fruit eg. apples, pears, mandarins, oranges
Chopped fruit eg. rockmelon, pineapple
Fruit in zip lock bags eg. grapes, cherries
Crispbreads, rice cakes or corn thins
Pikelets, scones or low fat muffins
Low fat yoghurt or dairy desserts
Dried fruit boxes eg. sultanas, apricots
Dried fruit and nuts
Low fat milk drinks
Rice crackers or rice crisps

If buying food from the canteen/ café / dairy look for sandwiches or rolls, corn on the cob, reduced fat mini pizzas, pasta, soup or rice dishes as healthy options.

CARBOHYDRATE SNACK IDEAS

For snacks between meals, choose your favourites, stock up on

Fruit eg. apple, pear, banana, orange
Chopped fruit – rockmelon, pineapple, honeydew
Fresh fruit salad
Grapes or cherries
Canned fruit snack pack eg. two fruits, peaches, pears, fruit salad
Dried fruit boxes eg. sultanas, fruit salad, sultanas and apricots
Low fat yoghurt
Low fat dairy desserts
Low fat custard
Corn on the cob (frozen, defrost in microwave)
Pikelets or scones
Fruit loaf, fruit bun or hot cross buns
Crispbread or rice cakes with low fat toppings e.g. tomato, low fat cheese
Popcorn
Crumpets or English muffins
Rice crackers with low fat dip
Rice crisps
Low fat fruit bars

FOOD FOR EXERCISE

Exercise or sport uses up blood glucose extra quickly so it can mean that you need some extra carbohydrate to stop you from having a hypo. Eating an extra carbohydrate snack for every 30-40 minutes of sport is a good guide. Hypos can happen for 12-16 hours after you stop exercising, so keep an eye on your blood glucose levels and top up your carbs if you need to.

BEFORE SPORT:

A piece of fruit
A small flavoured milk
A muesli bar
A fruit snack pack
A crumpet or slice of raisin toast
A ‘fun size’ chocolate bar

DURING SPORT:

A 100% fruit juice
A cup of sports drink
A piece of fruit eg. banana, orange

HEALTHIER TAKEAWAY OPTIONS

You may find as you get older you start eating out and eating more takeaways. Once a week is a good amount to fit in with a healthy diet.

Some healthy takeaway options:

Meat or chicken salad roll / wrap
Doner kebab with lots of salad
Plain hamburger with lots of salad
A grilled chicken burger with lots of salad
Baked potato (skip the butter)
Toasted sandwich
Corn cob
Sushi roll
Vegie pizza or gourmet pizza
Toasted sandwich or focaccia
Bowl of pasta with tomato based sauce
Stir fried vegetables with noodles or plain rice

Try and have a similar amount of carbohydrate when eating out as you would usually have at mealtimes, and try and choose the options that are lower in fat.

A piece of fruit or
A slice of bread or
Two plain sweet biscuits or
A glass of milk

If it’s just before a meal, eat or drink something sweet then eat your meal and have your insulin when you’re half way through the meal. Do NOT forget to take your insulin! You may decide to reduce the amount of rapid acting insulin slightly because of the low pre-meal.

try different types of breads like rolls, grain bread, Turkish bread, bagels, lavash or pita bread

use fillings like salad, low fat cheese, vegemite, ham, chicken, tuna, salmon, egg, baked beans, spaghetti or banana

Acknowledgement: Dietitians NZ