Food

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Carbs
Protein
Fat
Other important info

The great news is that eating with diabetes is just the same as the way that everyone should be eating!

There are a couple of things that a person with diabetes has to make sure of with their meals that other people don’t have to worry about so much – but in reality people without diabetes tend to do these things anyway!

Eating with diabetes is just the same as regular healthy eating

You need to eat regular meals and snacks

You always need to include a carbohydrate food in your choices (see below)

These guidelines help you to maintain a nice stable blood glucose levels, avoid hypos and be a healthy weight.

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CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrate foods are the most important foods when it comes to your diabetes. The amount and timing of carbohydrate foods that you eat will directly affect your blood glucose levels, and whether these are too high, normal or too low (hypo).

If you eat too much carbohydrate you will need more insulin to keep your blood glucose levels stable, or they will be too high and if this happens regularly you increase the risk of developing nasty diabetic complications.

If you eat too little carbohydrate you could have a hypo.

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:

 

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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:

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

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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:

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

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:

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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:

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

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:

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

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

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:

DURING SPORT:

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:

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.

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

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