Diabetic Menu Guide

General principles

The point of constructing a diabetic menu is to focus attention on individual food items and to decide whether such items are appropriate for the diabetic lifestyle imposed by the disease, that they do not make the condition worse or contribute to the complications of diabetes.

In most cases, people already have a well-established set of preferences for the foods that make up their meals, even though the diabetic must learn to modify some of those choices in order to control blood glucose levels. And some will wish to look at the food constituents in a little more detail to see whether they do meet the recommendations of their health-care advisers.

Personal tastes and preferences will also play a part in the choice of specific types of foods but in general there are no off-limit foods for diabetics, although common sense tells us to be wary of some foods, especially those that are super rich and of high sugar content, and these should be limited to less frequent occasions.

A diabetic diet menu centers around the carbohydrate content of meals
The more frequently recommended diet, by many physicians and the American Diabetes Association, is considered as being high in carbohydrates, in the range 55 to 65%, preferably with emphasis on the inclusion of low Glycemic Index foods.

But there are also many in the medical community who recommend a low carbohydrate diet, between about 25 and 35% carbohydrates.

Positive results have been achieved by following either the high or low carbohydrate dietary approaches. As diabetics we, as individuals, should try to become familiar with their differences, benefits, and drawbacks.

But diabetic menus need not be only either high or low in carbohydrates. But it helps to be aware of the amount of carbohydrates, and also the protein, fat, and calorie content too, in our daily food intake, at least for the period when we are establishing an initial meal plan. Once we are satisfied that we have an acceptable routine there is less need, if any, to constantly be checking the nutrient content of our meals. The occasional addition of an unaccustomed food should not cause a problem and a more frequent addition to an established menu can be assessed and factored in as  the need arises.

In this article, now in November 2009, I consider diabetes menu planning mainly from the higher carbohydrate approach. But elsewhere on this blog site I will soon address the low carbohydrate diabetic menu in greater detail. Meanwhile, you may wish to visit the post dealing with the low carbohydrate approach, and/or another that may be of interest to anyone wishing to follow the vegetarian approach to the diabetic menu. Those alternatives and  other related topics can also be found on the Diabetic Menu Guide list of topics, the home page of this site.

Two requirements in devising a menu for diabetics:

1. The plan should follow the recommendations of either the American Diabetic Association or those of the diabetic patient’s physician with regard to the percentages of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that the meal plan should contain in order to provide a balanced and nutritious diet.

2. The daily food intake must provide the total number of calories that meet the personal weight objectives of the individual, which will be to either maintain their current weight or to lose weight

The foods that we consume provide the body with the essential life-giving nutrients of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and fiber.

Carbohydrates are the main source of glucose that supplies energy to the cells of the body, the same glucose that the diabetic may have difficulty in controlling.

A calorie is a precise unit of energy. The number of calories in a serving of food defines the quantity of energy that is supplied to the body in the consumption of a serving amount of that particular food. Different foods provide different amounts of calories.

In order to meet the two requirements listed above, there is a need to know the approximate nutrient content and calorie amounts of each of the common items that make up a meal. Different foods do have different amounts of nutrients. Most of this information, together with serving sizes, is readily available on the Nutrition Facts labels that are on the food packaging.

Recommendations
The American Diabetic Association and the diabetic associations of most other countries recommend that total food intake should be approximately 55 to 65 percent carbohydrate, 25 to 30 percent fat, and 25 percent protein.

Noted diabetes researcher Dr. J.W. Anderson and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky have analyzed a wide range of international dietary recommendations and, after doing so, made the recommendation:

“The diabetic individual should be encouraged to achieve and maintain a desirable body weight and the diet should provide the following percentages of nutrients: 55% or greater carbohydrate; 12 to 16% protein; less than 30% fat with 12 to 15% being monounsaturated fat. The diet should also provide 25 to 30 grams per day of dietary fiber.”

A frequent recommendation is that there should be 3 main meals each day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a small snack should be eaten between each of those meals. The meals should be approximately equal in size to maintain a balanced flow of nutrients to the body, rather than having one larger meal, such as at dinner time, which is often the case in family situations, something that can lead to a bigger surge of blood glucose for the diabetic as a consequence.

By identifying those food categories in our meals and by determining the number of daily calories needed to meet the personal weight objectives of the individual, a diabetic menu plan can be tailored to meet them.

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