Many diabetic people do not know how to plan a diabetes diet menu and end up with serious health problems. Being diabetic doesn’t mean one has to give up their favourite food or go on a bland diet. It is very much possible to create your very own diabetes diet menu that supports good health and lets you enjoy all the foods that you love to eat, including sweets. Instead of giving you diabetes food menu, we would like to educate you how to plan a diabetes diet menu to enable you create a different menu everyday.

3 Rules To Know Before Planning A Diabetes Diet Menu

1. Eat moderately
2. Include a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in your diet
3. Follow your mealtime schedule

To prepare an appropriate diet menu for diabetes, one should be aware of foods to eat and foods to avoid in diabetes.

Foods To Eat In Diabetes

1. All Plant Foods
2. Healthy fats or saturated fats
3. Fish and sea food
4. Nuts and seeds
5. All meats and eggs
6. Cheeses
7. Dairy products in moderation
    

Foods To Avoid In Diabetes

1. Processed Foods
2. High sodium food
3. Saturated fats
4. High calorie fruits like banana and mangoes
5. High calorie vegetables like potatoes and yam
6. Sugar

Now that you have got your basics for preparing a diet menu for diabetes, it will now be easier to plan how to eat throughout the day. Follow the below steps and prepare a menu that defies monotony and breaks the myth of eating blandly in diabetes.

1. Jot down a list of your favourite foods that you can eat in diabetes.
2. Since fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are key to a healthy diet in diabetes, stock enough of your favourite ones in your kitchen pantry and refrigerator.
3. Now list down the recipes that you like for breakfast, lunch, evening snack,and dinner. Now that you are aware if what to eat and what to avoid, either eliminate the unhealthy ingredients from the recipes or replace them with the healthier options.
4. Try and eliminate dishes that contain ingredients absolutely restricted in diabetes.
5. Since your diabetes diet menu should contain lots of vegetables, keep one dish that requires vegetables and keep the portions high.
6. As whole grain foods are highly recommended, make use of whole grain bread, pasta, millets, brown rice, and quinoa into your diet menu.
7. Last but not the least, count your calorie intake. A diet that balances calorie intake over a period of time helps to keep diabetes under control and is considered a perfect diet menu for diabetes. It may not be possible to keep control of calorie intake everyday but definitely one can fix it for a week or fortnight.

As a part of the diabetes diet menu, we also recommend learning new ways of cooking to reduce intake of deep fried foods. Grilling, baking, broiling, or stir frying are healthy ways of cooking, producing equally delicious dishes.  

Image courtesy: ifood.tv