The objective of a dietary plan or diabetic food list for the diabetic person is primarily to aid in the control the amounts of glucose in the bloodstream and to keep the glucose levels within as narrow a range as possible so that they do not exceed acceptable levels by too great an amount.

There will be spikes in blood glucose levels after eating a meal or snack that will vary based on the type of food eaten and its carbohydrate content and the speed in which the resulting glucose is produced when digestion of the food takes place. That is why it is good to know, when compiling a diabetes food list, which foods are the source of the highest carbohydrate content and are the speediest broken down to glucose,  so that they can be eliminated or at least limited in quantity. Those can be identified by reference to the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load index avail able elsewhere on this site.

To maintain glucose levels as evenly as possible throughout the day it is often suggested that meals should be of about the same size and interspersed with snacks, rather than any one meal being much larger than the others.

The essential nutrients needed by the body for its energy and maintenance are obtained from the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in the foods consumed each day. Those foods are broken down to their nutritional chemical components in the digestion process and released through the walls of the intestine to be carried in the bloodstream to the many organs of the body where they are then selectively taken up as required into the body’s millions of cells.

When present, the carbohydrate fraction of the foods is the main source of glucose in the bloodstream and so it is the carbohydrate content of foods that is the major factor around which diabetic food plans are constructed. The more carbohydrates there are, the more glucose will end up in the blood stream. After a meal or snack, when glucose is produced, the impaired body mechanisms of the diabetic person in the production of insulin, needed to conduct the glucose into the cells that require it, and the desensitized sensors on the outer membranes of those cells, results in the unhealthy levels of the glucose remaining in the blood.

From that statement the question could be asked:
“Then why not reduce the amounts of carbohydrate to a minimum so that less glucose is produced to overload the bloodstream?”

That is a good question that would seem to require an answer in the affirmative. But the diabetic associations of most countries do not seem to concur.

The High Carbohydrate approach
The ADA (American Diabetes Association) and others recommend what can be considered a high carbohydrate diet of 50 to 60 percent Carbohydrates, 15 to 20 percent proteins, and 25 to 30 percent fats based on total calories consumed. A calorie is the unit applied to the measurement of energy provided by components of food.

The Low Carbohydrate approach
Although in the minority, many physicians advocate an “Anti-ADA” approach that, conversely, recommends a low carbohydrate content in meals to minimize the amount of glucose that can enter the bloodstream.

A number of books have been published by doctors providing details on diets that have successfully brought their patients to a reversal or near reversal of their diabetic condition or at least a very good control of their glucose levels. The carbohydrate content of those diets is low, from about 20 to 35 percent. There are many different versions, you’ve probably heard of the Dr.Atkins and South Beach Diets, but there are others, some less extreme than those.

The American Academy of Family Physicians defines low carbohydrate diets as:
“Low-carbohydrate diets restrict caloric intake by reducing the consumption of carbohydrates to 20 to 60 g per day (typically less than 20 percent of the daily caloric intake). The consumption of protein and fat is increased to compensate for part of the calories that formerly came from carbohydrates.”

It should also be noted that the American Diabetes Association, after carrying out their own clinical studies with patients on a low carbohydrate diet, agreed that the low carbohydrate was successful in achieving lower blood glucose levels. However, their stated opinion was that such a diet was not likely to be adhered to for a sufficiently long period of time and they therefore keep to their current recommendations regarding carbohydrates. For additional information on lower carbohydrate foods, see our companion site: Diabetic Menu Guide and the reference to low carbohydrate effectiveness can be found in our post :  Low Carbohydrate Approach.

There are other health concerns voiced by members of the medical and health care profession in which reservations are expressed regarding the adoption of a low calorie diet.

Caution:
All matters of diet, exercise, weight-loss, and especially any changes being contemplated, should be discussed with your doctor who will provide guidance on your treatment and should refer you to other health care professionals for more complete answers if necessary.

One other factor regarding carbohydrates is that they exist in several different forms that are usually classified as either “simple” or “complex”. The difference being in their chemical structure that results in a speedier breakdown to glucose for the simple form and a longer time for the complex forms. This makes the complex forms generally more favorable to include in a diabetic menu plan and a special index, known as the Glycemic Index, has been devised to rate the varying speeds of conversion of carbohydrates to glucose.

Vegetarian, Vegan, and Others
There are other dietary approaches that are effective in the management and control of blood glucose and that do not so much emphasize the carbohydrate content of foods. Among these are the Vegetarian and Vegan life styles that have many virtues from a viewpoint of nutrition. They concentrate on vegetables and fruits that are automatically low on the Glycemic Index, the speed in which their carbohydrate content is converted to glucose.

However, in North America, only a small percentage of the population follow a vegetarian or vegan regime, we are a meat-eating and fat-rich food consuming nation.

Return to Introduction Page and Articles List

This blog is called Diabetic Food List + Plus

Our objective is to provide information regarding a wide range of foods and how they can fit into a diabetic meal plan and a diabetic lifestyle. And the Plus in the title indicates that our intention is to cover not only foods that apply to an appropriate diabetic food list but to also discuss other topics that are  relevant to us and our life-styles as diabetics. Those topics will include, weight-loss, exercise, symptoms and types of diabetes and the complications that can occur in some cases if and when the disease advances, especially if not properly controlled and managed.

Articles on this site, click to access:

Posted to date, 2011

Chocolate! Is This Good News forf the Diabetic or What?

A Sort of  Salsa Recipe, Now On My Diabetic Menu

Salsa, An Addition to the Diabetic Food List to treat the Pain of Neuropathy

Tumeric, An Age-Old Food to Add to the Diabetic Food List

Vinegar — An Addition for the Diabetic Food List?

Pecans — More Nuts for the Diabetic Food List with Reference to Fats and Vitamin E

Brazil Nuts and Selenium, Additions to the Diabetic Food List, and a Note On Cancer

Soy Milk for the Diabetic Food List

Oatmeal and the diabetic menu

Additions to the Diabetic Food List – Part 1 of 4, Alpha-lipoic Acid

Additions to the Diabetic Food List – Part 2 of 4, Gymnema Sylvestre

Posted October and November, 2010:

Dietary Fiber for the Diabetic Food List

Episodes of Low Blood Sugars

Previous articles:

How to Manage the Diabetic Condition For the Newly Diagnosed Diabetic  – Read this First

About Foods and Diabetic Food Lists

Establishing Food Plans – Considerations

Diabetes, the Diagnosis and After

About Diabetes, A Simple Explanation

The Glycemic Index and the Glycemic Load

Low Carb Foods

Diabetes Juicer Recipes for Managing Blood Sugars

My Diabetic Food Plan – Part 1

My Diabetic Food Plan – Part 2

My Diabetic Food Plan – Part 3

Body Mass Index (BMI) Chart

Men . . . Listen Up,  and Take Warning

Some Non-regular Items for Your Diabetic Food List

ALMONDS in the control of Diabetes and High Cholesterol

Other supplementary food items to consider

Cinnamon – Does It Help Combat Diabetes?

Flaxseed Chia Hempseed Fenugreek Flavinoids

Omega-3′s Onions-and-Garlic Vinegars Mulberry-Leaf

Discussing more than just food We are not limiting ourselves to the discussion of diabetic foods and diabetic food lists as was originally intended. We also want to provide more general information on the entire subject of diabetes, including links to our other diabetes sites where more than food is discussed. We do this because it can be useful, especially to the newly diagnosed diabetic who may have questions about the disease and uncertainties regarding what they will now be facing. And that will certainly include matters relating to food, exercise, perhaps weight loss and perhaps medications, topics that we have written about and are linked to this site. I am a type-2  diabetic myself, for more than 20 years now, so I can anticipate many of the questions and topics that are of interest.

Caution: If you are a diabetic you must be under the care of a physician. Your doctor and health care team will monitor the progress of your diabetes and advise you on what must be done to control and manage the condition. But the day-to-day management is in your own hands and the actions you take may affect the outcome, beneficially or otherwise.

For those newly diagnosed, here is an introduction to being Diabetic. And for a description of how it works, see About Diabetes.

Before discussing Diabetic Foods and Diabetic Food Lists, a general comment: There are several factors we might consider, including selection of food items and their preparation for consumption that meet the individual’s personal tastes and preferences, most of us have grown up with family meals reflecting regional, and perhaps cultural influences, foods that are commonly available in one area may not be so elsewhere, those who live in towns near the sea are likely to favor fish more so perhaps than those growing up in farm country. Otherwise, in the matter of foods for diabetics, the general approach is to select foods with  properties that as much as possible do not add to the problems of high blood sugars that are always with us. There are abundant nutritious and varied food items that meet that requirement, no foods are “off-limits” but portion size and frequency may need to be restricted for good blood sugar control.

Go to our post for a Food List with nutritional and other information. In an accompanying post on this site, there is reference to dietary approaches recommended by: The ADA (American Diabetes Association)  – a high carbohydrate version. The anti-ADA approach  – a low carbohydrate version. and brief references to the Vegetarian and Vegan versions. Check out the  Vegetarian Approach to a Diabetic Menu for more details.

Other articles and topics to consider: Special requirements concerning the need to lose weight that will require dealing with total calories and some reference to weight loss strategies and exercise – and let’s add cholesterol and cardio-vascular references too. On this site we will also make reference to  Supplements, Vitamins and Minerals and to food items that have properties that are said, by some, to be beneficial to diabetics, we will refer to and describe those items, and give some reference sources, with links if possible, for such things as: Flaxseed, Cinnamon, Mulberry leaf, Fenugreek, Bilberry, Onions and Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Flavinoids + others and to Minerals such as Chromium, Co-Q10, Magnesium, + others.