Diabetes Health Center

A food guide is a tool for planning a balanced diet. A healthy diet provides the nutrients your body needs and decreases your risk for heart disease and other conditions. Many people use the MyPyramid guide to plan a healthy diet.

Key points

• People with diabetes can use a modified version of MyPyramid to help them spread the amount of carbohydrate they eat throughout the day.
• A food guide contains the same foods your family eats. You do not have to eat special foods.
• You can successfully follow this method by:
  • Planning your family meals ahead of time so you can enjoy the same foods as other family members.
  • Providing lots of variety in the foods you eat so it's easier to follow your plan.
  • Testing your blood sugar after meals to see what effect different foods have on your blood sugar level.
• Women with diabetes who are pregnant or breast-feeding need the same nutrition as pregnant or breast-feeding women who do not have diabetes. Pregnant women need more of all nutrients, but they especially need iron and folic acid and should get supplements of these. During the second and third trimester, you also need about 300 calories a day more than you did before pregnancy. Regular meals and snacks are important to prevent low blood sugar during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Talk to your registered dietitian or certified diabetes educator about changes you may need to make to your food plan.

More information about diabetes can be found in these topics:

• Type 1 Diabetes
• Type 1 Diabetes: Recently Diagnosed
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With the Disease
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With Complications
• Type 1 Diabetes: Children Living With the Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Type 2 Diabetes in Children
• Gestational Diabetes

A food guide is a way to plan a healthy diet.

• Foods within each group have similar nutrient content. For example, the foods in the milk and milk products group have similar amounts of calcium, protein, vitamin D, and riboflavin.
• Each group has a recommended number of servings.

Carbohydrate is the nutrient that most affects your blood sugar level. The more carbohydrate you eat at one time, the higher your blood sugar level will rise. Spreading carbohydrate intake throughout the day helps keep your blood sugar levels within your target range. A food guide for diabetes can help you plan your diet accordingly.

Eating the recommended number of servings from each food group every day gives you the proper amount of nutrients to meet your needs and reduces your risk for heart disease and other conditions. Eating regular meals can help you spread carbohydrate intake throughout the day.

Here are some ways to start using a food guide for diabetes.

Eat regular meals

Eat 4 to 6 smaller meals and snacks throughout the day to spread your intake of food throughout the day. Plan several meals at a time. Plan to double some recipes and freeze the leftovers to use for other meals. Reuse menu plans.

Use the food guide

The food guide for diabetes can help you:

• Become familiar with the different food groups. Post a copy of the groups in a food guide for diabetes in a convenient place, such as on your refrigerator door.
• Plan meals to include food from all the groups. A registered dietitian can help you plan the food groups to include in each meal and snack.
  • Breakfast usually includes food from the milk, fruit, and grains food groups. Meat and vegetables also may be eaten at breakfast.
  • Lunch and dinner usually include foods from most or all food groups.
  • Snacks may include only one or two food groups (usually a fruit or bread).
  • Milk and milk products are a separate group. If you don't like or can't drink milk, you will need to find a way to add to your diet more calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients that milk provides. Talk with a registered dietitian about how to get enough calcium and other nutrients. If you are pregnant, you need extra calcium and may need to take supplements.
• Eat standard portions. Sometimes what you may consider a serving is much larger than the recommended serving size. For example, if you eat a plateful of spaghetti (about 2 cups), you have eaten 6 servings from the grain group in a food guide. It's easy to eat more servings from a food group than are recommended for a balanced diet. You don't always need to measure and weigh the food you eat, but it may be helpful when you are first learning what makes a standard portion. It can also be helpful to know what a serving size looks like.
  • 1 ounce (1 oz)
  • 3 ounces (3 oz)
  • ½ cup
  • 1 cup
  • 1 teaspoon (1 tsp)
  • 1 tablespoon (1 Tbsp)

Other suggestions

Other suggestions for helping you be successful in using a food guide include:

• Checking your blood sugar level before and 1 to 2 hours after a meal to see how food affects your blood sugar.
• Recording what you eat on a food record form. Review your record with your registered dietitian or certified diabetes educator at each visit and whenever you think your plan needs adjusting. See an example of a food record form(What is a PDF document?).
• Getting more help. The American Diabetes Association has information and a poster on the food guide for people with diabetes. See the Where to Go From Here section below for the address, phone number, and Web site of the American Diabetes Association. But you will still need to talk with a registered dietitian to set up a plan that fits your needs.

Now that you have read this information, you may feel ready to start planning and eating regular meals using a food guide for diabetes.

Talk with your doctor, registered dietitian, or certified diabetes educator

If you have questions about this information, take it with you when you visit your registered dietitian or certified diabetes educator. He or she can explain a food guide for diabetes and help you plan meals.

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