Benefits of a Healthy Diabetic Diet

Benefits of eating a healthy diet are for everyone but for a diabetic there can be even more reasons to follow a nutritious meal plan. Keeping a stable blood glucose level is the biggest reason for a diabetic to follow a diabetic diet. It takes commitment and patience to stick with the diet and plan out all meals each week. But the more that it is done the easier it will become.

Another benefit of eating a healthy diabetic diet is reducing the amount of insulin that is needed. By eating good carbohydrate choices and lean meats you will lower the insulin requirements for your body. The foods you eat all affect on your blood sugars and when you do not choose the best foods for your body it will need more insulin to process them.

In addition to extra insulin requirements, you will suffer from high blood sugars also known as hyperglycemia. This condition can have serious long-term effects on your body and its organs.By continuing with a healthy diet and combining it with regular exercise you can lose excess body weight. This too is good for your insulin requirements and blood glucose levels.

By incorporating exercising into your daily routine you can give your body’s metabolism a boost and help it process the foods you are eating. When the foods you take in are healthy choices your body is going to function better.If you do not follow a healthy diet you can suffer from:

Low blood sugar from not eating enough – hyperglycemia

High blood sugar from eating too much or eating the wrong foods – hypoglycemia

Gain weigh and in turn increase your daily insulin requirement

Lack the energy needed to exercise on a regular basis

Eating well can help control your diabetes and prolong your life expectancy.

Benefits of the Carbohydrate Counting Diet

The carbohydrate counting diet groups foods into three main groups: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. You dietician will provide you with the number of carbohydrates you can have in a day and how that is divided up amongst your meals and snacks. Your dietician will also educate you on how you can determine the numbers of carbohydrates are in some of your favorite foods by reading food labels.

The biggest benefit of the carbohydrate counting diet is that it does not eliminate any foods. A diabetic can choose any food they wish to eat as long as they only eat enough of it to meet their carbohydrate needs. The trick to this is to choose wholesome foods that will fill you up longer. The same amounts of carbohydrates that are in a small handful of potato chips are not equal to the two slices of bread you can have instead. But it is nice to know that if you really want to – once in awhile – you can treat yourself.

Another benefit is keeping a consistent amount of carbohydrates in your body. This can help regulate your insulin needs and control. If your body has the same amount of carbohydrates to process at the same times each day it will be beneficial to your health and blood glucose readings.

When you choose a carbohydrate counting diet it is important to make sure you are doing it correctly. If you don’t you can too much or too little and both situations can be detrimental to your diabetes. Have a dietician teach you how to properly count carbohydrates and closely monitor your blood sugar levels to make sure the diet it working for you.

As with any new diet, give it time for you to adjust and learn how to plan your meals

Benefits of the Exchange Diet

The exchange diet is one that allows you to pick and choose the foods you eat from each of the six food groups based on portion sizes. When you begin eating with this diet, it may seem like a lot of work but as you get used to the portions sizes and the common substitutions that you make it will get easier.

One of the benefits of the exchange diet it the flexibility you have in your meal planning. As long as you are eating the correct number of exchanges from each food group you will maintain better control of your blood glucose levels.

If you get bored quite easily by eating the same food day in and day out, the exchange diet might be for you. There are endless possibilities to combine different foods together at meal times. You can have broccoli for dinner three nights in a row but make it a completely different meal each time.

One night you can have one small potato, ½ cup of steamed broccoli and a one ounce pork chop; the second night have ½ cup of cooked pasta tossed with ½ cup of broccoli and one ounce of cooked chicken; and the third night try 1/3 cup of rice mixed with ½ cup of broccoli and one ounce of lean ground beef.

The exchange diet also takes the guess work out of meal planning for diabetics. It is laid out in a very straight forward and easy to understand manner. If there are foods that you cannot find on the exchange list given to you by your dietician, call and find out which group it belongs too and what a proper portion size is.

At first you should weigh and measure your foods to ensure you are using the proper amounts but as time passes you will be able to do this by sight.