The misconception about a diabetes diet is that it's mostly about religiously avoiding sweets—it's not. Creating a dietary regimen that prevents and/or controls diabetes is mostly about eating healthy and maintaining regular meal times. Also, a redefinition of what constitutes a sweet treat is in order.
Many experts agree that a good diabetes diet is made up of eating at a consistent time and putting emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and whole foods. What you need to do is cut back on a lot of refined foods and processed sugars. A good tip when buying at the supermarket is to avoid the middle and just shop at the edges where the word "instant!" does not come up so often.
The most important thing is to keep the blood sugar levels to a steady rate so that means no overeating! Re-educate yourself on what can and cannot be considered a square meal—it doesn't always mean eating until your stuffed; in fact, it shouldn't mean that at all. Even if you are eating healthy meals, that doesn't give you a free pass to eat a lot.
The mistaken belief of a diabetic diet that is devoid of sweets should be abolished—you can still eat sweets! It's just that you need to be a little more careful. The key to this is careful planning; for example, if you know that you're going to be eating sweets today or perhaps have already eaten sweets, make an effort to eat healthier as the day progresses.
Other useful tips include: do not keep sweets around the house because if it's there, you're probably going to eat it. Also, you can just eat sweet treats outside the house—thus, making it a real treat as you won't be having it often. Share your dessert, wherever you are, this will keep sugar levels in check.
Another good thing about eating less of these kinds of food and pledging allegiance to healthier meals is that your cravings shift as well. Soon, you will be craving more for whole foods rather than plain junk. I like to think of that as an added bonus when following the diabetes diet.
It is also important to know the definition of complex carbohydrates as these will be the carbohydrates you will need to consume. Simple carbohydrates such as candy should be replaced with whole wheat bread or pasta. Other suggested foods are brown rice (as opposed to white), or oats (as opposed to processed cereals).
Read up and research nutrition books in order to determine the best set of carbohydrates for your diet. There is no shortage of information. Your diet will only ever be limited by budget.
Fibre also plays an important part in the diabetes diet as it improves blood sugar control (good for both preventing and controlling diabetes). Fibre is also associated with lowering the risk of heart disease, not to mention, promotes that feeling of fullness so you need not overeat. If it sounds like something a normal person ought to do anyway, it's because it probably is.
Regular eating habits are also very important as blood sugar drops to an alarming rate whenever meals aren't consumed as per the routine. Creating a habit out of this will also help your body with regards to metabolic activity. Remember: a diabetes diet is just a healthy diet with a different name.
