Nutrition and diabetes

Nutrition is essential

Aggressive management of your blood sugar (glucose) is essential to prevent further complications of the disease such as blindness, amputations and kidney disease. While diabetes often requires insulin or oral medication for proper control, it is important to remember that proper nutrition is also equally critical in diabetes care. You will not be able to achieve good control of your diabetes without making changes in your diet! Nutritional management, in the form of a meal plan designed especially for you, will help you to maintain blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible, and maintain or lose weight. Like many people, you may not have had much success with dieting in the past and you may feel apprehensive about the need to be on a meal plan for essentially the rest of your life. You can improve your chances of succeeding by having a team of health care professionals design a plan that fits your lifestyle. Also, the meal plan may not seem so overwhelming once you realize that the general dietary recommendations for diabetics are very similar to what is recommended for all Americans.

Consult a dietitian

In addition to your doctor, a key member of your health care team will be a dietitian. A dietitian is a nutrition expert who has passed a national credentialing exam. They can use the title Registered Dietitian (R.D.), or in some states Licensed Dietitian (L.D.). Some dietitians take an additional exam for the credential of Certified Diabetes Educator (C.D.E.). Regardless of whether a dietitian is a C.D.E., it is important for you to choose one experienced with diabetic meal planning. They will need to work with your doctor to assist you in fine-tuning your medications, meals and exercise requirements. They also will be able to assist you with reading food labels, and providing cooking and grocery shopping tips. If you have not seen a dietitian, request a referral or contact the American Dietetic Association at (800) 366 -1655.

Diabetic meal plan systems

There are two main meal planning systems, exchange lists and read more