MedlinePlus: Diabetic Diet

MedlinePlus: Diabetic Diet

If you have diabetes, your body cannot make or properly use insulin. This leads to high blood glucose, or sugar, levels in your blood. Healthy eating helps to reduce your blood sugar. It is a critical part of managing your diabetes, because controlling your blood sugar can prevent the complications of diabetes.

Wise food choices are a foundation of diabetes treatment. Diabetes experts suggest meal plans that are flexible and take your lifestyle and other health needs into account. A registered dietitian can help you design a meal plan.

Healthy diabetic eating includes

Limiting sweets
Eating often
Being careful about when and how many carbohydrates you eat
Eating lots of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables
Eating less fat
Limiting your use of alcohol

Start Here
Diabetes - Meal Planning(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player
Also available in Spanish
Recipe and Meal Planner Guide: Eating Healthy and Staying Fit to Control and Manage Diabetes(National Diabetes Education Program)
Also available in Spanish
What I Need to Know about Eating and Diabetes(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
Also available in Spanish

Topic last reviewed: 29 September 2008