2. What should I eat?

The Diabetes Food Pyramid:

The Diabetes Food Pyramid divides food into six groups. These groups on the pyramid vary in size. The largest group -- grains, beans, and starchy vegetables -- is on the bottom. This means that you should eat the most of them! The smallest group -- fats, sweets, and alcohol -- is at the top of the pyramid. This tells you to eat very few servings from these food groups. If you follow the minimum number of servings in each group, you would eat about 1600 calories and if you eat at the upper end of the range, it would be about 2800 calories.

Making Healthy Food Choices

• Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Eat non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans with meals.


• Choose whole grain foods over processed grain products. Try brown rice with your stir fry or whole wheat spaghetti with your favorite pasta sauce.


• Include dried beans and lentils into your meals.


• Include fish in your meals 2-3 times a week.


• Choose lean meats like cuts of beef and pork that end in "loin" such as pork loin and sirloin. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey.


• Choose non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.


• Choose water and calorie-free "diet" drinks instead of fizzy drinks, fruit punch and sweet tea.


• Choose liquid oils for cooking e.g olive oil. Remember that fats are high in calories.


• Cut back on high calorie snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, biscuits, cakes and full-fat ice cream.


• Eating too much of even healthful foods can lead to weight gain.

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