Healthy diet for diabetes

A healthy diet is important for managing diabetes. You should be aware of when what, and how much food you consume each day.

A healthy diet can help you keep your blood sugar levels within the target range, reducing your risk of developing complications related to diabetes.

There is no diabetic diet. Diabetes patients can eat the same foods that everyone else does.

We recommend that people start by following the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Eating in Adults and Healthy Eating in Children.

• Find dietary advice
• What should I eat
• Choose a variety of vegetables and beans
• Eat two servings of fruit per day
• Grains such as cereals, pasta, breads and rice
• Lean poultry, fish and meat
• Alternatives to dairy products such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or chèvre
• Sugar
• Drink water
• Between-Meal Snacks
• Maintaining healthy weight

Find dietary advice

Diabetes Australia advises all people with diabetes to consult an accredited dietitian who can provide personalized dietary advice.

A dietitian who is accredited and practices can teach you how to make healthier food choices. A dietitian will also be able to help you create a diet plan that is tailored to your specific dietary requirements.

Your dietitian will help you create a healthy diet plan that meets your nutritional needs and maintains healthy blood sugar levels throughout your pregnancy.

Dietitians can be found in local hospitals, diabetes centres, and community health centres. They can be consulted in person, over the phone, or via telehealth.

Medicare may offer a rebate for dietitian fees if your doctor refers you to a Chronic Disease Plan if you suffer from a chronic disease, such as diabetes. Your health fund may offer a rebate if you have a private health plan.

What should I eat

A good diet is essential for diabetes management. It also promotes a healthy lifestyle.

There is no single-size-fits-all approach to diabetes and food. People should speak to a health professional who can help them develop a plan that works for them.

A healthy diet is about eating a wide variety of food from each of the five food groups.

• Vegetables and legumes
• fruit
• Wholegrain foods such as cereals, pasta, rice, and bread
• Lean meats, poultry, tofu and nuts
• milk, yoghurt, cheese or non-dairy, calcium-fortified plant alternatives.

To help manage your diabetes:

• Eat more whole foods and less packaged or processed foods.
• Eat regularly and evenly distribute your meals throughout the day.
• Find out what kind of carbohydrate food to eat and how much to consume.
• Try to reduce the GL in your meals by following a diet with a low GI.
• Eat a diet lower in fat, particularly saturated fat.
• If you are taking insulin or diabetes tablets, you may need between-meal snacks. Check with your healthcare provider if you require this.
• Every person’s needs differ. All people with diabetes need to consult an accredited dietitian, in conjunction with the diabetes team, for individualized advice.

Low carbohydrate

Read our position statement on low carbohydrate eating for diabetics if you are interested.

Professor Grant Brinkworth, CSIRO, answers a Q&A with Diabetes Australia about low-carbohydrate Eating.

Learn more about carbohydrates and their effect on blood glucose levels.

Diabetes Australia telehealth clinic

You can consult with expert Diabetes Australia clinicians virtually. Our team of qualified health professionals has extensive experience in supporting people with diabetes.

Energy Balance

Finding the right balance for your diet is key to eating well.

It is important to match the amount you consume with the energy you use through exercise and activity. Too much fuel can cause weight gain.

Limit high-energy foods such as sweet biscuits and cakes, fruit juices and drinks sweetened with sugar, lollies and chocolate, and take-out food. To manage your energy intake, you can also control portion size by eating mindfully.

Regular physical activity, along with healthy eating, can help manage blood sugar levels, reduce blood fats (cholesterol, triglycerides and triglycerides), and maintain healthy body weight.

Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating is a technique that you can use to increase your enjoyment of food and to prevent overeating. No one wants to feel bloated or overfull.

Overeating may cause weight gain, prevent weight loss or raise blood glucose levels when the food is carbohydrate-rich. By eating mindfully, you can manage your blood sugar and weight while enjoying your food.

How can I eat mindfully?

Concentrate on your food. Turn off the TV and put your book, phone or newspaper to one side.

Enjoy your food. Use all your senses to savour your food. Look at it, enjoy the sight of it, smell its aroma, feel your mouth’s sensation, and taste the flavours. Use cutlery only after you have put food into your mouth. Chew slowly. After chewing, swallow the food.

Mindfully eating your favourite treats will make you eat less. Your body will tell your brain, “That’s it.”

Listen to your body as you eat. It will tell you when you’re no longer hungry or if you’ve had enough. You should be curious and aware of your body signals.

How hungry/full am I?

Use a rating scale to learn to recognize your hunger and fullness signals. It may take a while to get used to them again. You might rate yourself on a one-to-ten scale based on how hungry or satisfied you feel before eating and how you want to feel afterwards.

Hunger /fullness Physical sensation

1 Hunger, shakiness, shaky feeling, needing to eat right now

2 A slight pain in the stomach, difficulty concentrating, and lack of energy

3 Beginning physical signs of hunger and stomach growling

4 Would eat if suggested

5 Neutral

6 Satisfied

7 Can feel food in the stomach

8 Stomach sticks out

9 Feeling tired, sleepy, and bloated

10 Feeling physically sick, feeling full but not energetic, feeling stomach discomfort

Honour your feelings of hunger and fullness. Eat enough to satisfy your hunger while keeping in mind what you want to feel at the end of your meal. You can stop eating when you are satisfied or even neutral. Reflect on your feelings later, and don’t berate yourself if your hunger/fullness rating is higher than what you intended.

Why do I eat the food I eat?

What makes you choose certain foods and portions? What is it? Is this habit convenient or stressful?

You may be surprised when you consider all the factors that influence your Eating. You can serve more food if you have a larger plate or less if you use a smaller one.

Emotional Eating

Many people are aware of what happens when they feel sad, stressed, or emotionally charged. Most know that they tend to overeat “sometimes” foods or treats when they are stressed, sad, or emotional.

Do not judge yourself. You can be kind to yourself and say what you would like to speak to someone else.

Enjoy your food always!

Choose a variety of vegetables and beans.

Eat a variety of vegetables each day to ensure that you get the nutrients needed to remain healthy. Vegetables are low in calories and provide important nutrients.

To maintain good health, we should all eat at least five servings of vegetables each day. A serving of vegetables is half a cup of cooked orange or green vegetables, beans or lentils, or any other legumes. It can also be one cup of salad or half a medium-sized potato.

Vegetables include:

• Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, zucchini
• Potato, sweet potato, pumpkin
• Lettuce and baby spinach leaves, kale cucumber and tomato
• Chickpeas and lentils

Cans and frozen vegetables are a great alternative to fresh vegetables. They are just as nutritious, often easier to prepare, cheaper, and more accessible in remote areas.

Having trouble getting your five servings of vegetables in a day? Here are some tips on how to increase your intake:

• Choose vegetables in a range of colours every day, including orange, red, and green
• Store vegetables in the refrigerator as sticks for a quick and easy snack
• Vegetables are a must in every meal. Add grated or sliced vegetables to soups, casseroles, or pasta dishes.
• For the best price and freshness, buy vegetables during the season from local sources like farmers’ markets.

Consume two servings of fruit per day.

We are fortunate to enjoy a wide variety of fruit in Australia all year long. Like vegetables, fruit is rich in fibre and many nutrients.

You can also add frozen or canned fruit to your favourite meals for a quick, healthy snack. Choose canned fruit that is in its natural juice and not syrup.

Examples of servings of fruit include:

• 1 medium apple, pear, banana or orange
• 2 small kiwi, apricots or plums
• 1 cup canned fruit (no liquid)
• 1/2 cup 100% fruit juice without added sugar
• 4 sultanas or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried apricots

Fruit tips to enjoy every day:

• Choose fresh fruit over fruit juice or dried fruit
• Instead of sugar or honey, you can add your favourite fresh fruit to your cereal instead
• Serve fruit with low-fat yoghurt, custard or ice cream
• For the best price and freshness, buy fruit during the season from local sources like farmers’ markets.

Grain products such as cereals, bread, rice, and pasta

To get the most energy, fibre, and B vitamins, choose wholegrain products, like multigrain bread.

The group of grain foods includes:

• breads
• breakfast cereal
• rolled Oats
• rice
• pasta
• noodles
• crispbreads
• crumpets
• polenta
• cous cous
• quinoa

Many people worry about eating too much of this food group, especially if they are trying to lose weight. These foods are low in fat and will keep you feeling fuller longer, especially if you opt for whole grains.

Watch your portions and reduce the amount of butter, margarine, or other high-fat spreads you add to foods.

One serving of grain food is equal to:

• 1 piece of bread
• 1/2 a bread roll
• Half a cup of cooked pasta or rice
• 2/3 cup of breakfast cereal

Great grain tips:

• Try different grains like couscous or polenta for variety. These are quick and easy to make, and they taste great when served with casserole dishes.
• Add Pearl Barley to Soups for an Extra Burst of Energy
• For your sandwich lunch, try different breads such as sourdough and pita bread made from wholemeal or multigrain.

Lean poultry, fish and meat

This group of foods is our main source of protein, iron and B12. Iron is especially important for women, and meat contains more iron than other foods like vegetables and beans.

While meat is an essential part of Australian cuisine, we often eat more than we need.

A protein serve is equal to:

• 65g cooked lean meat, such as beef or pork (about 90-100g Raw)
• 80g cooked lean turkey or chicken (100g raw).
• 100g cooked fish (about 112g raw)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cooked or canned lentils (or chickpeas) or other beans
• 170g tofu, or
• 30g unsalted nuts

Alternatives such as lentils and chickpeas are good sources of protein for those who do not eat meat. Everyone could benefit by eating more of these foods.

Since meat is a saturated fat, it’s best to select lean cuts and remove any visible fat before cooking.

Additional tips for lowering the fat content of foods:

• Use low-fat cooking methods like grilling or stir-frying.
• Use herbs and low-fat marinades to flavour your meat, such as garlic and mixed herbs.
• Before serving, allow casseroles and stews to cool and remove the fat from the top.
• Reducing the amount of meat in your recipes and replacing it with legumes such as kidney beans, lentils, or chickpeas will help you save money while adding more fibre. ).
• Eat more fish each week. Grill or bake it instead of deep-frying.
• Replace meat with other high-protein foods such as eggs, tofu, or other legumes.

Dairy alternatives such as milk, yoghurt or cheese

Calcium and protein are found in dairy foods like milk, cheese and yoghurt. It is recommended that adults consume at least two and a half servings of dairy products each day. Choose low-fat or skim milk, cheese and yoghurt for good health.

A serving example from this food group would be:

• 1 cup of milk (250ml)
• 2 Slices of Cheese
• 200g tub yoghurt
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

You can also opt for calcium-fortified plant-based or soy milk or yoghurts if you do not consume dairy products. Green leafy vegetables and canned fish like salmon or sardines with bones are also good sources of calcium.

Dairy Tips:

• Enjoy a snack of low-fat yoghurt or crackers with cheese
• Reduce sugar by adding your favourite fruit to natural yoghurt
• Choose plain milk over flavoured varieties
• Add cheese to sandwiches, pasta and vegetable dishes

Sugar

Sugar can be part of a healthy diet for diabetics. Sugar is fine on porridge or a small amount of jam on low GI, high-fibre bread.

You can also use sugar in the cooking. Many recipes allow you to modify them so that they contain less or an alternative sweetener. Choose recipes with low-fat content (especially saturated fats) and fibre.

Alternative sweeteners

As we have already mentioned, small amounts of sugar in a balanced diet plan should not have a significant effect on blood glucose. Sweeteners like Equal, Stevia, and Sugarine You can also find out more about the following: Splenda Can be substituted for sugar, particularly if you are replacing large quantities of sugar. Sugar-free sweeteners are used in foods and drinks such as diet sodas and cordials. They are best consumed occasionally as they have no nutritional value and can often replace more nutritious food and beverages, such as fruit, vegetables, dairy, nuts, and water.

Drink water

The body requires water for many of its functions, so it is important to keep it hydrated each day.

The best beverage to drink is water because it doesn’t contain extra calories, won’t affect your blood sugar levels, and is good for your kidneys. Tea, coffee, herbal tea, water, mineral water, and soda water are all good options.

If you like a sweet drink from time to time, try products with labels such as ‘low-calorie’ or ‘diet’.

Limit your alcohol consumption to no more than ten standard drinks a week. No more than four standard drinks on any given day. Include some alcohol-free weeks each week.

Between-Meal Snacks

Certain types of diabetes tablets or insulin can require a diabetic snack between meals and at supper. Most people who are trying to lose weight should avoid snacking between meals.

Snacks can be made from a variety of healthy foods. Fruits in season are best (e.g., an apple, banana, peach, pear, three small apricots or grapes, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 cup rockmelon, watermelon, or 1/2 cup of grapes).

 

• Fruits in tins or fresh (e.g. Fruits: 1 peach (or three apricots), one pear (2 mandarins), grapes, 1/2 mango (3 plums), one banana (1 orange), one circle of pineapple, etc.
• Vegetable sticks (e.g. Celery, carrots, capsicums, and snow peas with one tablespoon of low-fat dip.
• Celery boats filled with two tablespoons of cottage cheese and chopped tomatoes
• 30 grams mixed nuts
• 1 piece of multigrain or raisin bread
• 1 tub low-fat, plain yoghurt
• 250 mL or 1 cup of reduced-fat milk
• 30 grams salt-reduced pretzels
• Vitawheat Biscuits Topped with Cottage Cheese, Tomato and Chives
• 1 cup plain popcorn
• Half a wholegrain English Muffin with tomato slices and one slice of reduced-fat cheese.
• Serve two pita triangles toasted with low-fat tomato salsa and 1 tbsp of toasted wholemeal bread.
• 2 small rolls of sushi (without soy sauce).
• 1 small can of baked beans

Learn more about the benefits of snacking between meals.

Maintaining a healthy body weight

Diabetes and body weight

Everyone should strive to maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight, a small weight loss of 5-10% can significantly impact your diabetes management.

It may be more effective to measure your waistline than to use scales. In general:

• Women should aim to have a waistline of less than 80 cm
• Men should aim to have a waistline of less than 94cm.

Discuss the appropriate measurements for various cultural groups with your doctor.

You can reduce your weight by taking the following steps:

• A balanced, healthy diet is important. You can do this by reducing the amount of calories and fat you consume and sometimes even your discretionary food and beverage intake.
• Participate in regular physical activity.
• Ask for advice tailored to your needs from your doctor, diabetes educator or dietitian.

Many people find weight a sensitive subject. Losing weight and maintaining it cannot be easy. Speak to your doctor, diabetes educator or dietitian if you need additional help with weight loss and maintaining a healthy body weight.