The Diabetic Food List

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Understanding the diabetic food list is the very first step of knowing what type of food is beneficial to a patient and in what amount. The food list also plays a critical role when it comes to the preparation of meals and the creation of a certain diet plan.

The goods under the diabetic food list are as follows:


1. Starch List

All breads, including food items that have whole grain as their primary ingredient, fall under this category. There are different foods rich in starch available in the market today. Cereal, grains, and pasta are good examples. Generally, a serving of a single food item like bran cereals has an estimated content of 80 calories, 15g of carbohydrates, 3g of proteins, and minimal fats. For this example, one-third cup of bran cereal is one serving.

Dried beans and starchy vegetables are under this category too. Crackers, biscuits, toasts, pretzels and tacos are also included. One serving of these food items differ greatly from each other. But the rule of thumb would be the higher the starch content the food has, the lower will be the amount required by the body.


2. Meat List

Meat is the primary source of protein. And this is one of the reasons why a diabetic food list includes meats as a category. Meats are classified further into four groups. These would be the very lean, lean, medium-fat, and high-fat groups. A serving of meat under these groups should be a steady 7 grams. However, the fat content and the calories for each of them are expected to be different. Very lean meats provide 0 to 1g of fats and 35 calories. Leans have 3g fat and 55 calories. Medium-fat are slightly higher at 5g and 75 calories. High-fat are the ones with the highest levels of fat and calories at 8g and 100 calories respectively.


3. Vegetable List

Vegetables are healthy foods. And diabetics are going to need them. But of course, they should be taken in moderation as well. Anything taken in excess is bad. And this is very applicable to diabetic patients. One serving size of any kind of vegetable would be one cup for raw and half a cup if they are cooked. For vegetable juices, a single serving is going to be half a cup as well.

Keep in mind that there are vegetables that are considered starchy. These vegetables don't fall under this particular diabetic food list. Instead, they belong to the starch group. Starchy vegetables are corn, peas, and potatoes. On the other hand, vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, asparagus, broccoli, and beets are examples of the food group under this category.


4. Fruit List


Diabetics are going to need fruits to keep their body healthy. Some fruits are high in dietary fiber, which is actually beneficial to diabetic patients. A single serving of fruits would be half a cup if it is fresh and a quarter of a cup if it is dried. One serving of fruit juices is half a cup as well. All fruits should be acceptable. Apples, banana, apricot, blackberry, cherries, grapes, peaches, and watermelon are good examples. There are certain fruits that patients can even eat for more than one serving. An example would be mandarin oranges, raspberries, and dates.


5. Milk List.

Milk is one good source of nutrients. Diabetics can consume this beverage provided that they do it in controlled amounts only. Milk could be skim, low-fat, or whole. Skim milk is the one with the lowest calorie content, which is at 90. Low-fat milk, on the other hand, has 120 calories. Whole milk has the highest calorie content at 150.


6. Fats List

Fats are needed by the body too, but only the ones of the right type. Unsaturated fat are the better sources of fat. Margarine, mayonnaise, and nuts are food items that are rich in unsaturated fats. Saturated fats can be taken too, but never in excessive amounts. If they can be excluded from the diabetic food list, then that's going to be even better.