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Diabetes

Guidelines for daily meal planning

Good nutrition is one of the most basic and important diabetes care tools. Eating right can help control blood sugar. And good control protects your long-term health.

Whether you are following a calorie-level meal plan, counting carbohydrates, using exchanges or just trying to improve the overall nutritional value of your current eating patterns, the food lists and meal planning options on this page will give you a solid starting point.

Think of this information only as a temporary guide. Keep in mind that every person with diabetes should have a customized meal plan that provides more freedom in terms of food choices. Just about any food, including your favorites, can be fit into your meal plan. A Registered Dietitian (RD) can work with you to develop the plan that best meets your needs and lifestyle. Ask your doctor, diabetes educator, hospital or local diabetes association for the names of dietitians in your area who specialize in diabetes.

Meal planning options

Many effective meal plans involve tracking what you eat. Two of the most popular approaches are counting calories for regulating weight and counting carbohydrates for blood sugar control. Your diabetes health care professional will recommend the best approach for your needs.

Calorie meal plans

The table below shows sample meal plans by number of servings, for different calorie levels. To maintain a healthy weight, choose a calorie level close to what you're eating now. If you need to gain or lose weight, ask your doctor, dietitian or educator which plan to use. Each plan provides about half of its calories from carbohydrates and less than 30 percent of calories from fat, based upon choosing skim milk and medium or lower-fat meats and cheeses.

Sample Meal Plans (shown in numbers of food servings)

Calories per day
1,200
1,500
1,800
2,000
2,500
Other:
Carbohydrates
Starch (15 gram carb servings)
5
7
8
9
11
.
Fruit (15 gram carb servings)
3
3
4
4
6
.
Milk (12 gram carb servings)
2
2
3
3
3
.
Vegetables (5 gram carb servings)*
2
2
3
4
5
. .
Other carbohydrates
.
.
.
.
.
..
Meat and meat substitutes
4
4
6
6
8
.
Fat
3
4
4
5
6
.

* Three vegetable servings provide the same amount of carbohydrates as one serving of other carbohydrate food groups.

Carbohydrate counting

Carbohydrates (starch and sugar) are the main nutrients in food that raise blood sugar. When you plan meals based on carbohydrate counting, count only the foods that contain carbohydrates. If you are using a packaged food with a nutrition label, count the number of carbohydrate grams for the serving size. Servings from any of these high carbohydrate groups are considered to be equal: starch, fruit, milk and other carbohydrates (sweets).

Food selections / food lists

Starches and Breads: Example foods from this group include breads, rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, peas, crackers, popcorn, chips, tortillas and pretzels.

Fruits: Example foods from this group include apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, lemon, peaches and plums.

Milk and milk products: Example foods from this group include milk, yogurt and cream.

Vegetables: Example foods from this group include tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, lettuce, peppers, broccoli and eggplant.

Other carbohydrates: Example foods from this group include ice cream, pudding, honey, jelly, jello and low-fat yogurt.

Meat and meat substitutes: Example foods from this group include chicken, fish, shrimp, beef, pork, eggs and cheese.

Fats: Example foods from this group include oils, butter, mayonnaise, peanut butter, bacon and avocados.

Free Food: Example foods from this group include tea, coffee, salads, cucumbers, pickles, low-calorie ranch dressing, ketchup and radishes.

Seasonings: Example foods from this group include garlic, lemon, vanilla extract, soy sauce and paprika.

Portion sizes

In the absence of measuring utensils, you can judge the size of food portions using your hand as a reference. See the guidelines below:

Source: "Daily Meal Planning Guide," © 2002 Eli Lilly and Company.

Resources available:

The following items are available free to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma and BlueLincs HMO members enrolled in the diabetes health promotion program.

  • Monofilament self-tester (tests for sensation loss in feet)
  • Managing your Diabetes (self-care diary)

E-mail us for more information on the diabetes health promotion program or call toll-free 1-866-670-6681.

FEP members e-mail here or call toll-free at 1-800-388-4673.