Diet Meal Plans Q & A

Jamison Bentley asked:


Are you exhibiting symptoms of Diabetes Type 2? Is your blood sugar elevated above 100? Have you visited your physician and he is telling you that you might have Diabetes? Has the physician told you that you BMI is elevated and you are obese? If so, now is the time to take action. There are three steps that you can take that are effective in controlling these symptoms – diet, exercise and medications.

Obesity is now a recognized disease, which is preventable with life style changes such as diet. Obesity has been known to induce Diabetes Mellitus (type 2). A risk factor for diabetes is a BMI greater than or equal to 27. Diabetes is an imbalance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein.

Early treatment for diabetes normalizes the blood glucose level and will slow down the complications.
Diabetics will need a diet that is planned to meet their nutritional requirement, keep the blood glucose within the normal range and maintain or obtain the appropriate body weight.

There are low calorie diets such as the 1200 or 1500 calorie diabetic diet which would limit your calories, but still give you enough food so you would not be hungry. Once you have your diabetic meal plan, it is very important to follow it every meal. These diets are planned to give you the proper balance of nutrition so you can lose weight and normalize your blood glucose levels.

Nearly all weight loss diets are derived from diabetic meal plans originally. If you are suffering from the symptoms of diabetes you must make sure you are eating the right foods and are watching your food intake.

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Kandpal Subhash asked:


Diabetes is an unceasing disease associated with abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood. People with diabetes should avoid using nicotinic acid. It is an unpredictable disease which causes a high glucose level and can cause kidney failure – this develops in about 20% of all patients with diabetes. High blood sugar also called diabetes mellitus. Diabetes can occur when your body doesn’t make enough insulin to keep your blood sugar controlled. This is called Type I diabetes. In overweight individuals, diabetes is often caused by insulin resistance, where insulin levels may be elevated, but the body’s tissues are resistant to its effects. This is also known as Type II diabetes. Diet acts an important role in controlling the diabetes. The diabetic diet may be used alone or else in combination with insulin doses or with oral hypoglycemic drugs. Main objective of diabetic diet is to maintain ideal body weight, by providing adequate nutrition along with normal blood sugar levels in blood. The diet plan for a diabetic is based on height, weight, age, sex, physical activity and nature of diabetes. While planning diet, the dietician has to consider complications such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels. Here the patients require something which can provide all the information about the calories, sugar level that can calculate the calories and sugar level.

Effective diabetic-management requires a healthy regular lifestyle which should include-

Working towards obtaining ideal body weight

Regular balanced diet & following a diabetic diet

Regular exercise

Sensible weight control

Diabetic medication if needed

Diabetes can be controlled by the daily activities, patient should know that what, when, and how much eating will affect the blood glucose level. Following are some advices that are very beneficial for the diabetes -

Eat the same amount of food each day.

Eat at about the same times each day.

Make sure the gaps between your meals are short.

Take the medicines at the same times each day.

Exercise at the same times each day.

Drink a lot of water that will help flush the toxins off your system.

Take good sleep daily.

Every day, choose foods from these food groups: starches, vegetables, fruit, meat and meat substitutes, and milk and yogurt. How much of each depends on how many calories is need a day.

Limit the amounts of fats and sweets each day.

There are many types of equipment or calorie counter that provides the all counts which are required. But getting the best is the more important because it’s all about the health. Patients need to check nutrition information, sugar level and other things that generate the diet according to all these information.

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Philip Lim asked:


A Healthy Diabetic Diet Meal Plan is critical for the treatment of diabetes. In fact, it is as important as the treatment options. A sizable number of diabetics are either overweight, which is mostly the case or obese as well. If truth be told, you are more vulnerable to the disease if you are overweight.

So, the ideal way of preventing diabetes is to maintain a healthy body weight, and this implies to everyone. Having a healthy diabetic meal plan can actually help in reducing the possibility of the disease while improving the symptoms of the same, that is, if you are already suffering from the condition.

Diabetes, often known as “the silent killer” can be life-threatening as well. While it is possible to control the symptoms of this condition, but you’ll have to make some compromises with your lifestyle and dietary habits. I am sure you understand the criticality of having a healthy diet, which means eating good food that can contribute to your health.

But for diabetics, the emphasis on healthy eating is more significant than for a normal person, who is not diabetic. Eating healthy isn’t just what a diabetic should aim at; rather they must have a healthy diabetes diet to ensure good health.

For diabetics, a Diabetic Diet Meal Plan should include all the essential food items that can reduce the risks associated with the condition, such as stroke, heart diseases, kidney problems and vision problems.

A diabetes meal plan must include varied foods encompassing all the essentials like whole grains, vegetables, beans, non-fat dairy products, poultry, lean meat and fish.

There are certain things to be followed while preparing a healthy diabetes meal for you or for the family. Firstly, you must carefully prepare a diabetes diet plan; this should be the first step. This would be your guide to the meal portions, ingredients and the time when you eat. Also, it must include your snacks and brunch as well.

Your regular food guide should be something like this:
* 50% carbohydrates including fruits, whole grains, cereals, vegetables and high-fiber foods.
* 30% proteins including milk products, red meat, eggs soy, chicken and foods that is low in saturated fats. White meat, like chicken contains lots of iron, which is an essential supplement for diabetics.
* 20% fats. But avoid saturated fats. Rather choose polyunsaturated fats (sunflower oil or flaxseed oil) or mono unsaturated fats (canola oil or olive oil). Next, your diabetic meal plan should fit in your work schedule. By making such a plan, you would actually be avoiding any conflicts between your meal and your schedule, both of which are equally important.

Diabetes diet plans are usually myopic, but you must not overlook your cholesterol and blood pressure levels, these are equally important.

Body weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure are all contributing factors; these can aggravate your health condition. Your diabetic meal plan should aim at controlling these conditions through foods, which is the most important factor.

It is important that you remember to take your medication regularly. Creating a balance between the foods and the drugs is important. You can seek your doctor’s help in this respect.

Also, a healthy Diabetic Diet Meal Plan must incorporate food and exercise to help you in being healthy and maintaining your fitness. While medications are always provided, however making certain changes in these aspects is important for treating diabetes.

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Sheryl Richardson asked:


If you have diabetes then what you eat becomes even more important. The right foods can mean the difference between living a longer healthy life, or succumbing to this increasingly common disease.

So what can you do to improve your diabetes meal plan? These quick tips will provide some fast ideas that you can start using right away to improve your health.

1. Variety is the Spice of Life
Ensure your meal planning takes variety into consideration. You do not want to be eating the same foods day in and day out! That is just a recipe for disaster. Aim to eat foods that have a range of colors (this is a sign of nutrition) and make sure there is enough from all the food groups.

2. Read Food Labels
Processed foods can be deceiving so if you include these in your diet, always read the ingredients label carefully: you may be surprised at what you are in fact eating.

3. Eat Small Regular Meals
Don’t plan just 3 large meals per day. This is unhealthy for anyone, but specifically for diabetics. You don’t want to be processing large meals. Instead opt for regular smaller meals every 4 or 5 hours. This will help to maintain your blood glucose levels.

4. Avoid Saturated Fats
Minimize or eliminate your intake of fatty and processed foods as well as butter and cheese. You should avoid bad LDL cholesterol and instead replace them with good fats like omega 3 oils.

Managing diabetes is not rocket science, it just takes a smart approach and a wise, logical and healthy diabetes meal plan strategy.

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