Balance Your Choices
When you have type 2 diabetes, you need to eat a good mix of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. So what’s a well-balanced dinner? A power breakfast? The following meal examples can help you make better choices. Some people find it helps to count carbs. Keep in mind recommendations from your doctor or nutritionist, too.
Worse Bet: Farm Breakfast
The Count: 2,060 calories, 276 g carbs
No food is off-limits with diabetes, but this brunch will blow your carb and calorie budget in a hurry. Experts suggest that meals for people with diabetes should have 45-75 grams of carbohydrates, depending on individual goals. Your body weight, activity, and medications all matter. This meal packs enough carbs for four to five meals.
Better Bet: New American Breakfast
The Count: 294 calories, 40 g carbs
This quick meal delivers protein in a scrambled egg, and just 40 carbs, mostly from fiber-rich oatmeal and blueberries. Fiber slows digestion to help prevent blood sugar spikes. People with diabetes need to watch all types of carbs: cereal, bread, rice, pasta, starchy veggies, sweets, fruit, milk, and yogurt. Spread your total carbs across the day
Worse Bet: Chips, Salsa, Burrito
The Count: 1,760 calories, 183 g carbs.
Before one bite of burrito, you can get 98 grams of carbs and 810 calories in a basket of chips and salsa. If you’re trying to slim down and eat less sodium, like many people with diabetes, the burrito adds 950 calories. You also get way more than a whole day’s worth of sodium.
Balance Your Choices
When you have type 2 diabetes, you need to eat a good mix of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. So what’s a well-balanced dinner? A power breakfast? The following meal examples can help you make better choices. Some people find it helps to count carbs. Keep in mind recommendations from your doctor or nutritionist, too.
Worse Bet: Farm Breakfast
The Count: 2,060 calories, 276 g carbs
No food is off-limits with diabetes, but this brunch will blow your carb and calorie budget in a hurry. Experts suggest that meals for people with diabetes should have 45-75 grams of carbohydrates, depending on individual goals. Your body weight, activity, and medications all matter. This meal packs enough carbs for four to five meals.
Better Bet: New American Breakfast
The Count: 294 calories, 40 g carbs
This quick meal delivers protein in a scrambled egg, and just 40 carbs, mostly from fiber-rich oatmeal and blueberries. Fiber slows digestion to help prevent blood sugar spikes. People with diabetes need to watch all types of carbs: cereal, bread, rice, pasta, starchy veggies, sweets, fruit, milk, and yogurt. Spread your total carbs across the day.
Worse Bet: Chips, Salsa, Burrito
The Count: 1,760 calories, 183 g carbs.
Before one bite of burrito, you can get 98 grams of carbs and 810 calories in a basket of chips and salsa. If you’re trying to slim down and eat less sodium, like many people with diabetes, the burrito adds 950 calories. You also get way more than a whole day’s worth of sodium.
Better Bet: Beef and Bean Enchilada
The Count: 443 calories, 48 g carbs
Lean beef and black beans make this Mexican dish a good option for a diabetic diet. The fiber in the beans can help lower blood cholesterol and control blood sugar. Go heavy on the veggies and light on cheese. Enjoy 10 small corn chips (1 ounce) with a little guacamole.
Worse Bet: Southern Rib Plate
The Count: 2,510 calories, 83 g carbs
This classic Southern meal loads too many splurge foods onto one plate. Fatty pork ribs are dripping in sugary barbecue sauce and flanked by macaroni and cheese and corn on the cob. Corn is a high-carb vegetable, with about 19 grams of carbs in one medium ear. It’s just too much, all around.
Worse Bet: Shrimp Pasta Alfredo
The Count: 2,290 calories, 196 g carbs
A typical shrimp pasta Alfredo in your local eatery can have huge portions and 73 grams of artery-clogging saturated fat. Diabetes makes heart disease more likely, so doctors advise limiting saturated fat to about 15 grams per day for a 2,000-calorie diet.
Worse Bet: Tuna Sandwich Meal
The Count: 1,050 calories, 183 g carbs
Lunch is just as important as other meals when you have diabetes, so don’t grab just any sandwich or wrap. Ready-to-eat tuna salad can be swimming in mayonnaise. Chips and a large sweetened drink push the total carbs to 183
