The Food Pyramid
Meal and snack planning is the first "ball" that you're juggling in your diabetes care. Food, exercise, and medication (insulin or pills) are the three things you need to balance, or juggle, to manage diabetes. Your master plan is for the food you eat and the timing of your meals and snacks to work together with your insulin schedule (or pill schedule) and your exercise. They should all work together to keep your blood glucose in your target range as much as possible.
Let's start with the basics. The Food Pyramid.
The food pyramid is an easy way to remember the healthiest way to eat. The food you need the most is at the bottom. Farther up are foods you need a little less of. At the very top is food that's not all that good for you, so you should only eat it once in a while. Let's take a closer look at what the food pyramid tells us about healthy eating.
The Foundation
At the bottom of the pyramid are bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. These foods contain mostly carbohydrates. The foods in this group are made mostly out of grains, such as wheat (flour), rye, and oats. Some starchy vegetables go in this group, too, like potatoes, peas, and corn. Really, they're vegetables, but your blood glucose levels react to them as if they were carbs. So you should count them as carbs for your meal planning. You need six to eight servings of these foods per day.
The Second Floor
The next layer is fruits and vegetables, which are also made up of carbohydrates. They have plenty of vitamins and minerals. You need about three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit per day.
The Third Floor
Near the top of the pyramid are milk and meat. These foods usually contain a lot of protein. Milk is also the best source of calcium., which helps your bones and teeth to stay strong as you grow. Milk products include all types of milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products. You need two or three servings of milk per day. The meat group includes -- you guessed it -- all types of meat: beef, chicken, turkey, and fish. Even eggs, tofu, and some kinds of beans and nuts are included. You need two or three servings of meat a day.
The Attic
At the very top of the pyramid is a little triangle. That's for fats, oils, and sweets. Things like potato chips, candy, and fried food contain a lot of fat or sugar. They aren't as nutritious as vegetables or grains. So you shouldn't eat these foods every day. It's better to save them for a special treat.
The "Basement"
Some people like to imagine the food pyramid with another layer on the bottom, underneath the grains & starchy vegetables. This layer shows people walking, running, and riding their bikes everywhere we go. So, it's not really a part of the real food pyramid. But if it was, the exercise layer would remind us that it's very important for us all to be active every day. Staying active is important for everyone, but even more so for people with diabetes.
