By Mathea Ford
Now that you have learned you are diabetic you will need to give special consideration to the foods you consume each day. Creating a Diabetic weekly menu plan is now an important part of your health regime.
How many calories should be included in a healthy diabetic diet?
Your physician will recommend the best number of calories for your particular situation. You may begin with a very low calorie requirement that can be increased over time when you body's metabolism has been reset and insulin levels stabilized. The count can be anywhere from 1200 calories per day to 2200 calories per day. Your age, weight and lifestyle will be determining factors for the calories your physician will recommend.
The purpose of any diabetic meal plan is to bring balance back to your body and to insure that the foods you ingest are nutritious and low in fat, sugar and salt. Drinking enough water each day is also an important part along with the limited calorie intake.
What is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit of measurement of the potential energy that a food will produce in the body. Unused calories that cannot be burned off and utilized by the body will end up being stored as fat cells. Good calories are full of necessary nutrients and will convert to energy that will increase health. Conversely, empty calories are those calories that contain little or poor nutritional value content with little potential for producing energy for the body to utilize. The body needs nutrient-rich calories from healthy foods.
It is actually possible to consume a high calorie count that is filled with empty calories and end up with malnutrition. The foods to avoid that are known to contain mostly empty calories or useless calories are sweets like soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, ice cream loaded with refined sugar, margarine or shortening, alcoholic beverages, refined grains like white bread or white rice and high fat foods like fast food hamburgers, french fries and desserts.
Create Proper Calorie Balance
The daily calorie intake will need to fall into a healthy balance between carbohydrates, fat, protein and salt. For instance, any diabetic meal plan should have a range of 55 to 65 percent dedicated to carbohydrates. The food choices need to be low fat/low cholesterol and low sodium.
1400 Calorie Menu Plan:
This is a very low calorie count for one day so the majority of the foods need to be taken from the base of the diabetic food pyramid. These will be starchy vegetables, beans and grains. Foods like sweets, alcohol and saturated fats will be a very small percentage if included at all.
All calories are far from the same. The Glycemic response to the foods you eat will be affected by the fiber content of the food, the portion size, the content of fat, how the food is prepared and how long it is cooked. Foods that are high in sugar or simple carbohydrates will cause glucose spikes while foods like green leafed vegetables and fresh fruits will take a long time to digest and not cause big spikes in the blood sugar levels.
The purpose of the low 1400 calorie menu plan is to stabilize your blood sugar levels and facilitate weight loss. The foods eaten all need to be very healthy nutritious choices. Eating like this can be difficult but there are many ways to make meals tasty and interesting. Low fat, low sugar and low salt can still be delicious and satisfying especially if a lot of the food choices are high in fiber. The safest way to insure your calorie intake is from nutrient-rich energy producing calories is to follow an expertly designed eating plan with delicious and nutritious well balanced recipes.
Now that you have learned you are diabetic you will need to give special consideration to the foods you consume each day. Creating a Diabetic weekly menu plan is now an important part of your health regime.
How many calories should be included in a healthy diabetic diet?
Your physician will recommend the best number of calories for your particular situation. You may begin with a very low calorie requirement that can be increased over time when you body's metabolism has been reset and insulin levels stabilized. The count can be anywhere from 1200 calories per day to 2200 calories per day. Your age, weight and lifestyle will be determining factors for the calories your physician will recommend.
The purpose of any diabetic meal plan is to bring balance back to your body and to insure that the foods you ingest are nutritious and low in fat, sugar and salt. Drinking enough water each day is also an important part along with the limited calorie intake.
What is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit of measurement of the potential energy that a food will produce in the body. Unused calories that cannot be burned off and utilized by the body will end up being stored as fat cells. Good calories are full of necessary nutrients and will convert to energy that will increase health. Conversely, empty calories are those calories that contain little or poor nutritional value content with little potential for producing energy for the body to utilize. The body needs nutrient-rich calories from healthy foods.
It is actually possible to consume a high calorie count that is filled with empty calories and end up with malnutrition. The foods to avoid that are known to contain mostly empty calories or useless calories are sweets like soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, ice cream loaded with refined sugar, margarine or shortening, alcoholic beverages, refined grains like white bread or white rice and high fat foods like fast food hamburgers, french fries and desserts.
Create Proper Calorie Balance
The daily calorie intake will need to fall into a healthy balance between carbohydrates, fat, protein and salt. For instance, any diabetic meal plan should have a range of 55 to 65 percent dedicated to carbohydrates. The food choices need to be low fat/low cholesterol and low sodium.
1400 Calorie Menu Plan:
This is a very low calorie count for one day so the majority of the foods need to be taken from the base of the diabetic food pyramid. These will be starchy vegetables, beans and grains. Foods like sweets, alcohol and saturated fats will be a very small percentage if included at all.
All calories are far from the same. The Glycemic response to the foods you eat will be affected by the fiber content of the food, the portion size, the content of fat, how the food is prepared and how long it is cooked. Foods that are high in sugar or simple carbohydrates will cause glucose spikes while foods like green leafed vegetables and fresh fruits will take a long time to digest and not cause big spikes in the blood sugar levels.
The purpose of the low 1400 calorie menu plan is to stabilize your blood sugar levels and facilitate weight loss. The foods eaten all need to be very healthy nutritious choices. Eating like this can be difficult but there are many ways to make meals tasty and interesting. Low fat, low sugar and low salt can still be delicious and satisfying especially if a lot of the food choices are high in fiber. The safest way to insure your calorie intake is from nutrient-rich energy producing calories is to follow an expertly designed eating plan with delicious and nutritious well balanced recipes.
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