There is no “diabetes diet.” There’s no one-size-fits-all diet that all diabetics should follow. There are, however, nutritional guidelines that your doctor or the nutritionist that the doctor recommends will give you.

Diabetic Nutritional Guidelines

For many years, the American Diabetes Association had advocated that diabetics follow the guidelines of their Diabetic Food Pyramid. This food pyramid advocates that a great percentage of the diabetic diet consist of carbohydrates like grains and starchy vegetables.

Another view of the diabetic diet is emerging, and more doctors now recommend a low-carbohydrate diet as the better way to control diabetes. There is research that suggests that the lower the amount of carbohydrates consumed, the less insulin is needed for Type 1 diabetics, and the less hard the pancreas has to work for Type 2 diabetics. However, the medical community has been very slow to adopt this option.

The best Diabetic nutritional advice is this: listen to your doctor and follow his advice. If he sends you to a nutritionist, listen to the nutritionist and follow his or her advice. The most important aspect of controlling both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is achieving the right balance of glucose in the blood through diet, exercise, and the use of medications.

Diabetics must eat an exact diet, whatever that diet is. The foods can be varied, but the calorie/carbohydrate content can’t be varied. Consistency is key to controlling blood sugar levels.

You will most likely be told to eat a diet that contains a certain number of calories each day and at regular intervals. Remember that the calorie count of a food is based upon the size of the portion. Invest in a good food scale and sets of measuring cups and measuring spoons, and control your portion size. If the portion size is a half cup, measure a half cup. If the portion size is four ounces, use your food scale and measure out a four-ounce serving.