Having a diabetic menu is really important , as the preservation of fine health of the diabetes patients very depends the selection as well as adaptation of proper diabetic menu. Regarding it , a proper diabetic menu is a low calorie diet. Apart from being low calorie, a diabetic menu has to be low cholesterol and low glucose level also. This way, a diabetic menu has to contain all these features for meeting the complete nutritional requirements of a diabetic patient.
It has to be fully understood that dietary requirement for not all types of diabetes are the same. For example, a diabetic menu for young diabetes and a diabetic menu for grown up diabetes are quite different. However, some common factors are also there and they are like the earlier mentioned criteria having minimum glucose, lipid quantities. As far as the sources of a diabetic menu are concerned, they are typically fat free sources lacking of too much carbohydrate. For that reason, fresh vegetables, fruits and other fresh foods are given prime importance in the diabetic menus.
First, keep in mind that a diabetic menu is a somewhat severe diet. For that reason, you must choose the food items very carefully. First, it has to be taken care of that the foods are satisfactorily fresh in quality and also are not tinned or canned in no way. It is not true that you will not be able to eat sugar at all when you opt for the fruits as there is sugar in them. Therefore, just take care that your diabetic menu is a balanced one, devoid of excessive glucose further than the permissible level. Bring in more oranges, apples, red cabbage, beans, bananas, and carrots into your diet. Apart from this, incorporate a lot of high fibered vegetables along with those leafy ones in your diabetic menu. Fiber is important as it aid in the digestion fast.
Whole grains are rather helpful in the diabetic menu. Processed foods should be avoided for that reason. Here, wheat spaghetti and brown rice and breads are much favored when it comes to preparing a diabetic menu. As a replacement of having heavy meals at a time, take small meals at regular intervals. This will assist you to digest your food rapidly and easily. As far as the dairy products are concerned within the diabetic menu, opt for the skimmed milk, non fat yogurt, and cheese. Again, instead of cheese and butter, opt for the margarine in the diabetic menu that are light enough when compared to the previous ones. If you are a diabetic patient, abstain from the high calorie drinks and alternatively stick to the fresh fruit juices. even if it is disheartening enough to say, remove the desserts from your ordinary diabetic menu. Even if it is really a hard job to live without cakes, pastries, and cookies, but if you feel helpless then select the products, especially meant for the diabetic patients with sugar free elements.
An example diabetic menu is given here for an easy understanding of the readers:
Early morning: tea/coffee without sugar
Breakfast: skim milk - 1 cup, whole wheat bread/ porridge ½ cup/ egg sandwich- 2 slices
Mid morning: any one citrus fruit
Lunch: green leafy vegetables, whole grain foods, fish/chicken/egg (1 piece), vegetable salad, curd
Evening: tea/coffee without sugar, snacks biscuits
Dinner: whole grain breads, salad, poultry protein products, skim milk.