The Truth About The Diabetic Food Pyramid
Editor’s Comment: This article has been kindly supplied by a guest writer and visitor to this website.
Contributions to this website are welcomed. The opinions expressed in such contributions, usually referred to as Guest Postings, are those of their authors and may sometimes differ somewhat from my own views, speaking as a diabetic myself. However, the gathering of viewpoints from a wide range of sources helps achieve the objectives of this website — which is to raise awareness of the many aspects relating to diabetes, especially from a personal individual perspective
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The Diabetic Diet
If you are a diabetic patient, you are likely following some type of diabetic diet to help you live with this common and potentially dangerous condition. Diabetes affects over 25 million people in the United States alone, and millions across the globe, but does it mean we know how to deal with the disease effectively?
Turns out that some of the tips and recommendations that you’ve been given, instead of making you feel better, may actually be contributing to your high blood sugar levels and various diabetes symptoms and signs. One such recommendation that could be questioned is to follow the traditional food pyramid that is often recommended for everyone, including people with diabetes. [See Editor's Note below re the position of the American Diabetes Association on this matter].
I’m sure you are familiar with that food pyramid: it contains complex carbohydrates (grains, cereals, pastas and breads) as its base, followed by fruits and vegetables; then milk, dairy and protein (meat); topped with sweets, fats and other foods. However, let’s look at some of its components more closely to see if there is anything that we can perhaps be doing better.
There is plenty of research that proves that the best foods for overall health – including healthy blood sugar levels – are fresh fruits, vegetables and greens. These foods should probably be the base of the pyramid. Complex carbohydrates are the second most important food group. You just need to make sure that you only buy whole grain products – including breads, pastas, cakes, rice, etc. White flour products, white rice, and all other processed grains are not healthy choices for anyone with diabetes.
Milk, dairy and protein is a controversial group. There is plenty of research that suggests that we should limit the consumption of animal foods to only once or twice a week, or – better yet- to eliminate them completely from our menu. Just read “The China Study” by J. Campbell, or any of Dr. J. Fuhrman books. You may be one of the people who are unwilling to sacrifice meat even for your health, but perhaps if you can just limit the consumption for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference can be a good idea to start?
The sweets, fats and other processed foods should be totally eliminated or only eaten sparingly, whether you are a diabetic or not.
Of course, just dietary changes are not enough. You need to make sure you get plenty of physical activity every day. For more tips, visit normalbloodsugarlevelchart.com.
Editor’s Note: In a brief message that can be found at Diabetes Food Pyramid, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) states that: “The diabetes food pyramid is no longer used by the American Diabetes Association as a meal planning tool”.
The ADA suggests other approaches to manage a diabetic diet, including the plate method and carbohydrate counting. There are, of course, other ways that might be appropriate for differing personal tastes.
From my own experience, I realize that it is not always easy to find an appropriate diabetic diet that suits an individual’s personal tastes and preferences. I have suggested approaches to building a suitable diet at our companion websites that you may be interested in, they can be found at Diabetic Menu Guide and Diabetic Food List.
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