Daily Totals : 1, calories, 82 g protein, g carbohydrates, 32 g fiber, 69 g fat, 1, mg sodium. To make it 1, calories: Omit the pear at breakfast and reduce to 10 almonds at the P. natural peanut butter to A. snack and add 1 serving Guacamole Chopped Salad to dinner.

Daily Totals : 1, calories, 87 g protein, g carbohydrates, 33 g fiber, 83 g fat, 1, mg sodium. To make it 1, calories: Reduce the walnuts to 1 Tbsp. at breakfast and omit the almonds at the P. snack, and add 1 serving Everything Bagel Avocado Toast to lunch.

Daily Totals: 1, calories, g protein, g carbohydrates, 44 g fiber, 73 g fat, 1, mg sodium. To make it 1, calories: Omit the walnuts at breakfast and change the A.

To make it 2, calories: Add 1 medium apple to A. snack, add 1 serving Everything Bagel Avocado Toast to lunch, and add 1 serving Guacamole Chopped Salad to dinner. Daily Totals: 1, calories, 81 g protein, g carbohydrates, 61 g fiber, 60 g fat, 1, mg sodium.

To make it 1, calories: Omit the pear at breakfast and omit the avocado at dinner. snack, and increase to 1 whole avocado at dinner. Daily Totals: 1, calories, 99 g protein, g carbohydrates, 44 g fiber, 72 g fat, 1, mg sodium. snack to 1 clementine. Use limited data to select advertising.

Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance.

Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services.

Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. Meal Plans Meal Plans for Diabetes. By Emily Lachtrupp is a registered dietitian experienced in nutritional counseling, recipe analysis and meal plans. Emily Lachtrupp, M.

EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M. Victoria Seaver is a registered dietitian and Associate Editorial Director for EatingWell. She completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition, dietetics and food science and her masters degree and dietetic internship at the University of Vermont.

Victoria has been a part of the EatingWell. com team since In This Article View All. In This Article.

How to Get Started. What to Eat with Diabetes. Meal Prep Tips. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. Day 5. Day 6. Day 7. Diabetes Diet Center. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Related Articles. Newsletter Sign Up. But for people with this disease, nourishing foods eaten in the right portions provide two key benefits:.

Work with your healthcare team to determine the right ratio of macronutrients and the best eating plan to accommodate your health risks and goals. While no two diabetes diets will look the same, certain foods are considered staples for people with this disease because they support a healthy weight and blood sugar level.

They include:. Likewise, certain foods are known to throw blood sugar levels out of whack and promote unhealthy weight gain. Foods that should be limited or avoided if you have type 2 diabetes include:. Breakfast Veggie omelet 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites with nonstarchy vegetables like spinach, onions, peppers, or mushrooms , topped with reduced-fat cheese , plus fruit.

Snack Plain nonfat or lowfat Greek yogurt and berries. Lunch Salad dark lettuce or leafy greens topped with chicken breast and chickpeas with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Breakfast Fruit and vegetable smoothie made with low-fat milk, low-fat plain Greek yogurt, and chia seeds optional. Snack Unsalted almonds with a piece of fruit. Dinner Tofu and veggie stir-fry over brown rice.

Breakfast Savory veggie oatmeal or oatmeal made with low-fat milk and topped with fruit and nuts. Dinner Tray bake all foods baked on the same tray made with shrimp and roasted vegetables.

Your choice of drinks can make a difference in your blood sugar levels. Palinski-Wade recommends focusing on unsweetened beverages, such as water and seltzer. To jazz it up, add a splash of percent fruit juice, she says.

If you like coffee or tea, you may notice that caffeine increases your blood sugar levels, so Palinski-Wade advises monitoring your glucose response after consuming these drinks to see where you stand. But here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind. That said, for people with type 2 diabetes, limiting carbs will help regulate blood sugar.

Fat is not the enemy, even if you have diabetes! Learn to tell unhealthy fats from healthy fats and enjoy them in moderation, as all fats are high in calories.

Type matters more than amount: Aim to limit saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of total calories, Palinski-Wade advises. Rather than trying a complete overhaul all at once, create lasting good habits by focusing on small, simple, and maintainable changes, Palinski-Wade says.

Otherwise, you may feel overwhelmed and revert to any previous unhealthy eating habits. Consult the experts. Connect with your primary doctor and a registered dietitian nutritionist RDN who is also a certified diabetes care and education specialist CDCES — search for one near you at EatRight.

org — to figure out how many carbohydrates you should eat per meal based on your individual needs, as well as the optimal eating approach for your preferences and health goals. Veg out. Add one extra serving of nonstarchy vegetables at dinner. Consider adding vegetables to snacktime, too. Beware of sauces and dressings.

Sugar hides in many condiments, like ketchup, barbecue sauce, and marinades. Always read the label, and choose the lower-sugar option that best fits your diet and goals.

Simplify beverages. Instead of reaching for sweetened drinks, opt for water sparkling without added sugar also counts! Choose dairy mindfully. Opt for nonfat or low-fat 1 percent with milk, cottage cheese, and plain yogurt. Also, remember that while these sources offer protein, they are also another source of carbs, so you need to factor them into your carb allotment.

Unsweetened nondairy milk, such as soy and almond milk, are also diabetes-friendly. Enjoy your time with friends and eat delicious food with these guidelines from Palinski-Wade.

Have an appetizer before you leave. Eat a small, healthy snack before you go, like some nuts or a low-fat plain yogurt. Visualize your plate. Ideally, your plate should look very similar to the way it does at home — with a couple of small tweaks: ½ nonstarchy vegetables steamed if possible , ¼ lean protein, and ¼ whole grains.

Sip smart. Limit it to one glass. Adherence to a popular diet plan is not required to manage diabetes, but you may like the direction it offers. A professional who is an RDN and CDCES can help you follow one of these approaches safely.

These recommendations can be applied to a wide variety of diets, including vegan, paleo, low-carb, and Mediterranean eating patterns. Low-Carb As noted in greater detail above, low-carb diets have great potential for people with type 2 diabetes; carbohydrate restriction may be the best eating pattern for lowering blood glucose levels.

Intermittent Fasting IF IF requires you to limit the time period in which you eat to a certain number of hours per day or to eat a very low number of calories on certain days.

Some research small studies and animal trials has shown benefits from IF to fasting glucose and weight. Any diet that is gimmicky, not backed by research, is too restrictive, or makes too-good-to-be-true promises like losing x amount of weight in a certain amount of time is one to skip.

Your specific results depend on where you started before embarking on your diabetes-friendly diet journey. But Palinski-Wade notes that there are short- and long-term results you can expect. Pretty quickly, you should see benefits to your blood sugar at the outset.

If your doctor advises you to lose weight, making these diet changes along with increasing your activity level can help you lose weight and shed body fat. Be careful about monitoring the scale too closely in the early days. Do not be discouraged. Noshing on oatmeal is a smart way to start your day.

Place 2½ cups of milk over medium-high heat. Bring just to a simmer then stir in the oats. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the oats are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Stir in the remaining milk, eggs, and cinnamon, and stir to combine. Cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes more. Your diet is one of the main tenets of good diabetes management. While it seems like there is a lot to remember, the basic tenets boil down to simple, nutritious eating.

Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.

Health Conditions A-Z. Best Oils for Skin Complementary Approaches Emotional Wellness Fitness and Exercise Healthy Skin Online Therapy Reiki Healing Resilience Sleep Sexual Health Self Care Yoga Poses See All.

Atkins Diet DASH Diet Golo Diet Green Tea Healthy Recipes Intermittent Fasting Intuitive Eating Jackfruit Ketogenic Diet Low-Carb Diet Mediterranean Diet MIND Diet Paleo Diet Plant-Based Diet See All.

Consumer's Guides: Understand Your Treatments Albuterol Inhalation Ventolin Amoxicillin Amoxil Azithromycin Zithromax CoQ10 Coenzyme Q Ibuprofen Advil Levothyroxine Synthroid Lexapro Escitalopram Lipitor Atorvastatin Lisinopril Zestril Norvasc Amlodipine Prilosec Omeprazole Vitamin D3 Xanax Alprazolam Zoloft Sertraline Drug Reviews See All.

Health Tools. Body Type Quiz Find a Doctor - EverydayHealth Care Hydration Calculator Menopause Age Calculator Symptom Checker Weight Loss Calculator. See All. DailyOM Courses. About DailyOM Most Popular Courses New Releases Trending Courses See All.

Type 2 Diabetes Overview Symptoms Diagnosis Causes Treatment Complications Diet. Type 2 Diabetes. By Jessica Migala. Medically Reviewed.

Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDCES. Foods to Eat Foods to Limit Jump to More Topics. This causes glucose to accumulate in your blood at higher than normal levels, which can put your health in danger. A smart diabetes diet looks a lot like the healthy eating plan doctors recommend for everyone: It includes whole, minimally processed foods , with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables , complex carbohydrates in moderation, lean protein , and healthy fats.

It also limits added sugars and refined grains. According to guidance from the American Diabetes Association ADA , based on a consensus report from a panel of experts, there are several healthful eating patterns you can follow to manage diabetes, including Mediterranean , low-carb , DASH , paleo , and vegetarian.

Is There an Ideal Type 2 Diabetes Diet? Next up video playing in 10 seconds. They include: Nonstarchy vegetables, such as broccoli and high-fiber fruit like apples Lean sources of protein, such as boneless, skinless chicken ; turkey; and fatty fish like salmon Healthy fats, such as nuts , nut butter , and avocado in moderation Whole grains , such as quinoa and barley Nonfat or lowfat dairy , such as milk and plain yogurt.

Foods that should be limited or avoided if you have type 2 diabetes include: Chips Cookies Cake White bread and pasta Canned soups, which are high in sodium Microwaveable meals, which are usually high in sodium Candy Sources of saturated fat , like bacon or fatty cuts of meat.

The ADA has a Create Your Plate tool you can use. With enough practice, the best choices will become second nature. The ADA recommends filling half your plate with nonstarchy vegetables broccoli, spinach, tomatoes , one-quarter with grains preferably whole or starchy foods sweet potato, plantain , and another quarter with lean protein beans, seafood, skinless chicken.

You can eat the same food as your family and even add special foods here and there, according to the ADA. When it comes to alcohol, if you are someone who drinks, you may be able to do so moderately even with diabetes, according to the ADA, but know that alcohol can lead to hypoglycemia , especially if you are on certain medications.

Mixing metformin Metformin Eqv-Fortamet with alcohol may contribute to a rare but serious condition called lactic acidosis. One drink equals a 5-ounce oz glass of wine, a 12 oz beer, or 1½ oz of proof liquor. Carbohydrate Moderation You can find carbohydrates in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans, and dairy.

These foods supply necessary vitamins, minerals, and fiber that everyone needs to be healthy. You can use a diabetes exchange list, which tells you how foods compare in terms of their carbohydrate content. For instance, 1 apple and ½ cup applesauce both contain about 15 g of carbs.

One-quarter of your plate should contain a source of lean protein, which includes meat, skinless poultry, fish, reduced-fat cheese, eggs, and vegetarian sources like beans and tofu. Consider opting for these sources of healthy fat, per the ADA: [ 13 ]. Do I Need to Count Calories When Managing Type 2 Diabetes?

Can I Eat Sugar if I Have Type 2 Diabetes? Yes, but eat no more than 10 percent of your total calories from added sugars, Palinski-Wade recommends.

For reference, one serving 6 oz of flavored yogurt contains 18 g of added sugar 72 calories , one can of regular soda 12 fluid oz contains Here are some of the basic rules for building — and then sticking with — a diabetes meal plan.

Sweeten things up with fruit. To satisfy your sweet tooth, opt for fruit in moderation. Previous research shows that eating berries, apples, and pears is associated with weight loss. All other fruits count, too — just be sure to factor them into your carbohydrate servings.

Breakfast is one habit of long-term weight-losers. Cut back on salt. Aim for fewer than 2, milligrams mg of sodium per day and fewer than 1, mg daily if you have heart disease as a way to help manage blood pressure and heart disease risk — a common diabetes complication.

Add fiber to your diet. Fiber-rich foods can also help you feel fuller for longer, possibly aiding weight loss. Low-Carb Dieting for Type 2 Diabetes If you are interested in going low-carb to better manage type 2 diabetes, there is some evidence that this type of diet plan is effective.

Another review concluded that low-carb diets drop blood glucose levels and allow people to use less medication or eliminate it completely. The authors recommend it as a first-line treatment for diabetes. While the benefits are exciting, if you do go low-carb, be aware of the risks, which include nutrient deficiencies.

The ADA recommends against very low-carbohydrate eating patterns reducing carbohydrate to less than 26 percent of total calories for people with chronic kidney disease, disordered eating, or women who are pregnant. Similar to the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet promotes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry, beans, nuts, and fat-free or low-fat dairy.