For people diagnosed with diabetes, it is important to have a proper diet plan to keep the sugar level in the bloodstream stable. Ideally, one should adhere to the food pyramid and also paying more attention towards sugar and carbohydrate intake. It is most advisable to follow a proper diet plan set by your own doctor. If you don’t know what you should eat, here is a basic guideline for you to follow.

One important and advisable guideline is 50-60% of carbohydrates, 30% or less of fat and 12-20% of protein everyday. Fat intake should also be monitored closely by having more unsaturated and monounsaturated fats instead of saturated fat and cholesterol. Saturated fat comes from meats, mainly red meats and dairy products. Unsaturated fat comes from vegetable oil which is beneficial in limited amount while monounsaturated fat comes from olive oil, peanut and sunflower oil.

Another aspect of effective diabetes diet plan is the intake of fibre. Fibre helps to lower the glucose level by absorbing them and also extra fat that will be taken out of the body after digestion. Good sources of fibre are whole grain breads, cereals, beans, fruits and vegetables. Soluble fibres help to slow down the absorption of glucose from intestines while insoluble fibres help to clean the lower gastrointestinal tract. Most importantly, all fibres help to lower the blood sugar level.

In diabetes diet plan, there are a few dietary tips that are easy to follow and are very suitable for people with diabetes. One tip is the discipline that should be maintained in following your dietary plan. A person should have a different diet plan everyday that is recommended by the nutrition or doctor. Now, you yourself have to keep a strict discipline maintaining the diet plan or you might find yourself in a worse condition than before. More fat eaten than the usual plan means you will have reduced sensitivity to insulin. More sugar consumed means the more concentrated your blood is and the harder it is for insulin to work with. It might be hard considering so many junk food that are around us but work hard for it and you’ll see the benefits very soon. Another advice is that you can have multiple small meals instead of one or two heavy meals per day. The reason is that small portioned meals are easier to be digested. Heavy meals tend to burden to body to work harder as more blood is needed to digest the food, causing drowsiness. Meals should also be taken at the same time everyday together with your medicines so that your body’s biological clock will be accustomed to the schedule and hormones are easier to be secreted to help in digestion process.

All these are just the basic aspects of dietary plan. It is very advisable to follow your personal doctor’s advice and diabetes diet plan to suit your own diabetes condition.