What can diabetics eat to successfully control their blood sugar levels? Check out the many diabetes guides and diabetic resources available on this site that detail foods diabetics can eat...

What Can Diabetics Eat - Diabetic Diet Information

"What can diabetics eat?" is what you're thinking about if you have recently been told you have got type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes perhaps with insulin injections, or perhaps you have heard about suitable diabetic foods and want to find out what they might be. There are of course national sources of information depending what country you're in. In the US, there is the National Institutes of Health that runs a service called the National Diabetes Information Clearing House and also the American Diabetes Association.Other countries offer similar organisations.

There exist in addition a lot of diabetic diet guides out there, diabetic recipes containing diabetic recipes with ingredients that diabetics can eat. Many diabetic sufferers draw up a diabetic menu plan together with their medical adviser. Such a menu plan is devised to keep a constant blood sugar level. Blood sugar levels need to be closely monitored to prevent a sudden rise of blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) after a meal, but on top of that it is possible to be hypoglecemic (where blood glucose falls too low) and you need quickly to eat something sugary.

The food pyramid (re-labelled, MyPyramid) can be useful in helping diabetics to choose foods wisely. So what can diabetics eat to keep fit?  Of course, a diet high in fiber, fruit and vegetables (also vitamins and minerals) is high-quality, as is a diabetes diet containing low gi foods. GI stands for glycemic index and measures the effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. A food with a high gi will allow glucose into the blood stream rapidly, whereas low gi foods break down more steadily and release their glucose more slowly into the bloodstream.

Carbs, or carbohydrates are important when managing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Carbohydrates break down into sugars. These are simple carbohydrates like glucose as in refined sugar and fructose found as natural sugar in fruits. Complex carbohydrates or starch are found in vegetables such as potatoes, beans as well as, wholegrains. So a diabetic diet high in complex carbohydrates is preferable as the sugar level will be more constant.

It is right to watch the amount of alcohol and fatty foods and very sugary foods found at the top of the food pyramid.

If you watch your calories and sugar amounts it is easier to have some special treats in your diet as a whole. There are plenty of branded diabetic foods, such as desserts, jellies, diabetic chocolate, ice-creams.. There is even low fat chocolate mousse mix. Good food choices need not be depressing in the world today where what diabetics can eat is a question on many people's lips