MyPlate: A Guide for Eating Healthy with Diabetes

Our bodies and brains need sugar from the foods we eat to use as energy. When your body is not able to properly absorb sugar, this can lead to diabetes—a medical condition that occurs when there is too much sugar in the blood.

The good news is that eating a balanced diet, getting regular physically activity, and taking prescribed medications can help you manage your diabetes. Let’s take a look at the nutritional aspects of living with diabetes.

Managing Diabetes Through Nutrition

If you have diabetes, it is important to stick to a consistent eating pattern and carbohydrate intake. This helps keep blood sugar levels controlled and can improve your blood sugar lab results. 

• Try to eat every 3-4 hours, eating meals and snacks at about the same time every day. 
• Avoid skipping meals. 
• Monitor portion sizes of carbohydrate-rich foods, like grains, starchy vegetables, and beans. 
• Eat as many vegetables as you want, but limit starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, peas, corn, and beans).
• Include fiber-rich foods from whole grains and vegetables. 
• Limit foods high in solid fats, added sugars, and salt. 
• Choose water when possible and limit drinking sugar-sweetened beverages like juice or soda. 

Diabetes and MyPlate

MyPlate is a tool published by the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion that can be used as a guide to healthy eating with diabetes. MyPlate recommends the following: 

• Fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables. For lunch and dinner, you can choose to fill half your plate with only vegetables or have both fruits and vegetables. Choose non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, peppers, and mushrooms.
• Fill ¼ of your plate with a grain. Choose whole grains, when possible, for additional fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Starchy vegetables, which are considered grains, include potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, corn, peas and beans.
• Fill ¼ of your plate with lean protein. Use fish and poultry more often than hamburgers, hot dogs, and bacon. Try to grill, roast, broil, or poach your protein to avoid adding extra fat. 

Try using the plate method when creating your next meal. Remember to fill up your plate with fruits and vegetables, and choose whole grains and lean proteins to round out your meal. This way of eating will help you stay full and satisfied between meals and snacks, while keeping your blood sugars controlled.