Establishing A Meal Plan for A Diabetic

It seems a familiar topic, but it is not as easy as it appear to be. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that needs paying a huge considerations to the diet and the amount of calories are being consumed in one set of a meal.

Carbs counting:

it is a technique used to estimate the approximate grams and calories each food item represents based on Exchanges system. An exchange is a unit represent the amount of grams per serving for a food item.

A suggested timeline meal plan for a diabetic person:

A meal consists of at least eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with 2-3 snacks in between. For instance:

8:30 a.m. Breakfast

11:00 a.m. Snack

12:00 p.m. Lunch

4:30 p.m. Snack

8:00 p.m. Dinner

10:30 p.m. Snack

A quick case study applying the method of carbs counting using Daily Diabetes Meal Planning Guide

A male with 220 lb= 90.0 kg, and 72 inches, Age 40

1. Calculate the BMI using the provided informations: the BMI= 27.1 (Overweight)

2. Estimate the Kcal and protein requirements: the recommended Kcals is 20- 25 kcal/ kg, 0.8- 1.0 g/kg

= (90.0 kg* 20- 25kcal)= 1818- 2272 kcal

= (90.0 kg* 0.8- 1.0 g)= 72- 90 g

3. Distribute the percentage of carbs, protein, and fats among the calculated kcal and convert the values to grams. The favorable percentage for a diabetic person is 45% carbs, 20% protein, and 35% fats:

If we pick up a meal plan with 1900 kcal/ day, so:

45% of carbs= 855 kcal/ 4=213.75 g

20% of protein= 380 kcal/ 4= 95 g

35% of fats= 665 kcal/ 9= 73.88 g

4. Figure out the number of exchanges: Each standard serving contains maximum 15 g of carbs, maximum 8 g of protein, and maximum 5 g of fats:

213.75 g of carbs/ 15= 14 exchanges

95 g of protein/ 8= 11.87~ 12 exchanges

73.88 g of fats/ 5= 14.77~ 15 exchanges

5. The final steps refer to the list and pick up the food items that suits the number of exchanges: