For anyone who deals with diabetes it is important to be able to manage blood sugar levels, a balanced diet is important to help keep a healthy weight. Both are especially important if you have diabetes.

Low carbohydrate diet

A low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating, because carbohydrates contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fibre, and form an important part of a healthy diet.

It also means you reduce the total amount of carbs you consume in a day to less than 130g. To put this into context, a medium-sized slice of bread is about 15 to 20g of carbs, which is about the same as a regular apple. On the other hand, a large jacket potato could have as much as 90g of carbs, as does one litre of orange juice.

However, it is important to note a low-carb diet isn’t for everyone. Evidence shows this diet can be safe and effective in helping people with type 2 diabetes manage their weight, blood sugar levels and risk of heart disease in the shorter term. But the evidence also shows this type of diet can affect growth in children and therefore it isn’t recommended for children. Also, there is little evidence to show the benefits of this type of diet in people with type 1 diabetes.

Mediterranean diet

Mediterranean diets have been associated with reduced risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol which are key risk factors for heart disease. A Mediterranean style diet can provide a good option for people with diabetes, as it could help reduce the risk of certain diabetes complications.

This is a diet largely based on plant foods and therefore includes a lot of fruits and vegetables, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds, wholegrains and olive oil. It also includes some dairy (milk and yogurts) and in moderation, chicken, eggs, and fish. Red meat and processed foods should only be consumed in much smaller amounts, and if drinking wine, in moderation.

Vegan diets

Vegan diets which are plant-based are becoming increasingly popular. Plant-based means you don’t eat any products that come from animals, dairy, meat or honey. Also, grains, seeds, beans, pulses, nuts, vegetables, and fruits make up the bulk of vegan cooking.

Finally, if you’d like to follow a healthy vegan diet, a well-planned vegan diet can provide all the nutrition you need, but it can be harder to find certain vitamins and minerals foods, so you could consider taking a vegan-suitable vitamin and mineral supplement which contains B12, iodine, vitamin D and selenium.

Source: https://www.diabetes.org.uk