As part of my Diabetes Diet & Meal Plan, I developed this diagram to help diabetics who were frustrated with calorie counting and carb counting.
This meal plate can be used as a template or guide to design diabetic-friendly meals and develop diabetic recipes without having to count carbs and calories.
Make sure that at least half the plate is full of green and bright-colored vegetables. Use a quarter of the plate for lean protein foods; and, the other quarter of the plate for legumes, lentils, or vegetables; or, some organic grains if you're going vegan.
The Key Macronutrients
Healthy Carbs include mono/poly-saccharides in the form of bright, colorful and green, leafy vegetables, some dark, colorful fruits, onions, garlic, other herbs & spices, legumes, medicinal mushrooms, and some specific organic whole grains (but, not wheat or any grains with gluten!).
Note: However, you should avoid all grains and cereals during the first 3 to 4 months of the program until your blood glucose has stabilized.
Examples of vegetables include spinach, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, asparagus, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, kelp, onions, garlic, lentils, okra, and bell peppers.
Examples of fruits include dark, bright colored fruits such as açai berries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, strawberries, apples, grapes, pears, kiwi, lemons, limes, and pomegranates.
Note: Eating mostly raw vegetables can accelerate your body's repair process and your body's ability to reverse your diabetes.
Lean Proteins include all the essential and non-essential amino acids in the form of nuts, seeds, cold-water fish (e.g. wild salmon, tuna), blue-green algae (chlorella, spirulina), fermented soy, organic dairy (e.g. organic, Omega-3, free-range eggs), lean animal meats (e.g. free-range chicken, turkey, organic beef); bone broth, gelatin; grass-fedorgan meats (beef liver, heart); wild animal meat (e.g. bison, ostrich, deer).
Note 1: If you are concerned about the mercury in fish, eat smaller fish like sardines or take a high quality Omega-3 supplement.
Note 2: Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, homemade yogurt, kombucha (fermented black tea), miso and tempeh (fermented soybeans) help to improve the intestinal flora balance, build the immune system, absorb more nutrients, and generate new nutrients including Omega-3 fatty acids, digestive aids and the trace mineral GTF chromium.
Note 3: If you plan to follow a vegan diet, you can still use our nutritional model -- just replace animal protein with non-animal protein; and, add more beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, (some) organic whole grains, healthy fats, and other super foods to your meal plan. Also, add meat substitutes (e.g. veggie burgers, black bean burgers, meatless “chicken nuggets”, “beef” crumbles, etc.) and organic soy products (e.g. soy milk, edamame, soy nuts, tofu, tempeh).
Healthy Fats include various lipids in the form of plant oils and the unsaturated fats in nuts and seeds, avocados, and cold-water fish, e.g. extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, cod liver oil. But, you must avoid the clear vegetable oils and canola oil!
Other healthy fats include grass-fed animal meats, raw grass-fed organic milk, raw grass-fed butter/ghee, raw grass-fed cheese, sour cream.
Liquids include various beverages in the form of filtered or distilled water, raw vegetable juices; green tea, white tea; some raw fruit juices; and, a couple of the low-carb organic bottled juices, e.g. lemon, tomato, V-8, mangosteen.
