Type 2 Diabetes Diet Attributes

As you are probably aware, there are a lot of diabetes diets out there that claim to help you with lowering your blood sugar and managing your Type 2 diabetes!  This can be very frustrating when it comes to trying to figure out what you can and cannot eat to properly manage your diabetes.

I experienced the same frustration when I was diabetic. There was a lot of conflicting dietary information, especially about foods that were supposed to be healthy for diabetics. 

So, I decided to go back to the basics of nutritional science and cell biology to identify which foods contain the proper macronutrients and micronutrients that are needed to fight a disease like Type 2 diabetes.

Based on my research, I identified the foods that were healthy for Type 2 diabetics Then, I grouped them into 5 categories and called them the 5 "live" super foods.

Then, I identified the foods that were unhealthy for Type 2 diabetics, e.g. sweets, bread, cereal, fast foods, ground beef, tap water, etc. Again, I grouped them into 5 categories and called them the 5 "dead" processed foods.

But, knowing what foods to eat and not eat is not enough. You have to know what percentages and portions of each major macronutrient that you should eat with each meal.

So, I designed a meal plate model that  describes how meals should be designed and what portions of each major macronutrient that should be part of each meal. 

Key Attributes of Diabetes Diet

Here is a list of the key attributes associated with an effective diabetes diet :

• Meal frequency: 4 to 6 times/day
• Smaller meals: 400-500 calories)
• Plant-based meals
• Macronutrient-balanced meals
• At least half the plate is full of vegetables
• Key micronutrients, e.g. vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals 
• High fiber content: 30-35g/day
• Fermented foods: 3-5 times/week)
• Raw vegetables: 50%-80%
• Steamed vegetables (Note: Don't boil your vegetables!)
• Some raw whole fruits
• Wild-caught fish, e.g. wild salmon, sardines
• Grass-fed animal meat, e.g. bison, chicken, beef, turkey
• Plant oils, e.g. extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil
• Raw grass-fed milk, butter/ghee, cheese, sour cream 
• No vegetable oils, e.g. corn, soybean, canola oil
• Nutritional Supplementation (food-based)
• Antioxidants, Anti-inflammatories, Detoxifiers, Immune System Supporters
• Minimum/no flour, gluten,sugar, wheat, fructose, processed foods, fast foods
• No Grains during 1st 4 Stages
• Minimum/No HFCS, PHO, nitrates, artificial sweeteners, food additives
• Minimum/No caffeine, alcohol, drugs
• Minimum/No dairy, especially pasteurized cow's milk/cheese; gluten (esp. for Type 1s)

Key Point: This is not a low fat diet! Ironically, low fat diets helped to create the obesity and diabetes epidemics! In fact, it's very important that you eat a balanced amount of fat -- just make sure they're the  healthy fats and oils.