The Importance of Diet

Maintaining an appropriate, health conscious diet is central to diabetes self-management (DSM) in type 2 diabetics.  Culture is heavily linked to dietary choices, which is highly evident in the African American population.  According to Kulkarni (2004), socioeconomic status and education level should be carefully considered in meal planning and nutrition education efforts for African Americans, since type 2 diabetes is far more prevalent in African Americans compared to rates seen in the general population.  Foods containing high fat, cholesterol, and sodium concentrations represent staple foods in the African American diet, so education regarding diet and weight management are instrumental in facilitating health enhancing behavioral choices. 

The U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (2012) provides the following list of what healthy diabetic eating includes:

• limiting foods that are high in sugar
• eating smaller portions, spread out over the day
• controlling when and how many carbohydrates are consumed
• consuming a variety of whole grains, fruits and vegetables daily
• eating less fat
• limiting alcohol consumption
• using less salt

The following helpful link can be accessed to view a tutorial on Diabetes and Meal Planning.

Also, numerous cookbooks with meals designed for diabetics can be located through the American Diabetes Association  (2012) (see example below), along with recipes that can be easily accessed through this link .

                                                         

References

American Diabetes Association (2012). MyFoodAdvisor: Recipes for healthy living. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/my-food-advisor/

Kulkarni, K. D. (2004). Food, culture, and diabetes in the United States. Clinical Diabetes, 22(4), 190-192. doi:10.2337/diaclin.22.4.190

U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (2012). Diabetic diet. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabeticdiet.html#cat48