Divide and conquer: How portion control can help you manage diabetes
When it comes to diabetes, portion control is key for keeping steady blood sugar levels and maintaining a healthy weight.
Using just a standard-size 12-inch dinner plate, you can learn to determine correct portion sizes of a typical meal.
Vegetables
About half of your plate should be filled with non-starchy vegetables, like spinach, cabbage, bok choy, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, or peppers.
When it comes to these types of vegetables, you can't really go overboard, so portion sizes here matter less than with proteins or starches. Just make sure you're careful about your intake of more starchy vegetables, like potatoes or root veggies, as these have a higher glycemic index and will raise your blood sugar more rapidly.
Meat
About one-fourth of your plate can be filled with proteins, preferably lean options like turkey, skinless chicken, salmon, or other cold-water fish. As a general rule, one serving of cooked meat should be about the size of a bar of soap or deck of cards. For fish, aim for a serving that is close to the size of a checkbook.
Starches
Grains are easy to go overboard on, so try to measure things out when you eat rice, breads, oatmeal, or other starches. Recommendations vary, but The American Diabetes Association suggests that your starches fill about one-fourth of your plate. This roughly equals about one slice of bread, one tortilla, 4-6 crackers, 1/3 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup of potatoes, or 1/2 cup of cereal or pasta.
Dairy
For dairy, it's important to opt for low-fat choices. Portion sizes are roughly equal to one cup - so one cup of low-fat milk or one cup of low-fat yogurt would equal a portion size.
Eating the correct portions of different foods ensures that you're getting a proper macronutrient balance in your diet - which will keep your blood sugar stable, prevent carbohydrate cravings and keep you energy levels even. While "eyeballing" portion sizes can be a skill learned over time, you're better off using measuring cups until you feel confident you know how much you're really serving yourself - it's easy to misjudge.
Source: American Diabetes Association
More Articles
With its slightly nutty flavor, chewy texture, and nutritional punch farro is an ancient whole grain worth a place in our pantry.
Farro...
Having diabetes is cause for concern, however it doesn’t mean that you need to eliminate all of your favorite foods from your diet completely....
With diabetes becoming more of an epidemic each and every day, being knowledgeable about the disease, its effects on the body as well as ways to...
If you’re a diabetic or live with one, it can be tough trying to figure out the best foods to eat because your priority is to control your blood...
In this post, I will show you the 10 best ice creams for diabetics.
When you think of sweetened foods that a diabetic shouldn’t consume,...
More Articles
If you’re living with diabetes, snacking is a necessity because going for more than 3-4 hours without eating can be detrimental to your health....
For diabetics, choosing healthy snacks can be a daunting task.
A good rule of thumb is to pick out snacks that are rich in protein, fiber,...
According to information available through the National Institutes of Health, there’s an estimated 462 million people in the world who are...
Eleven Clinical Studies
After eleven clinical studies and 300,000 participants, researcher Vasanti Malik and her team of researchers...
Diabetic women often have a harder time losing weight than non-diabetic women. A study funded by Jenny Craig proved that diabetic women have an...
Many recent studies have proved that magnesium levels are lower in patients with diabetes than in non-diabetics. This magnesium...
Fluid retention, also known as edema, is a problem that affects many diabetics, especially those with type 2 diabetes...
Some of us might be thrilled if we could manage our blood sugar by sitting in a hot tub or sauna, instead of working up a sweat biking, or using...
Cooking and baking with the ancient cereal grain sorghum has health benefits for people with diabetes, and those with weight control issues....
When it comes to certain foods, there are always questions as to whether or not a diabetic can have them without...
Matcha tea is a rich, creamy, full-bodied beverage with amazing nutritional properties that address several diabetes health concerns.
The...
Salads are good example of foods that type 2 diabetics can enjoy with relatively low guilt. With the right greens and other elements added, salad...
Remaining gainfully employed is important to many people. Those who live with any form of diabetes may find that some lines of work are more...
Learning that you have diabetes does mean making some lifestyle changes. One of the areas that needs attention is your diet. Most people find that...
One of the more challenging aspects of life as a type 2 diabetic is managing your diet. There’s often the temptation to avoid certain foods...