Benefits of the Carbohydrate Counting Diet for Diabetics

The Carbohydrate Counting Diet groups foods into three main groups:  carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  Your dietitian will provide you with the number of carbohydrates you can have in a day and how that is divided up amongst your meals and snacks.  Your dietitian will also educate you on how you can determine the numbers of carbohydrates present in some of your favorite foods by reading food labels.

The benefits of this diet are:

• The biggest benefit of the carbohydrate counting diet is that it does not eliminate any foods. A diabetic can choose any food they wish to eat as long as they only eat enough of it to meet their carbohydrate needs.  The trick to this is to choose wholesome foods that will fill you up longer.  The same amounts of carbohydrates that are in a small handful of potato chips are not equal to the two slices of bread you can have instead.  But it is nice to know that if you really want to – once in a while – you can treat yourself.
• Another benefit is keeping a consistent amount of carbohydrates in your body. This can help regulate your insulin needs and control your blood glucose levels.  If your body has the same amount of carbohydrates to process at the same time each day it will be beneficial to your health and blood glucose readings.

When you choose a carbohydrate counting diet it is important to make sure you are doing it correctly.  If you don’t, you can eat too much or too little and both situations can be detrimental to your diabetes management.  Have a dietitian teach you how to properly count carbohydrates and closely monitor your blood sugar levels to make sure the diet is working for you. As with any new diet, give it time for you to adjust and learn how to plan your meals properly.

Check your blood glucose levels with Control D regularly to manage your Diabetes