IOH Meal Exchange Plans for Diabetes

Diabetes Meal Exchange Plans
page 2 of 4

Reprinted with permission from the NIH.
For a printable version please visit their website.

Mini Site Index

The Food Pyramid

The Food Pyramid with 6 food goup sections.

Eat a variety of food to get the vitamins and minerals you need. Eat more from the groups at the bottom of the pyramid, and less from the groups at the top.

How much should I eat each day?

Have about 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day if you are

a small woman who exercises
a small or medium woman who wants to lose weight
a medium woman who does not exercise much

Choose this many servings from these food groups to have 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day:

6 starches	2 milk and yogurt
3 vegetables	2 meat or meat substitute
2 fruit	up to 3 fats

Talk with your diabetes teacher to make a meal plan that fits the way you usually eat, your daily routine, and your diabetes medicines. Then make your own plan.

Have about 1,600 to 2,000 calories a day if you are

a large woman who wants to lose weight
a small man at a healthy weight
a medium man who does not exercise much
a medium to large man who wants to lose weight

Choose this many servings from these food groups to have 1,600 to 2,000 calories a day:

8 starches	2 milk and yogurt
4 vegetables	2 meat or meat substitute
3 fruit	up to 4 fats

Talk with your diabetes teacher to make a meal plan that fits the way you usually eat, your daily routine, and your diabetes medicines. Then make your own plan.

Have about 2,000 to 2,400 calories a day if you are

a medium to large man who does a lot of exercise or has a physically active job
a large man at a healthy weight
a large woman who exercises a lot or has a physically active job

Choose this many servings from these food groups to have 2,000 to 2,400 calories a day:

11 starches	2 milk and yogurt
4 vegetables	2 meat or meat substitute
3 fruit	up to 5 fats

Talk with your diabetes teacher to make a meal plan that fits the way you usually eat, your daily routine, and your diabetes medicines. Then make your own plan.

Make Your Own Food Pyramid

Print out this pyramid and fill in the numbers of servings next to the name of each food group.

Each day, I need

The Food Pyramid, with a space to fill in the number of servings next to the name of each food group.

Starches

Starches are bread, grains, cereal, pasta, or starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes. They give your body energy, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Whole grain starches are healthier because they have more vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Eat some starches at each meal. People might tell you not to eat starches, but that is not correct. Eating starches is healthy for everyone, including people with diabetes.

The Food Pyramid, with the starches section enlarged to show drawings of rice, potatoes, bread, crackers, tortillas, and other starches.

Examples of starches include

bread
pasta
corn

potatoes
rice
crackers

tortillas
beans
yams

How much is a serving of starch?

Examples of 1 serving: 1 slice of bread or 1 small potato or a half cup cooked cereal or 3 quarter cup dry cereal or 1 small tortilla.
Examples of 2 servings: 1 small potato plus 1 small ear of corn or 2 slices of bread.
Examples of 3 servings: 1 small roll plus half cup of peas plus 1 small potato or 1 cup of rice.

If you have more than one serving at a meal, you can choose several different starches or have two or three servings of one starch.

Print out this chart. Then fill in the blanks with how many servings of starch to have at meals and snacks.

1. How many servings of grains, cereals, pasta, and starchy vegetables (starches) do you now eat each day?
I eat _____ starch servings each day.

2. Check how many servings of starches to have each day in the section on How much should I eat each day.
I will eat _____ starch servings each day.

To control your blood glucose, spread the servings you eat throughout the day.

3. I will eat this many servings of starches at

Breakfast______	Snack ______
Lunch______	Snack ______
Dinner______	Snack ______

A diabetes teacher can help you with your meal plan.

What are healthy ways to eat starches?

Buy whole grain breads and cereals.
Eat fewer fried and high-fat starches such as regular tortilla chips and potato chips, french fries, pastries, or biscuits. Try pretzels, fat-free popcorn, baked tortilla or potato chips, baked potatoes, or low-fat muffins.
Use low-fat or fat-free yogurt or fat-free sour cream instead of regular sour cream on a baked potato.
Use mustard instead of mayonnaise on a sandwich.
Use the low-fat or fat-free substitutes such as low-fat mayonnaise or light margarine on bread, rolls, or toast.
Eat cereal with fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk.



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