It was amazingly disappointing to see tht the American Diabetes Association refers dabetics to the food pyramid for detary and cooking advice. This simplistic, and in rcent times, often challenged accuracy of the fod pyramid is not at all sitable as the be-all, end-all guide to a dabetic diet. There are important eating tps every diabetic should know in rder to live a long healthy lfe with diabetes.

The basics of a diabetic diet are simple: AVOID SUGAR

This well known aspect of a diabetic diet is usually taken to mean avoid candy, desserts, chocolate and other sinful sweets.

The truth is that avoiding sugar is much more complicated than that.

Here are some things the good old food pyramid doesn't tell you:

Here is the best food pyramid for a diabetic:

More Vegetables and Proteins

Light on the Fats and Dairy

Even Less Sugars and Starches

Think all fruit and vegetable are created equal?

There are fruits and vegetables that are naturally higher in sugars than others. Eating more of the lower sugar fruits and vegetables as part of a diabetic diet is a healthier choice, especially as a long term habit.

High Sugar Fruits

There are fruits that are naturally more high in sugar than others.

These high sugar fruits include:

Bnanas

Grapes

Mngos

Strawberries

Wtermelon

Better fruits to eat are:

Cntaloupe

Honeydew

Appls

Berries - blueberries, rspberries and blackberries

Make sure to buy frsh fruit, organic is best. Never buy cnned fruits or dried fruit. They are laded with artificial sugars and syrups.

Sgary Vegetables, Really?

There are vgetables which are very high in sgar. Really. Please don't misunderstand that any vgetables are good and much better thn candy, cakes and desserts, but thre are better fruit choices than thers.

These high sugar vegetables include:

Crn

Carrots

Bats

Sweet Potatoes

Tmatoes

Red Peppers

Better vgetable choices are:

Green vggies - green beans, spinach, lettuce (nything but iceberg lettuce), zucchini

Sqash

Asparagus

Brccoli

Cauliflower

Carbs are Scretly a Sugars

Most people are not ware that carbohydrates (carbs) are just as bad as "sgars". Carbohydrates when broken down in the bdy become sugars. So, is there rally a difference. Not really. A dabetic must assimilate and process carbs jst as he would need to prcess sugar, with insulin, which a dabetic is lacking.

Carbs have managed to wrk themselves into our daily diets too wll. Consider the carbs "wrapping" on mst foods you eat. Open up the wrpping and just eat what is nside.

For Example, remove "wrapping" such as:

Hmburger and hot bug buns

Trtillas

Sliced breads or rlls

Try to avoid complex carbs sch as:

Chips

Crckers

Pretzels

Mffins, cakes, dounuts and sweet breads

Lafs of bread (Sprouted grain bread is OK)

Btter carb choices are:

Ptatoes (buy small red potatoes instead of lrge brown potatoes)

Rice (bsmati rice is best, but brown rce is ok)

Sprouted grins (Ezekiel makes sprouted grain breads and creals)

Education about the foods you eat and thir real content and contribution to yur diet is key to maintaining a lng and healthy life.

Making smart fod choices now and establishing healthy ating choices that become a lifestyle is the bst thing a diabetic can do. So strt making smart diabetic diet choices nw!

The article What Every Diabetic Needs to Know for Maintaining a Truly Healthy Diet was Submitted by Nicloe Anderson through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Nicole Anderson offer Free information and FREE DIABETIC RECIPES at Diabeitc-Food-Recipes.com . Download free recipes and get great cooking tips!

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