Grocery shopping for diabetes sufferers can be a challenge. Diabetics often need a guide that helps them determine whether or not the food they are buying is a good choice or a bad one. Factors making up for good choices include maintaining good health and controlling blood glucose levels. A diabetic food list will help diabetics with their daily intake of food, along with their groceries.

The Food Pyramid and Diabetes

The Diabetic Food Pyramid includes 6 food groups, which starts with breads, grains and other starches at the base of the pyramid, and rises to fats, oils and sweets to the top.

This is list of categories from the bottom up:

• Bread, grains and other starches
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Meat, meat substitutes and protein
• Dairy
• Fats, oils and sweets

The goal for shopping and preparing for meals with the best approved diabetes food is to choose more food from the base and less as you move up the pyramid. What follows is a short explanation of the food pyramid to help you determine the best and worst choices for your diabetic meal plan.

Breads, Grains and Other Starches Food Group

The foods in this category contain not only the essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, they also contain complex carbohydrates that turn your body turns into sugar for energy. Though carbs make glucose levels rise, complex carbs are absorbed more slowly than simple carbs, and one needs carbs for energy. Here is the list of the best and worst choices for this base:

Best Choices

• Whole grain flours, such as whole wheat flour
• Whole grains, such as brown rice
• Cereal containing whole grain ingredients and less sugar
• Whole grain bread
• Baked potato or baked steak fries
• Whole grain flour or corn tortillas

Worst Choices

• “White” flour
• Processed grains such as white rice
• Cereal with less whole grain and lots of sugar
• White bread
• French fries
• fried white-flour tortillas

Vegetables Food Group

Vegetables also contain carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, though they usually contain fewer carbs than fruits. Many vegetables contain lots of fibers and would usually contain less fat and sodium (unless they are canned.) Starchy vegetables such as potatoes and corn aren’t included in this food category since they are considered in the breads and grains category. Here’s the list to help you do the groceries for vegetables:

Best Choices

• Fresh vegetables or frozen vegetables, lightly steamed.
• Fresh cucumbers
• Fresh shredded cabbage or coleslaw

Worst Choices

• Canned vegetables with lots of added sodium
• Pickles
• Sauerkraut

Fruit Food Group

Fruits contain carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and are naturally low in fat, except for avocados, and sodium. Aim from the best selections of fruits and avoid the worst:

Best Choices

• Frozen fruit or fruit canned in fruit juice
• Fresh fruit
• sugar-free or low sugar jams and preserves
• No sugar added applesauce
• 100% fruit juice or low carb juices

Worst Choices

• Canned fruit in heavy sugar syrup
• Chewy fruit rolls
• Regular jams and preserves
• Sweetened applesauce
• Fruit punch, fruit drinks, sweetened soda, fruit juice drinks

This category contains diabetes foods high in protein including beef, chicken, fish, pork, turkey and seafood. This group also includes tofu, beans, cheese, eggs and nuts. Non meat sources of protein can help lower the amount of fat you consume:

Best Choices:

• Baked, broiled or stewed meats
• Turkey bacon
• Low fat cheese
• Lower fat cuts of meat, such as top sirloin
• Slightly sautéed tofu, steamed or cooked in soup
• Baked and stewed beans
• Skinless breast of chicken and turkey

Worst Choices

• Fried meats
• Pork bacon
• Regular cheeses
• Poultry with skin
• Fried fish
• fried tofu
• Beans prepared with lard
• Higher fat cuts of meat such as ribs

Dairy Food Group

This food group contains milk and foods made from milk such as yogurt and sour cream. Milk contains a lot of proteins and minerals. Here’s a list of the best and worst choices of milk products:

Best Choices

• 1% or skim milk
• Low fat yogurt
• Low fat cottage cheese
• Nonfat sour cream
• Frozen low fat, low carb yogurt
• Non fat half and half

Worst Choices:

• Whole milk
• Regular yogurt
• Regular cottage cheese
• Regular sour cream
• Regular ice cream
• Regular half and half

Fats, Oils and Sweets Food Group

This food group includes food providing lots of calories and less nutrition. Eating too much of these can help you gain weight, making it hard to keep your diabetes under control but this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to avoid them. Just select and eat wisely:

Best Choices

• Baked snacks like baked potato chips, baked corn chips, puffed rice or corn snacks
• Vegetable oils, non hydrogenated butter spreads, margarine
• Reduced – fat mayonnaise / light salad dressings
• Air popped or calorie controlled popcorn

Worst Choices

• Snacks fried in fat such as potato chips, corn chips, pork rinds
• Lard, hydrogenated vegetable shortening, butter
• Regular mayonnaise / salad dressing
• Butter flavored stove top popcorn

If you are still confused about the diabetic food pyramid or what food you should take, you may inquire with your local physician and/or health provider for a complete and detailed list of the proper and approved diabetes menu and diet intake.