Hey everyone, it’s Sami!
If you are reading this, then you should be very excited because I am about to provide all of you with a sample diabetes-friendly meal plan for free. Yes, you heard that right: FREE!!! (And no, I will not make it fully plant-based sadly!) Having a weekly meal plan helps create a sense of consistency and habit, which is a key component in diabetes management.
So what does a diabetes-friendly diet look like? Its range actually depends on the individual living with diabetes, but I am going to provide a sample meal plan for diabetics that typically stabilizes the blood glucose levels, and includes a variety of foods.
Monday:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with raspberries & blueberries
- Snack: An apple
- Lunch: Avocado toast
- Snack: Carrots and hummus
- Dinner: Salmon, small baked potato, broccoli
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Whole-wheat toast with nut butter & strawberries
- Snack: Handful of almonds
- Lunch: Chickpea salad with vegetables
- Snack: Plant-based granola bar
- Dinner: Bean & rice burrito bowl
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Tofu scramble with vegetables
- Snack: Bowl of mixed fruit
- Lunch: Plant-based protein smoothie with bananas
- Snack: Seaweed snack pack
- Dinner: Lettuce-wrapped turkey burger with side salad & rice
Each one of these options contains a great balance of macronutrients that will provide fuel and energy throughout the day. People who live with type 2 diabetes should not see excessive blood glucose spikes from these meal options, and should feel readily satisfied to conquer the day. It is important to ensure that you are eating a well-balanced diabetes diet in order to see optimal blood glucose levels.
For beverages, try to stay away from any high-carbohydrate liquids due to the ‘spike and drop’ effect these drinks have on blood glucose levels. For example, fountain soda that has 50 grams of sugar will most likely spike your blood sugar to 300 mg/dL; however once you take insulin, it will drop all the way down to below 70 mg/dL which can be dangerous!
I personally enjoy drinking an iced almond milk latte with stevia every morning in order to wake myself up while getting my caffeine fix for the day; additionally, this coffee drink does not spike my blood sugar levels. One important aspect to note here is that it’s essential that you experiment with the effects of caffeine on your blood sugars. Since everyone’s genetic makeup is different, foods and drinks will affect each diabetic differently.
I hope that you are able to utilize this sample meal plan to implement a better diabetes diet into your life. If you decide to make any of these simple meal options, tag @justmytypepod_ and let us know how this blog post has helped you!
C’est la vie baby,
Sami
