Healthy Food Choices: Developing a Plan

Outline for the videotape "Healthy Food Choices: Developing a Plan", from The American Association of Diabetes Educators Patient Education Video Series, produced by Milner-Fenwick, Inc., copyright 1996.

**Funded through a grant from the Friends of the University of Michigan Hospitals. **

  1. What you eat, how much and when can affect your health now and in the future.
    1. Blood sugar too high over time may result in health problems.
    2. Healthy food choices help to keep your blood sugars in your target range.

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  2. Work with a Registered Dietitian to design a meal plan that will work for you.
    1. Your meal plan is key to making healthy food choices that you enjoy.

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  3. Monitor your blood sugar to tell if your treatment plan is working.
    1. Diabetes care team will recommend when and how often to test.
    2. Keep a diary of test results and share with your diabetes care team.
    3. Changes may be made in your treatment plan based on these results.

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  4. Meal Plan includes how much of the 3 Major Nutrients you should have in a day.
    1. Carbohydrate
      1. Starch, e.g. breads, cereals, rice, pasta, starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn)
      2. Sugar, e.g. natural sugars in fruit & milk, processed foods – table sugar, syrup, jelly, candy, desserts
      3. Fiber, e.g. whole grain breads & cereals, many fruit & vegetables
    2. Protein
    3. Fat

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  5. Rules for Healthy Food Choices
    1. Control total carbohydrates.
      1. Carbohydrates used to produce sugar for energy.
      2. Too much carbohydrate at one time or throughout the day will raise your blood sugar too high.
      3. Your meal plan will help you stay within your carbohydrate limit for the day.
    2. Choose foods low in fat.
      1. Fats are high in calories, which can cause weight gain.
      2. Saturated fats can raise cholesterol level, which increases risk for heart attack.
      3. Saturated fats are found in meat & dairy products, e.g. red meats, bacon, sausage, lunch meats, whole milk, cheese, cream, butter
    3. Control portion size.
      1. Too much of any kind of food or too much food in general may cause you to eat too much carbohydrate, fat and calories for the day.
    4. Eat meals at same time each day with same amount of food each time.
      1. Very important if taking blood sugar medications.
      2. Number of meals & snacks each day is in your meal plan.
      3. Meals that are skipped, delayed, or smaller than usual will cause blood sugar to drop.
      4. Meals that are larger than usual will cause blood sugar to rise.

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  6. Work with your dietitian to select a Nutrition Tool to use.
    1. Food Guide Pyramid
      1. Eat most of food from breads, fruit, and vegetable categories
      2. Eat fewer foods from the dairy and meat products
      3. Eat fewest foods high in fat / oils / sweets
    2. Nutrition Facts Label found on food
    3. Food Exchanges – eating certain number of servings each day from list of foods in the carbohydrate, protein and fat categories
    4. Carbohydrate Counting – count total grams of carbohydrate that you eat
    5. Fat Gram Counting – count total grams of fat that you eat
      1. Helpful in people who need to decrease their cholesterol or lose weight
    6. Calorie Counting – count total number of calories that you eat
      1. Helpful in people who need to lose weight

Making healthy food choices starts with a plan – work with your dietitian to develop a meal plan individualized to your needs.

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