Healthy Carbs for Diabetes

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  Making the Best Carb Choices for Diabetes

  "When you say 'carbohydrate,' most people think of sugar," says Meredith Nguyen, RD, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Methodist Charlton Medical Center Diabetes Self-Management Program in Dallas. But that's only half the story. Carbohydrates are also starches and valuable fiber, which are found in many nutrient-rich foods that should be part of a diabetes diet.
  Sugar is the basic building block that, depending on how it's organized, creates either starches or fiber. You need about 135 grams of carbohydrates every day, spread fairly evenly throughout your meals. Instead of trying to avoid carbs completely, practice planning your diabetes diet with everything in moderation.
  "There's nothing you can't have," Nguyen says. "The catch is that you might not like the portion size or frequency." Use this list of healthy carbohydrates to help you stay balanced.
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  Dairy

  You might be surprised to learn that milk and other dairy products contain sugar in the form of lactose. But this is an important food group to include in your healthy diabetes diet. Follow Nguyen's advice to make the most nutritious choices: "If you choose skim milk, light yogurt, and low-fat Greek yogurt, dairy has a great benefit even though it's a carbohydrate," she says. Dairy products also contain protein and calcium, both of which are important nutrients. By skipping whole-fat dairy products, you bypass a lot of the fat and calories that give dairy a bad rap. One cup of skim milk has about 12 grams of carbohydrates.
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  Beans

  Beans are a starchy form of carbohydrate and a high-fiber food. Beans also provide some good protein, which helps to fill you up. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can't break down, making it healthy for a diabetes diet. The healthy carbohydrate content varies according to bean variety. For example, one cup of cooked black beans contains about 40 grams of carbohydrates. Because beans are calorie dense, you'll want to watch your portions, but because all beans are filling, a little goes a long way.
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  High-Fiber Whole Fruits

  Most fruit is high in sugar, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy its juicy goodness. The key is to focus on fruits that you can eat whole and with the skin, which is where most of the fiber is stored — fiber helps to slow any spike in blood sugar. Fill your fruit bowl with apples, pears, and peaches. You can practice moderation and still have one serving of these healthy carbohydrates per meal as part of your diabetes diet. Not eating any fruit is just as bad of a choice as overindulging, Nguyen says. One medium apple with the skin has about 25 grams of carbohydrates.