"“People with diabetes need to achieve and maintain near-normal levels of glucose through diet often supplemented by hypoglycemic agents and insulin,” says Kathy Chapman BSN, RN, CDE, clinical nurse manager and certified diabetes educator for Allegan General Hospital’s Wound Healing Center that treat many patients who have difficulty healing due to complications from diabetes. “They would do better to follow the Diabetes Food Pyramid created by the American Diabetes Association.”

Chapman explains the advantages for diabetics:

• The Diabetes Food Pyramid groups food based on their carbohydrate and protein content. The emphasis is on the portion size of any given food to produce the same content per serving. For example, cheese is in the meat group instead of the milk group and potatoes are classified with grains and beans.
  
• The Diabetes Food Pyramid divides food into six groups of varying size. Starchy vegetables, beans and grains are on the bottom and diabetics should eat more servings from that food group.

• Those who have diabetes are urged to limit their consumption of fats, sweets and alcohol which are found at the top of the pyramid.

• Recommended daily servings are: grains and starchy vegetables (6-11), vegetables (3-5), fruit (2-4), milk and dairy (2-3), meat and meat substitutes (4-6 ounces), sweets (sparingly).

• Choices can be made from a range of recommendations from 1,600 to 2,800 calories per day and then divide the number among the meals and snacks consumed each day.

• To see how their bodies are processing carbohydrates, blood sugar checking should be done 90 minutes to two hours after eating with a target level of 180 or less.