Managing Diabetes
Easy Diabetes-Friendly Meals and Tips for a Healthier You
Jan. 22, 2025 • 5 min read
The content in this article should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider regarding your individual health needs.
Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. More than just sustenance, it often reflects cultural heritage, linking humanity to memories and places and marking the most special moments with family and friends.
Yet one of the first topics of conversation doctors must have with patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is modifying diet, sometimes asking them to give up the foods they love most or that are part of their identity. And that’s one reason it can be a challenge for those diagnosed with diabetes to adopt “diabetes-friendly” meals and eating habits.
Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist Kim Rose understands the struggles they encounter. The Sebring, Florida, practitioner grew up in a Jamaican family and enjoyed the flavorful Caribbean diet that comes with that rich background. As a little girl, her Uncle Dennis was diagnosed with diabetes and was told to completely cut certain foods, including many of his favorites. He was given no other diet options or compromises, so he continued to eat what he wanted. Over time, he developed complications, including kidney failure, leg amputation and heart problems, ultimately passing away in his 50s.
“Seeing how it impacted him, myself and our family made me want to focus on diabetes,” Rose said. “No one should go through complications because they think they’re unable to enjoy the foods that are comforting
for them.”
With 12 years of practice and her motto, “I believe food does not have to taste like cardboard and sadness,” Rose has a passion for helping people with diabetes live healthier lives while still enjoying flavorful foods.
We sat down with her to crack the code on creating easy diabetes-friendly meals.
What impact does a healthy diet have for those who are either newly diagnosed with diabetes or have been struggling to manage their blood glucose levels?
Everyone has a different nutrition prescription that can help decrease, delay and possibly avoid diabetes complications.
People with diabetes are two times more likely to have cardiovascular events.1 So, a healthy diet that includes a lot of colorful produce and high fiber is ideal. These foods have a lot of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals and can help delay and prevent the onset of a lot of the complications2 we see in those with diabetes.
What specific foods do you recommend fordiabetes-friendly meals?
All foods can fit into an individual's diet. But there are three food groups that work best:
- Whole grains: The American Diabetes Association and dietary guidelines for Americans speak a lot about increasing the intake of whole grains.3
- The reason is fiber. We simply don't get enough fiber in our diets. It’s so important, especially for someone living with diabetes, because research shows it may help to negate some of those glucose spikes.4
- And it’s also good for colon health and for gut health. There are different microbes that live in our gut called the “good gut bacteria,” and they can produce certain byproducts, such as short-chain fatty acids, that have a positive impact on our glucose and heart health.
- Produce: Specifically, our fruits and vegetables. I would say to begin, start with berries, because they tend to have less impact on glucose levels and contain certain anti-inflammatory properties.2
- And make sure you eat a plethora of green leafy vegetables, which is also a great way to add vitamins and minerals to your diet while getting some fiber.2
- Lean protein: Lean protein is so important because consuming too much fat can cause your glucose to be a little bit stubborn. It can cause your glucose to be high for a longer period.
- We need protein, but make sure it’s lean.5
What advice do you have about meal portioning?
Portion size is important because it really helps to prevent those glucose excursions. I typically tell those with diabetes to cut their portion size down, and I like to use the hands as a portion method. Depending on someone’s activity level, age and other factors, I tell them to try and eat the following per meal:
- two cupped-hand servings of carbohydrates
- a palm-sized or deck of card-sized amount of protein
- a thumb-sized portion of fat
- a fist-sized portion of nuts for a snack
- half a plate of vegetables
In addition to portioning, what role does meal-planning and prepping play?
A great way to ensure you hit your goals is to plan and prep meals in advance. When those with diabetes don't plan their meals properly, they tend to eat something very high in fat and carbohydrates, and then their blood sugar is all over the place. Take the time to prep and plan what you’re having for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the next few days or even the entire week.
What about meal timing?
Timing means two things. First, it’s about spreading out our meals, depending on how active a person is. For the average person, I recommend anywhere between four and five hours between meals. Breakfast at 9 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. and then a small snack later.
Then it’s about order. First eat high-fiber foods, like vegetables, then protein and then carbohydrates. Research shows if you eat in this specific order, it might help with decreasing glucose spikes.6
We all love to snack. Do you have any recommendations for healthy snacks for those with diabetes?
Nuts, berries and whole grains are great options. I have a client who works in an office setting where there was always chocolate to snack on that she really enjoyed. So, I recommended she keep nuts on-hand, since nuts have healthy fats and fiber. If she wanted chocolate, she could have a small handful of nuts first and then the small piece of chocolate. Because for her specifically, eating was more of a bonding activity in the workplace. She just had to be mindful of the frequency of the snacking. I gave the client specific timing targets for her meals and based on what we saw on her Dexcom CGM, and together we found better times to take a snack.
And what about some healthy meal recipes or easy meals for those with diabetes?
Chicken Caprese! I enjoy that one, because it's easy, hands-off. You get home from work. You pop everything in the oven and leave it alone. Another one is turkey tacos. It's lean protein and you have your green leafy vegetables. For dessert, a chocolate mousse. The chocolate, which is loaded with antioxidants, can help to bring down inflammation, which is important in diabetes because diabetes can cause a lot of inflammation in the body.7
You can find those recipes in the cookbook I’m working on with Dexcom. If you aren't on a Dexcom CGM, you can get our cookbook for free when you get started on a Dexcom CGM.
Any other advice you would offer to those looking for healthy meals for diabetes?
1. Simply take a breath. Inhale and exhale.
- The reason I have them do that is because when you get a diabetes diagnosis, it may bring on a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety.
2. Always seek out the counsel of a registered dietitian. Do not do this alone. Diabetes is a marathon – it is not a sprint.
- You want to make sure you have someone on your team that can help you navigate.
- We eat every single day, multiple times a day. Instead of trying to figure it out on your own and getting lost online, take the counsel of a registered dietitian.
3. Take the medications exactly as your doctor has prescribed. They are there to help you.
4. Figure out what your glucose levels are doing. Consider using a continuous glucose monitoring system, like a Dexcom G7, to track your levels.
- I can't tell you how many times my clients have told me, "I was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago. My doctor said my A1C is X," but they're not monitoring their glucose to see what they're waking up with, how specific foods impact their system in real time, how exercise, lack of sleep, and medications are affecting their glucose.
- So please, get a device that helps you track your glucose so you can take more informed, effective steps to reach your goals.
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1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, June 20). Diabetes and your heart. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-and-heart.html.
2 What superstar foods are good for diabetes?. What superstar foods are good for diabetes? | ADA. (n.d.). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/food-and-blood-sugar/diabetes-superstar-foods.
3 Get to know carbs. Get to Know Carbs | ADA. (n.d.). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/understanding-carbs/get-to-knowcarbs#:~:text=People%20with%20diabetes%20and%20those,of%20fiber%20per%201%2C000%20calories.
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022b, June 20). Fiber: The CARB that helps you manage diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/role-of-fiber.html#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20fiber%20can%20help%3A,the%20way%20other%20carbohydrates%20can.
5 Protein. Best Protein Choices for Diabetes |ADA. (n.d.). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/protein.
6 Shukla AP. et al. The impact of food order on postprandial glycaemic excursions in prediabetes. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2019; 21: 377– 381. 7 Tsalamandris S, Antonopoulos AS, Oikonomou E, Papamikroulis GA, Vogiatzi G, Papaioannou S, Deftereos S, Tousoulis D. The Role of Inflammation in Diabetes: Current Concepts and Future Perspectives. Eur Cardiol. 2019 Apr;14(1):50-59. doi: 10.15420/ecr.2018.33.1. PMID: 31131037; PMCID: PMC6523054.]
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