Statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control estimate that as many as ten percent of the population is suffering from diabetes. While around seven percent are aware of their condition, up to three percent have no idea that they have it. For those people a regular menu for diabetic people simply doesn’t get much attention, until it’s far too late. One of the chief benefits of this diet for diabetics is that it’s good for just about anybody. There is even some evidence to suggest that such a diet can help to reduce the chances of getting diabetes in the first place.

How does the diet work? Before answering, it’s important to know what diabetes is. To put it simply, it’s having a high blood sugar level. The sugar in this case is glucose. The aim of diabetic diets is to not only lower the levels of glucose, but to also keep them more steady. Technically, it’s the excessive amounts of sugar in the bloodstream that lead to the bad effects of diabetes.

The regular menu for diabetic people includes a series of smaller snacks and meals scattered through the day, along with foods that are not as likely to raise blood sugar levels. Foods that are high in sugar or carbohydrates (which is what sugar is) are typically eaten in smaller quantities, as they tend to elevate the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. Furthermore, by more evenly spacing eating times, the peaks and valleys of blood sugar levels are kept more even.

If you have diabetes, then you know how vital your diet is to keeping it in check. But before you can do that, you need to know which foods you can eat and which ones are better left alone. The regular menu for diabetic eating isn’t too difficult to learn, but it does take a bit of getting used to, especially for anybody who hasn’t previously given their diet much thought.

The next logical question then, is what foods can you eat if you’re a diabetic? What follows are just some basic guidelines. The actual number of foods you can eat is much higher. The point is to give you an idea of the many tasty foods you can enjoy. Low-fat and fat-free dairy products without additional sugar are okay (this includes soy milk based products as well). Vegetables that are low in starch are okay, like broccoli, peppers, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, beets, tomatoes, cabbage and onions. Lean meats can be eaten, such as fish and skinless turkey or chicken, and most other lean cuts of meat as long as they are trimmed of any visible fat. Even fruits like oranges, blueberries, strawberries, apples and melons are good to eat. There is still some disagreement about starches, but here are a few good choices: lentils, peas and beans, whole wheat, oats, popcorn, whole rye, squash, pumpkin, corn and potatoes.

Sure, ten percent of people may have diabetes, and it is a very serious disease, but with all of the foods on the regular menu for diabetic people it doesn’t have to mean eating bland food.