Dietary Guidelines for Diabetes

Women with diabetes need to follow all of the guidelines and healthy lifestyle changes 
as anyone else with diabetes, including changing her diet. If you have been diagnosed 
recently, your doctor will likely start you on a new diet that is going to help balance out 
your blood sugar levels. Here are some tips for changing your diet to a more diabetic-
friendly one.

General Diet Changes to Make

As you might have guessed, your diet is going to include healthier changes when you 
have diabetes, but that doesn’t mean sticking to something too strict. Many of the foods 
you already enjoy will most likely be included in the new diabetes diet, with a few 
changes. If you have diabetes, this will mean eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, 
being careful about high GI foods like watermelon. You will also want to fill up on whole 
grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and fish for those extra omega-3 
fatty acids.

Consider Going Low-Carb

Another diet change that is often recommended by doctors for diabetes is going on a 
low-carb diet. Sticking to a low-carb diet has many benefits for diabetes, including 
monitoring how much sugar you consume, not eating a lot of the banned foods like 
trans fats and starchy vegetables, and helping you to lose weight and reduce 
inflammation in your body. Eating low-carb doesn’t have to be difficult or extreme and 
can be very good for you. If you focus primarily on lean protein, the right types of dairy, 
and lots of veggies and fruits, you will be eating lower carb and following a healthy 
diabetic diet at the same time.

What You Should Eat Daily

In addition to these dietary changes, there are certain foods you should try to eat daily if 
you can. This includes:

Complex carbs – You can still have some carbs, but stick to your complex carbs. 
These include dairy, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and whole wheat 
foods like breads and pastas. 

Oily fish – Oily, fatty fish has a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids which are good for 
diabetes and heart health. A few days a week, try to have fatty fish like salmon, tuna, 
and mackerel. 

Foods with fiber – Try to get enough fiber into your diet with fruits and nuts, legumes, 
vegetables, and whole wheat foods.

High protein foods – Also get sufficient amounts of protein with dairy, eggs, lean 
protein, fish, and nuts. 
