Selecting the most nutritious foods can promote a healthy diabetic lifestyle. Once you're diagnosed, it's important to discuss a diet plan with your physician. He/she can outline a list of healthy foods as well as those to avoid. The diabetic food exchange list is one of the simplest, healthiest planned food systems to follow. With the food exchange list, you can achieve a well-balanced diet and manage your diabetes.

Diabetic Exchange List

The diabetic food exchange list is a planned food system that divides foods into six groups based on carbohydrate, fat, protein, and calorie content. These groups allow you to "exchange" a food item for another; however, both items must be on the same list. For example, one slice of bread, one tortilla, three cups of popcorn, and two graham cracker squares all contain about 15 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of protein, and 80 calories. Since they're similar in nutritional content and belong in the bread/starch group, you can exchange these food items.

The six diabetic exchange lists are:

• Bread/Starch Group
• Fruit Group
• Vegetable Group
• Milk Group
• Meat/Protein Group (Meats are divided into very lean meats, lean meats, medium-fat meats, and high-fat meats.)
• Fat Group

In addition to having six food groups, the diabetic food exchange list contains three other food categories for meal planning. On the food exchangelist, free foods don't count as long as you consume less than four servings per day. These foods include diet soft drinks, sugar-free gelatin, ketchup,and soy sauce. Combination foods from the food exchange list contain ingredients from another diabetic food exchange list. For instance, 1 cup of lasagna equals 2 carbohydrate and 2 medium-fat exchanges. Finally, there are foods from fast-food and chain restaurants that you can occasionally eat when you're dining out. Although these foods vary from place to place, many restaurants provide printable diabetic exchange lists on their websites or in their restaurants.

Playing the Exchange Game

It is okay to exchange or substitute one food for another within a group on the diabetic food exchange list; however, exchanging foods from different groups is not allowed. In general, the food exchange list is easy to grasp, but vegetables, like potatoes, corn, and beans, may cause some confusion. Rather than count as vegetable exchanges, these are a part of the bread/starch group because they contain a large amount of starch. Vegetables with less starch, like carrots, broccoli, and lettuce, are counted as traditional vegetables.

As you work on a healthy diabetic lifestyle, it is important that you don't eliminate any complete group of foods from your diet. In fact, the American Diabetes Association recommends that you choose a variety of nutritious foods and beverages from all the basic food groups.

If you're in need of assistance, a registered dietitian can provide guidance on what foods from the diabetic food exchange list are the best for your diabetes. Contact the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org for more information. You can also purchase a food exchange list from the American Diabetes Association by calling 1-800-342-2383.