Even those low glycemic index carbs will raise your blood glucose, though. My best advice is to stick with a primarily vegetable diet. That way, you can eat all you want, get plenty of nutrition, fill up, and feel good… all without raising your blood glucose very much. If you combine that with lots of daily exercise, you can quite possibly get by without medication. I’ve lost 50 pounds following this simple plan. Sunday, I had a normal lunch of a chicken sandwich, large fries, and diet Coke. In two hours (after a 5 mile hike) my blood glucose was 79 mg/dl (4.4 mmol/l). All without any medication whatsoever. See my diabetes info page under my profile for more.

Carbohydrates are found in most healthy foods, including milk and yoghurts, cereals and bread, fruits and vegetables. It is important for most people with diabetes to have some carbohydrates at every meal, but not too much. A bowl of cereal with milk is a great breakfast, while a healthy sandwich with yoghurt could be lunch and lean meat with vegetables and potato is a suitable dinner.

The type of carbohydrate we eat is important, but not as important as the total quantity. Foods that are high in fibre, such as wholegrain breads and cereals and legumes, are said to have a low glycaemic index (GI). Including these foods in your eating plan will also help control your blood glucose level but you must still monitor the amount of carbohydrate and energy in the foods you eat. Too much of any food, including those with a low GI rating, will contribute to weight gain.