The Diabetes Plate Method is a Portion Management Method depicted as a simple pie chart, aimed at regulating food portions, particularly carbohydrates, to manage blood glucose levels. Originally known as the Swedish Plate Method, it was developed in the 1980s by Swedish dietitians to simplify diabetic meal planning. In the 1990s, it was aligned with the dietary guidelines of the American Diabetes Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, becoming the primary approach to teaching Diabetes Meal Planning and gaining widespread popularity.
Discover the simplicity of the Diabetes Plate Method, an effective approach to crafting nutritious meals that aid in blood sugar management. By following this method, you’ll effortlessly design well-balanced, portion-controlled dishes containing vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates—no need for tedious counting, calculating, weighing, or measuring. All it takes is a single plate!
Food is the main thing that can affect the levels of sugar in the body. Sometimes People get confused when it comes to deciding the right amount of healthy food according to their condition, and the solution is the plate method.
You have to get a plate that isn’t too large to even consider beginning. The overall size of our plates ordinarily decides the size of our parts.
Manage your diabetes with the diabetes plate method! It’s an easy way to teach meal planning for people living with diabetes using MyPlate as a guide.
You can start with 9 inches because it’s a reasonable size. Now is the perfect time to put food on a suitable plate since you have it! Read the whole content to get brief details.
Also Check : Best Diabetes Diet to Control Sugar Cure it
MyPlate Vs Diabetes Plate What’s the difference?
MyPlate and the Diabetes Plate are two different dietary guidelines designed to promote healthy eating habits, but they have distinct focuses and approaches.
- MyPlate:
MyPlate is a visual representation of the dietary guidelines created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was introduced in 2011 as a replacement for the Food Pyramid. MyPlate divides a standard dinner plate into four sections, each representing a different food group:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Grains
- Protein
It also includes a smaller circle on the side for Dairy. The purpose of MyPlate is to encourage a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods from each food group. The emphasis is on portion control, consuming more fruits and vegetables, choosing whole grains, and incorporating lean sources of protein.
- The Diabetes Plate Method:
The Diabetes Plate Method is a specialized approach to meal planning specifically tailored for people with diabetes or those aiming to manage their blood sugar levels. It also focuses on portion control but is more specific in its distribution of food on the plate. The Diabetes Plate Method divides the plate into three sections:
- Nonstarchy Vegetables: This section covers half of the plate and includes vegetables that are lower in carbohydrates and calories but rich in nutrients and fiber.
- Lean Protein: This section takes up a quarter of the plate and includes sources of lean protein like fish, poultry, tofu, or beans.
- Starch or Whole Grains: This section also occupies a quarter of the plate and includes foods with higher carbohydrate content like rice, pasta, potatoes, or whole-grain bread.
The main difference between MyPlate and the Diabetes Plate lies in the focus and the target audience. MyPlate is a general dietary guideline for the overall population, promoting balanced nutrition, while the Diabetes Plate Method is specifically tailored for individuals with diabetes, aiming to manage blood sugar levels effectively.
In summary, MyPlate is a general guideline for healthy eating for everyone, while the Diabetes Plate Method is a specialized approach designed specifically for people’s with diabetes.
What is the ideal way to apply the Diabetes Plate Strategy?
There are many justifications for why the plate approach is critical. Abstaining from gorging likewise helps with forestalling different illnesses like corpulence and the issues that outcome from it. The means for utilizing the sound plate technique are as per the following:-
Different ways are now present to balance and treat the various type of diabetes. We all know that treating diabetes is not an easy task without proper management.
First step: Put non-starchy vegetables on only partly area of your plate.
Nonstarchy vegetables have a lower carbohydrate content, which means they have a minimal impact on raising blood sugar levels. Additionally, they are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making them a crucial component of a well-rounded and nutritious diet. By filling half of your plate with these nutrient-packed superfoods, you ensure an ample serving of their health benefits.
Add vegetables like leafy green vegetables, including bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and many others. You can also add tomato or spinach. Potatoes ought not to be added because they contain some starch.
Here are some examples of nonstarchy vegetables:
- Asparagus
- Broccoli or Cauliflower
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage (green, red, napa, bok choy, chinese)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Leafy greens such as kale, collards, mustard greens, or Swiss Chard
- Mushrooms
- Okra
- Green beans, pea pods, snow peas, and sugar snap peas
- Peppers such as bell peppers and hot peppers
- Salad greens such as lettuce, spinach, arugula, endive, and other salad mixes
- Squash such as zucchini, yellow squash, chayote, spaghetti squash
- Tomatoes
Second step: Place lean protein in the focal point of your plate.
Now for lean protein, you must choose some food like a Greek type of yoghurt, chicken in limited amounts, eggs, turkey, fish, and some beans. Now people who prefer vegetarian foods, so food like tofu is an amazing other option. In addition to other things, protein helps with processing in the right manner, manages the chemicals in the body, forestalls muscle misfortune, and helps control cravings in a very good amount.
Third step: Now it’s time to fill the last part of your plate with some Healthy types of Carbohydrates.
Examples of carbohydrate foods:
- Whole grains such as brown rice, bulgur, oats/oatmeal, polenta, popcorn, quinoa, and whole grain products (bread, pasta, tortillas)
- Starchy vegetables such as acorn squash, butternut squash, green peas, parsnips, plantain, potato, pumpkin, and sweet potato/yam
- Beans and legumes such as black, kidney, pinto, and garbanzo beans
- Fruits and dried fruit
- Dairy products like milk, yogurt, and milk substitutes (i.e. soy milk)
Now we have to look for food, which is better in fibre, minerals and vitamins. The foods we are looking for mostly come in the healthy grains or Starchy vegetables category. Try to Avoid some Refined Carbs. Potatoes, butternut, Sweet Potatoes, whole grain or good grain bread type of foods are one of the preferred choices too. Add other foods according to the doctor’s advice.
Fourth step: This section of the plate includes only healthy types of Fats and some drinks, which do not contain any sugar or are low in sugar.
The meals which this step includes are Olive Oil, water, avocado or Tea to give some humidify to the body constantly but drinking this in a limited amount is essential.
About Combination of Foods:
While some meals may not neatly fit into the sections of a plate due to combining different food types like soups, casseroles, sandwiches, pizza, and pasta, you can still apply the plate method for portioning.
Simply, identify the various foods in the dish and mentally allocate them to the corresponding sections on the plate. For instance, in a slice of pizza, the crust represents the carbohydrate portion, the cheese and any meats on top are the protein foods, and the tomato sauce along with any vegetables would be the nonstarchy vegetables.
Maintaining the proportions of the plate method, even with combination dishes, is essential. When preparing such meals, aim to align the proportions with the plate method. For example, when building a pizza, opt for a thin crust to reduce the carbohydrate portion and top it with plenty of vegetables while reducing the amount of meat (or choose lean meat). To balance the meal, limit yourself to just 1 or 2 slices and serve it with a side salad to ensure that half of your meal consists of nonstarchy vegetables. This way, you can still follow the principles of the plate method for a healthier and well-balanced diet.
Check Out : Top 10 Exercises for Diabetic Patients & Benefits
Advantages of the Diabetes Plate Method
Here are some basic Benefits of using the right plate diet:
The Diabetes Plate Method can be likened to the Eatwell Plate or MyPlate, but with a specific focus on managing diabetes. If you are already familiar with your country’s dietary guidelines or have knowledge of creating a healthy plate based on these guidelines, adopting the Diabetes Plate Method becomes even easier.
- It helps in managing a good healthy diet routine conveniently and fastly.
- It makes you eat what is good for you and in good amounts for body.
- It helps reduce fluctuations in blood sugar.
- Networks well with current application highlights like computer-based intelligence food acknowledgement.
- It is more open-minded and sensible and assists shoppers with changing to another eating routine.
- The technique or method is very easy to learn for people and to use.
What is a couple of the Plate technique’s restrictions?
Each beneficial thing typically has a minor imperfection. This likewise applies to the plate method. The plate approach has a few disadvantages, including the accompanying:
Since it makes no proposals for preparing or the utilization of salt or sugar, it isn’t exhaustive.
It doesn’t take into account days when you might need more carbohydrates or energy because it isn’t tailored to each person.
The plate procedure prohibits a huge piece of the populace since veggie lovers and vegetarians who eat less are trying to oblige.
The Diabetes Plate Method lacks guidance on seasoning, salt, and sugar.
It may not account for individual needs, particularly on days requiring extra carbohydrates or energy, and may not easily accommodate vegetarians and vegans.
If your dinner plates exceed this size, consider opting for a smaller salad or dessert plate to serve your meals. Alternatively, if your dinner plates have a lip or artwork along the edge, utilize that as a natural boundary for portioning your plate.
Final Thought:
Each thing has its advantages and consequences, and that’s why going for a plating method by keeping all things in mind is essential. Contact your doctor first, and then start working on a plate method according to their device.
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