What Diet is BEST for Diabetes?

Yesterday, I posted an overview over the Food Guidelines for Diabetes by AACE. Today I would like to answer a question that, as providers, we get often: “What’s the BEST diet for Diabetes?”

It seems like every year there’s another fad or designer diet that pops up. Some lifestyle diets have remained through the years. Whether it be vegan, vegetarian, keto, keto-vegan, Mediterranean…take your pick…all of these lifestyle diets have benefits. Research even shows that a vegan or even a primarily plant based diet can prevent diabetes type 2 & improve glycemic control. The reality though is that one size doesn’t fit all…one diet can’t fit the needs for all across the board.

One way I answer this question is, “The best diet is the diet that you can stick with & commit to for the rest of your life!” Most people don’t want to hear that because we all want a quick fix but the reality is that the BEST APPROACH is to ameliorate unhealthy food choices & habits. It’s just that simple. For example, if you have a patient that loves soda, put goals in place to reduce the amount of soda daily & replace it with water. Remember small tweaks lead to HUGE peaks. Now I speak more in depth about this in my latest YouTube video so I’ll link that below. Please consider subscribing to my channel, Kim E. The Diabetes NP, if you like. Also, I created a FREE CHEAT SHEET that summarizes the 82 page guideline article from AACE and I’ll link that below as well!