Diet control is an important part of a person’s life and not only to a diabetic person but to anyone wishing to live healthily as well. This diabetes food pyramid was introduced to the medical community after much research from the National Institute of diabetes in order to help a diabetic with diabetic diet guidelines. This was done in the form of a food chain or food pyramid and beneath is an analogy with the famed pyramids of Egypt so that one can see what are the various guidelines that one must use in order to stay safe from diabetes using diabetic diet guidelines.
Base
As with this physical pyramid, there are a large number of foods like breads, different varieties of rice, cereal and pasta (which is mostly made up of grains like wheat, rye and oats), along with a large number of vegetable that make the base of the diabetes food pyramid. These foods provide diabetic diet guidelines to a diabetic person and form a vital part of diabetes food list. Some of the vegetables that are rich in starch are potatoes, corn, peas along with a variety of dried beans, peas and beans.
The Lower Middle Tier
Situated above the base of the diabetes food pyramid are the middle tiers which help in diabetic diet guidelines. Situated next to the base is the first middle tier made up of fruits and vegetables as separate categories. The vegetables section includes all leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cucumbers, chillies and peppers. The greener the vegetable, the richer they are in minerals, vitamins and other nutrients and so it is wiser to buy them fresh from the market. If one does not have access to fresh produce from the green grocers or if one lives in climatic surroundings which hinder production of green food, one can choose to buy frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are safe ingredients of diabetic diet guidelines due to the fact that very less amounts of salt and preservatives are used to keep them fresh for long periods of time, compared to tinned or canned food which is soaked in preservatives.
The Upper Middle Tier
This tier consists of milk and milk products, which forms one half of this tier and meat and meat substitutes, which contribute to the other half of the tier. Milk and milk products like cheese and cottage cheese are very rich in protein and calcium and diabetic diet guidelines must be worked out carefully in order to accommodate less number of servings of these foods. Meat and meat products like beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, tofu and others are also to be consumed in fewer quantities. The apex of the pyramid of the diabetes food pyramid suggested by the National institute of diabetes and American diabetes association has sweets, sugars and alcohol in this category. These foods are to be eaten with great caution and in very limited, measured quantities due to the high amount of risk posed by their intake.