9225Introduction to CHOCounting.pdf - NDR-UK

Healthy Eating
The diet for people with diabetes is not a special diet – it should be a healthy diet that all your
family and friends can enjoy. Using your treatment plan with carbohydrate counting enables
you to balance your carbohydrate intake with your insulin. It gives you greater choice of what,
when and how much you eat. You will have more flexibility with this plan, but it is still
important to follow healthy eating guidelines. These help you to grow, keep well and avoid
gaining too much weight.
The eatwell plate below shows you the types and proportions of the different foods you need
to have a well balanced and healthy diet.
eatwell plate
Reproduced with the kind permission of the Food Standards Agency © Crown copyright
material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and
Queen's Printer for Scotland
Try to eat regularly and choose a variety of foods from the green, y e l l o w, pink and blue groups
every day to provide your body with the nutrients it needs. Foods in the purple group – food
and drinks high in fat and/or sugar – are not essential and should form the smallest part of
your diet.
B r e a d s, r i c e, p o t a t o e s, pasta and other starchy foods
• Make these foods the main part of every meal.
• Choose wholemeal, w h o l e g ra i n , brown or high-fibre versions where possible.
Milk and dairy foods
• Try to include these foods every day.
• Choose lower-fat alternatives where possible.
M e a t , f i s h , e g g s, b e a n s
• Aim to eat small portions of these foods at meals.
• Try to eat more fish and aim for one to two portions of oily fish such as salmon, herring or
pilchards each week.
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