How Many Carbs Should You Eat to Manage Diabetes?

Your body needs carbohydrates—sugars, starches, and fiber—for energy. But how many carbs you need per day can vary, particularly when you have diabetes.

Knowing the amount and types of carbs you eat is key for managing blood sugar levels. Balancing carbs with other nutrients like proteins can also reduce the impact on blood sugar.

This article covers carb guidelines for individuals with diabetes, as well as how to plan out what you eat. It also offers a sample diabetes meal plan that includes the number of carbs per meal.

How Many Carbs Per Day When You Have Diabetes

Most people with diabetes should get around 50% of their daily calories from carbohydrates. This means a person who eats 1,600 calories a day should be eating about 800 calories from carbs. Since carbs provide 4 calories per gram, this breaks down to 200 grams of carbs per day.

Some people with diabetes may choose to eat a lower carbohydrate diet. Guidelines from the American Diabetes Association note there is no exact percentage of calories from carbs, protein, and fat that people living with diabetes need to eat.

A registered dietitian nutritionist, nutritionist, or certified diabetes educator (CDE) can create personalized meal plans for people with diabetes that consider factors like:

• Eating patterns
• Goals
• Food preferences
• Lifestyle
• Culture
• Budget

What Determines Ideal Carb Count?

If you have diabetes, you’ll need to work with your healthcare team to decide how many carbs you need to eat every day. Some things that will influence your carb intake include:

• Age
• Sex
• Weight
• Activity level
• Blood sugar numbers, which describe how much glucose is in your blood

How you spread the carbs you eat out throughout the day will depend on things like:

• Diabetes medication (which may need to be taken with food)
• Insulin use (which treats high glucose levels)
• Eating patterns
• How much your blood sugar level changes after you eat (blood glucose response)
• Exercise

One way to figure out your ideal carb intake is to test your blood sugar before and after you eat. If your blood sugar is within the target range two hours after a meal, your meal plan is working well for you. If it's higher, you may need to adjust your meal plan.

How Do You Plan Your Carb Intake?

Mapping out your daily meals will help you make sure that you’re balancing your carb intake. Here are some goals to keep in mind:

• 45 to 60 grams of carbs per meal or less
• 15 to 30 grams of carbs per snack or less

Nutrition labels on packaged foods always list carbs per serving. If a food does not have a label, check a food journal app that lets you input foods and portion sizes to find the approximate number of carbs they have.

When you’re making meals and snacks, remember that it’s helpful to pair carbs with protein and fat. The combination slows glucose uptake in your bloodstream.

Some people with diabetes benefit from eating the same amount of carbs at each meal. You might find that this eating routine takes the guesswork out of managing your insulin medication, especially if you take fixed doses.

How Do You Choose What Carbs to Eat?

When you’re choosing carbs, look for complex carbs over simple “refined” carbs that have been processed and stripped of key nutrients like fiber, folate, and iron. Most processed and packaged foods are made with refined carbs, including:

• White bread
• Crackers
• Pasta
• White rice

Complex carbohydrates are slower-burning starches like whole grains. These carbs have more nutrients than simple carbs, as well as more fiber, which can make you feel fuller for longer.

Examples of complex carbs include:

• Brown rice
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Farro
• Barley
• Fruits
• Vegetables

Even though complex carbs offer more nutrition, you still need to be mindful of portion sizes. 

Using the Glycemic Index As a Guide

The glycemic index (GI) is a system that ranks foods based on how quickly they cause your blood sugar to rise.

Foods with a high GI, like refined carbs, make your blood sugar rise faster than foods with a low GI, like complex carbs. If you eat something with a higher GI, combine it with a lower GI food to lessen its effect on your blood sugar.

Other Considerations

When you’re figuring out how to include carbs in a diabetes meal plan, here are a few other things to keep in mind:

• Studies have shown that eating a lower-carb breakfast may help improve your weight and blood sugar levels. Other studies have shown that a high-fat, high-protein breakfast can help reduce blood sugar levels throughout the day.
• Eating a high-fiber lunch with plenty of veggies and whole grains will help keep you fueled throughout the afternoon.
• You can make a filling, nutrient-dense dinner with lean protein, green veggies, and a complex carb on the side.
• Juice, milk, soft drinks, and alcohol are usually high in carbs. If you're limiting your carb intake, these drinks can count for a lot. Stick to water, sparkling water, coffee, and tea.

Working with a registered dietitian nutritionist can help you come up with a diabetes eating plan that works with your budget, preferences, and needs.

Sample Meal Plan

This sample diabetes meal plan provides roughly 45 to 60 grams of carbs per meal and 15 to 30 grams of carbs per snack. The number of carbs per item is listed in parentheses.

Breakfast

• 3 eggs with two slices of whole-grain toast, lettuce, tomato (30 g)
• 1 small piece of fruit (15 g)

Total carbohydrates: 45 g

Lunch

• Salad with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, 1/4 avocado (5 g) 
• 1 cup low-sodium lentil soup (30 g)
• 3 cups air-popped popcorn (15 g)

Total carbohydrates: 50 g

Snack 

• 1 small apple (15 g)
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter (3 g)

Total carbohydrates: 18 g

Dinner

• 4 oz grilled salmon (0 g)
• 1 cup roasted asparagus with 1/2 cup cannellini beans (20 g)
• 1 large sweet potato (35 g)

Total carbohydrates: 55 g

Snack

• 1 nonfat plain Greek yogurt (7 g)
• 3/4 cup blueberries (15 g)

Total carbohydrates: 22 g

Including Sugars, Fat, and Protein

When you’re monitoring carbs, it's important to also pay attention to sugars, fats, and proteins.

Sugar can have a place in a lower-carb diet but since it has no vitamins and minerals, it’s not offering any real nutrition. High-quality fats and proteins play a big role in diabetes management because they provide the body with energy and can slow the entry of glucose into the bloodstream.

How Much Added Sugar Is Right for You?

There is no current guidance for added sugars for adults with diabetes.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults who do not have diabetes get no more than 10% of their daily calories from added sugar. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends an even lower limit—no more than 6% of daily calories from added sugar.

Specifically, the recommendations advise: 

• No more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar for an adult who was assigned female at birth who does not have diabetes
• No more than 9 teaspoons (37.5 grams) of added sugar for an adult who was assigned male at birth who does not have diabetes

If you have diabetes, you will work with your provider to find out the daily amount of added sugar you can have while still meeting your goals.

Adding Fat and Protein

Protein and healthy fats keep you feeling fuller longer and can help you keep your blood sugar levels in check. 

Proteins to include:

• Meat, such as poultry, fish, and lean red meats
• Eggs
• Beans and legumes
• Soybeans, tempeh, and tofu
• Nuts and seeds

Fats to include:

• Avocado and avocado oil
• Olive oil and olives
• Nuts and nut butter
• Seeds, such as sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
• High-quality, full-fat, grass-fed dairy products

Summary

Figuring out the right amount of carbohydrates you can have each day is an important part of crafting a diabetes meal plan. You can use the glycemic index to check how the foods you want to eat would affect your blood sugar, especially when they’re part of a meal with protein and fat. 

Try to avoid eating refined carbs like white bread and white rice because they lack important nutrients. Instead, choose nutritious complex carbs like whole grains and vegetables. You’ll also want to limit your intake of added sugars, which don’t add any nutritional value to your diet.