Food Exchange Lists for Diabetes
Looking for a diabetic exchange list for snacks and combination foods? Some foods don't fit conveniently into one exchange list. These foods are usually combinations of carb and fat exchanges. Here's a chart of some common combination foods.
Diabetes food exchanges can help you plan your meals. When you use the exchange system for keeping track of your carbohydrate intake, 1 carb exchange equals 15 grams of carbohydrate.
Foods that contain carbohydrates include starches, such as bread and pasta, fruit, milk and milk products, and some desserts.
If you don't have an exchange list handy, it can be difficult to know ho…
When you have diabetes, you may use the exchange system for meal planning. Most food exchanges have 80 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrate and/or 3 grams of protein. But, did you know that there is also a "free" foods list? Free foods don't count as an exchange and have less than 20 calories per serving. They're called free foods because you can add them to your meals without counting them.
Exchanges are a method of meal planning for diabetes. Foods are clustered into groups or categories of similar foods, and serving sizes are established that keep all foods within a group at approximately the same calories, grams of carbs and fats.
Eating properly when you have diabetes requires lots of attention. One way you can vary up what you eat is by tuning into a diabetic exchange list. Here's one for foods commonly eaten on special occasions, like birthdays and holidays.
