When you are a diabetic sometimes when you eat is just as important as what you eat. Keeping a steady stream of food in your system without causing high blood sugars can be hard to do. But once you figure what works for you, you will have more flexibility and better control of your diabetes.
It is recommended that diabetics eat many small meals throughout the day or three main meals and three snacks in between. A typical day may go like this:
- Wake-up and have breakfast
- Mid-morning snack
- Lunch
- Mid-afternoon snack
- Dinner
- Bedtime snack
The timing in between each meal or snack should be two to three hours. This variation will depend on what you have eaten at the previous meal, how active you have been and what you feel like. If you are feeling hungry or light-headed and you normally wouldn’t have eaten for another 30 minutes – don’t wait. Test your blood sugar and move up your meal. The time it can take for you to wait the 30 minutes can be the time it takes for your blood sugar to drop dangerously low.
The only time you may want to wait a longer period of time is between dinner and your bedtime snack. Most times dinner is the biggest meal of the day and you will not need food again for a longer period of time. Another reason to wait longer is to ensure that you have enough food in your system before you go to bed to last you through the night without your blood sugars dropping too low.
If eating this many times in a day is too much for you, consider eating smaller means and smaller portion sizes. Eating this way (less more often) makes it easier for your body to regulate blood glucose levels.
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