What is a diabetic diet? Is there only one or many? What does a diabetic diet consist of? All these questions and more will be answered in this article.

A diabetic diet is an eating plan or diet recommended for people with diabetes mellitus to assist them in controlling their blood sugar.

A diabetes diet is medically known as Medical Nutrition Therapy. It is rich in nutrients, low in fat and calories and high in vegetables, fruits and whole grains. In such a diet, individuals are encouraged to eat moderate amounts of food and stick to regular mealtimes.

The importance of eating dietary fiber is emphasized in such diets and it is even said that carbohydrates eaten with dietary fiber results in a lower glycemic status (level of sugar in the blood) than the same amount of carbohydrates otherwise consumed alone.

It has been recommended that between 40 to 65% of calories should be obtained from carbohydrates, although the American Diabetes Association in 1994 recommended 60 to 70%.

This latter recommendation has been criticized by various individuals who rather canvassed a low carbohydrate diet. Richard K Bernstein is one of such individuals. His own diet limits carbohydrate intake to just 30 grams per day along with strenuous muscle building exercise and frequent blood glucose monitoring.

Futurologist Ray Kurzweil who was previously diagnosed with diabetes likewise advocates a carbohydrate intake of one sixth of total daily caloric load.

Taking a cue from the fact that a diet high in dietary fiber has been shown to be very beneficial, studies have been made on vegan diets (diets of vegetarians). These studies show that such diet not only also help to lower hemoglobin A1C and LDL levels but also advanced glycation end products. Glycated end products are proteins or lipids which having been exposed to sugars become glycated (covalently bonded with a sugar molecule without the controlling action of an enzyme).

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