This week I received the following question from http://foodpicker.org
I love cereal and with my new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, I'm wondering if I can still have cereal in my diet. Are there any types to avoid?
You most certainly cam have cereal in your diet! Having diabetes does not indicate you can't eat certain foods but only changing the moderation of eating certain foods!
It is important to read the food labels and consider the amount of carbohydrates in your cereal serving. Make sure to stick to the serving size listed on the box which may require using measuring cups for the first few times. Using smaller bowls also helps you psychologically thinking there is more in the bowl. Also, cereals with high fiber will reduce your total carbohydrate intake as discussed below. Try to pick fortified cereals which provide vitamins and minerals, low sugar and high fiber. Cereals with 5g of fiber or more will help reduce your total carbohydrate intake as discussed below. And, if you do choose a fiber choice make sure to gradually increase your fiber and fluid intake if you typically do not eat a lot of it.
American Diabetes Association:
"Because fiber is not digested like other carbohydrates, for carbohydrate counting purposes, if a serving of a food contains more than or equal to 5 grams of dietary fiber, you can subtract half the grams of dietary fiber from the total carbohydrate serving of that food."
If you choose a high fiber cereal such as General Mills Fiber One Bran Cereal which has 14g of Fiber and 25g Total Carbohydrate. You can subtract half of the fiber (7g) from the total carbohydrates and count this bowl of cereal as 18g of Carbohydrates. Don't forget to factor in your milk though! Milk for a 1/2c serving provides 6g of carbohydrates. Overall this bowl of cereal and milk would equal 24 carbohydrates which is about 1.5 carb exchanges. You can even add a small piece of fruit for one more exchange if you're still hungry!
- I used Food Picker for Cereal Labels: http://foodpicker.org/categories/cereal/#cold_cereal
- Use this site to help you find the right carbohydrate balance for your cereal of choice!
