Meal Schedule for Type 2 Diabetes

Q: What’s the best meal schedule for a diabetic? When should snacks be included?

A: I recommend eating a meal or snack every four to five hours. This allows enough time for your blood sugar to come back down to a healthy baseline after eating, but it’s frequent enough to help you manage your appetite and keep hunger pangs at bay, which is especially important if you’re trimming calories to lose a few pounds. In general, you can meet this guideline by eating breakfast, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and dinner, evenly spaced throughout your day. At all meals and snacks, combine a small to moderate amount of high-quality carbohydrates (vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans/lentils) with a good dose of lean protein from foods like skinless turkey or chicken, egg whites, seafood, low-fat dairy, or beans/lentils (beans and lentils count as both a carb and a protein). The protein helps slow your body’s absorption of carbs and prevent spikes in your blood sugar. Here’s an example of an A+ day of eating designed for optimal blood-sugar control.

Breakfast:
Egg-white omelet with vegetables (spinach, mushrooms, peppers and/or onions)
One orange
Coffee with skim milk

Lunch:
2 cups hearty, low-sodium soup (lentil, black bean or minestrone) topped with ¼ cup shredded
reduced-fat cheese
Crunchy red-pepper sticks
Water

Snack:
Nonfat yogurt
1 apple

Dinner:
Homemade shrimp-and-broccoli stir-fry
¾ cup cooked brown rice
Zero-calorie seltzer

After Dinner:
Handful of almonds or pistachio nuts
Cup of decaf or herbal tea