Free food

Are you are diabetic and get hunger pangs even after eating the permissible quota of food?  Think of low calorie food called free foods. They give a feeling of fullness.

Fresh salads made of cabbage, onions, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radish and capsicum with only lime  salt, pepper or chat masala. Do not add any salad dressing like mayonnaise or olive oil.

Buttermilk or  Lemon juice without sugar,

Clear soups and rasam without butter or oil

SNACKING 
For people who can have snacks at work

• Always carry some snack with you- fruits (one at a time), nuts (6-7 at a time), curds/buttermilk,  roasted legumes,  

carrot/ cucumber/tomato slices, and 

Marie biscuits. 

• If a snack is provided at the work places healthier choices include  – fruits, popcorn without butter, chaat varieties such as  bhel puri, channa masala, fruit chaat,  vegetable sandwiches with whole wheat bread, roasted legumes, roasted soy nuts, peanuts, salads and soups. 

         AVOID samosas, puris, bondas, vadas, bajjis, puffs, cakes and pastries etc.

Food exchange list

Add variety to your diet by using the food exchange system.

Is your diet monotonous? Use the food exchange list for variety. For breakfast have idli, bread, dosa. Do not add sugar or jaggery to vegetables or pulses when cooking.

Keep cucumber or roasted channa for snacking between meals.

Before lunch or dinner, drink a glass of butter milk or rasam or clear soup, then have a plate of salad and finally the main meal to feel full.

Do not drink on an empty stomach. Limit to 2 ounces per day. When drinking, a person with diabetes should eat salad and not the usual snacks. 

Adjust calorie content of the salad, snack or drink with that of the day’s diet.

Avoid alcohol if diabetes is not under control and if there are complications.

Food Exchanges

Food exchanges are described here for the food groups – Cereals, Pulses, Milk and Milk products, Meat.

In the exchange list, each portion given for a particular food group has the same calorie value. This will allow you to substitute one item from a food group for another one in a given meal. For example, if you usually take 1 ½ cups of rice for a meal and you want to have chapathi instead, then you can substitute rice with 2 chapathis.

Cereals Exchange   

Each portion = 85 cals

Rice -1 cup- 25 g (Raw), 80 g (Cooked)

Phulka/Chapathi 1 (6“diameter), 25g (Flour) (without oil or ghee)

Idli 1 (2 “diameter), 50g (cooked)

Dosai (7” diameter), 34g (cooked).

Pulse Exchange   

Each portion = 85 cals, Protein = 3-7 g.

Dals- Redgram, Greengram, Bengalgram, Lentil, etc (cooked, plain dal without oil) l cup (Cooked), 25g. (Uncooked)

Sundal  or whole gram -  ½ cup (Cooked), 25g (Uncooked)

Milk Exchange    

Each portion = 80 cals.

Milk (Cow)- ¾ cup, 120 ml

Milk (Buffalo) - ½ cup, 68 ml

Skimmed Milk -1 ¾  cup, 275 ml

Curds - ¾ cup, 135 g

Buttermilk-  1 ¾ glass, 360 ml

Paneer (Chhena – cow’s milk)-  ¼ cup (8 small cubes), 20 g  

Cheese-  1 cube, 25 g

Meat/ Fish Exchange     

Each portion = 85 cals,  Protein = 4 to 7 g. 

Egg – 1,50 g

Chicken-  ½ cup. (4 pieces) ,75 g  or Mutton -  ½  cup (3 pieces), 70 g

Minced Meat -  ¼ cup , 40 g 

Mackerel -  2 ½  pieces, 85 g 

Seer fish -  1 ½  pieces ,65 g

Shark -  2 ½ pieces, 85 g

Prawns - ½ cup (4 pieces), 90 g