There are many excellent diabetes cookbooks and resources for diabetes recipes available today.

When it comes to cookbooks you'll find a wide array of books, covering topics such as putting quick meals together to gourmet cooking, vegetarian cooking and many ethnic fares. I recommend that you have one or two general diabetes cookbooks on your bookshelf. These books can help you when you are getting started with diabetes meal planning and can offer you new recipes when your ideas run dry. A resource for excellent cookbooks is the American Diabetes Association. 

You may find the cookbook, actually an educational cookbook, The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible I co-authored with diabetes culinary guru Robyn Webb, a great source for healthy recipes and so much more. 

Today the internet is also filled with more healthy recipes than you'll ever have time to cook. Search for websites that offer recipes for people with diabetes or for people interested in eating healthier. Reality is that healthy recipes are just what people with diabetes need because the food and eating recommendations for people with diabetes are the same as the general public. 

Recipes in cookbooks or available online usually provide the nutrition information which helps you decide if the recipe fits into your eating plan.

Too many people continue to believe in and search for the one “best diet” to lose weight or get their prediabetes or diabetes under control or both. Unfortunately, even with all the nutrition research that’s been done, reality is there’s no one “best diet.” 

What this research does show is that the best diet for you, or better stated best eating plan or pattern for you, is – through exploration – find a way of eating that you can follow now and in the future – one that fits your needs and lifestyle. The right eating pattern for you to achieve your weight control and/or diabetes goals is what you can implement and continue to follow long term. 

Reality is, and research shows, that as human beings we just aren’t willing to and don’t vary our eating pattern much. We may be willing for a short time, but we then gravitate back to our old ways. The approach that is more likely to succeed is making slow and steady tweaks to your current way of eating. Learn more about the keys to diabetes meal planning and good diabetes control.

Though eating lower carbohydrate and higher protein diets have been touted time and time again, the research (and there's more than ever before) shows that after about six months (and that is if you can even stay on the diet this long), most people don't lose any more weight using this approach to eating than other approaches. It’s also important to consider when you’re choosing an eating pattern to make sure it’s healthful as well. Eating plans that are lower than 40 percent of calories from carbohydrate (particularly if you don’t eat more than 1500 calories a day) can have you not eating sufficient amounts of fruits, grains, legumes and low fat dairy foods. These can cause some nutritional deficient. For one, insufficient amounts of fiber and calcium. 

The diagnosis of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes often requires you to trim some weight. Taking weight off and then, the even harder part, keeping it off, requires you to find an eating plan that you can follow long term (that's the rest of your life) and that promotes healthy eating. Read more about keeping pounds off in my blog The Truths about Keeping Pounds at Bay. 

Reality is there is no magic diet or formula! The sooner you come to grips with this fact the better! Yes, eating healthfully and controlling weight is hard work. But, it’s worth it for your health. 

For many years people with diabetes were told to stay away from sugar, sweets and starches because they would raise blood glucose too quickly and too high. Research on this topic has accumulated over the years to prove this advice wrong. In 1994 the nutrition recommendations changed dramatically. Today sugary foods, sweets and starches are no longer forbidden for people with any type of diabetes.

What is true is that people with diabetes need to learn, like all people who try to eat healthy, to enjoy moderate amounts of sweets and sugary foods in moderation and on occasion. All sources of carbohydrate - sugary foods, sweets and starches and even fruits and vegetables - will raise blood glucose. Concentrated sources of carbohydrate, such as sugary foods and sweets can make blood glucose rise more.

The amount of sweets you can eat has everything to do with your current health and diabetes status and goals. For example a person with type 2 diabetes who is trying to lose weight and control their high triglycerides needs to keep sugary foods and sweets to a minimum due to their calorie content and impact on triglycerides. Whereas, the teenager with type 1 diabetes can likely enjoy more sweets if they know how to adjust their rapid acting insulin. Learn more about how to fit sweets and sugary foods into your diabetes eating plan in my book Complete Guide to Carb Counting.

And when it comes to starches. The message today is not about avoidance. It is all about making healthy choices, such as choosing whole grain breads, cereals and starches. Learn more by reading the answer to "How can I learn more about the food and nutrition recommendations for diabetes?"

Learn to fit sweets and other food you enjoy into your healthy eating plan by joining forces with a diabetes educator to work with to learn how much you should eat, when you should eat and how to fit the foods you enjoy eating into your diabetes eating plan. Read "How can I find a diabetes educator or diabetes education program?" to learn more.

Years ago, and still too often today, people with diabetes are sent to a dietitian to be "put on a diabetic diet." The fact of the matter is no one can put someone on a "diabetic diet" or any diet for that matter. It's up to you to choose to make changes in your eating habits to eat healthier. Today, many people with diabetes use carbohydrate counting, or as it’s abbreviated carb , counting, as a flexible way to plan their meals and if they take insulin to dose their insulin.

Carb counting has evolved to be a commonly used way to plan meals because research has shown that carbohydrate is main contributor to rising blood glucose levels after meals. All sources of carbohydrate, or foods that contain carbohydrate, including starches, fruit, vegetables, dairy foods, sweets; raise blood glucose levels albeit at varying speeds and with many other factors that come into play including the other foods you eat at the same time. For sure, blood glucose control is multifactorial. 

Should you avoid or strictly limit foods that contain carbohydrate? No, some foods that contain carbohydrate are among the healthiest, nutrient packed foods to eat. Consider: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and low fat dairy foods. Learn more by reading the answer to "How can I learn more about the food and nutrition recommendations for diabetes?"

Use carb counting to learn to eat similar amounts of carbohydrate at your meals to keep your blood glucose in control. If you have type 1 diabetes or you have type 2 diabetes and take insulin, learn to adjust your insulin based on the amount of carbohydrate you eat and your blood glucose level. 

To learn more about carb counting check out my book Complete Guide to Carb Counting.

Is there a best eating pattern for diabetes? This is a frequently asked question and one about which a lot of research has been done. Let’s break this down. 

The term “eating pattern”, which is quickly becoming a more commonly discussed concept, simply means a combination of foods or food groups that one eats day in and day out. For example, you eat foods, like a slice of bread or piece of chicken, that are in essence packages of nutrients that contain varying amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat – from some of each to none of one nutrient and a good bit from one or the others. And due to the combination of nutrients in our foods and the way we tend to eat, there’s only so much wiggle room, particularly if you want to eat healthfully, to eat more carbohydrate and less protein and fat or visa versa. 

Over the last decade or so research has been done on a variety of different eating patterns to determine whether they that can help people eat healthfully and at the same time prevent common chronic diseases like in prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Specifically for people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes do they help people achieve and maintain their glucose, lipid and blood pressure goals. 

Several eating patterns were reviewed in the most recent American Diabetes Association nutrition recommendations, from vegetarian, to Mediterranean-style, to lower fat and higher carbohydrate, lower carbohydrate and higher fat and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan (developed for the NIH DASH study in people with high blood pressure). 

There’s a varying amount of research on these eating plans and varying number of studies on them conducted in people with diabetes. As researchers love to say, more research is needed! At this point in time, because nutrition research is ever evolving, it’s clear that there is no one best eating pattern for diabetes. For that matter the same can be said for the best diet for weight control. 

What this research does show is that the RIGHT WAY for YOU is to through exploration find an eating pattern that you can follow now and in the future – one that fits your needs and lifestyle. There’s no ONE RIGHT WAY. What’s RIGHT is what YOU can implement and continue to follow long term. 

Reality is, and research shows this, as human beings we just aren’t willing and don’t vary our eating pattern much. We may be willing for a short time, but we then gravitate back to our old ways. The approach that is more likely to succeed is making slow and steady tweaks to your current way of eating. Learn how here.

Lastly, what and how much you eat is not the only lifestyle factor you can modify to get and stay healthy. Study after study shows that other health behaviors in addition, such as being physically active, minimizing sedentary behavior (hours of sitting), not smoking, getting adequate quality and quantity of sleep at the right time of day, and limiting stress are ALL key features of a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight.   

Learn more about healthy and helpful eating patterns for people with prediabetes and diabetes in my book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy.

These are today's basic principles for eating healthy with diabetes. Theyse are based on research-based nutrition guidelines from numerous groups including the American Diabetes Association:

• Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Very few people eat enough fruits and vegetables, yet experts know these foods are packed with nutrients and low in calories. Prepare and eat salads or raw vegetables. Carry fruit with you to finish a meal or provide a snack.

• Go for the grains. Choose whole grain cereals and whole wheat bread (3 grams of fiber/slice). Try the trendy high fiber grains: barley, millet, farro, couscous, quinoa, and brown rice.
• Eat more foods that contain resistant starch. Eat bananas that are underripe, cooled or cold potatoes and cold rice sushi or rice salads, eat more legumes and whole grains.
• Drink or eat low- or no-fat dairy foods - milk, yogurt and cheese. Use these foods in cooking. Make hot cereal with milk, use cheese in casseroles and sandwiches. Use yogurt to top fruit or enjoy as a snack or dessert.
• Make protein (meat, seafood, and poultry) your side dish, not the main course. Fill up your plate with grains and vegetables and eat portions of meat that are no larger than 3-4 ounces cooked.
• Lighten up on fats. Decrease the amount of butter, oil, salad dressing, cream cheese, sour cream and other fats you use. They're loaded with calories and some have unhealthy saturated fat.
• Cook with and eat healthier fats. Those are particularly your liquid vegetable and nut oils. Choose what fits your taste preferences and pocketbook. Use a tub spread or butter blend with a healthier oil in place of butter when you can. Sprinkle a few nuts here and there on salads, in casseroles or as a snack.
• Use healthy cooking techniques. Get away from frying and sauteing. These require fat. Try to steam, barbecue, grill, broil, bake and braise.
• Heighten the flavor of your foods with herbs, spices, vinegars, and mustards. They're calorie free and don't raise blood glucose levels.
• Put a lid on sugary foods and sweets. If you drink lots of soda or fruit juice, switch to water, ice tea, or a no-calorie beverage. Quench your sweet tooth with sugar-free hot cocoa or fudgeicles or sugar-free no fat yogurt. But do enjoy a sweet treat on occasion to prevent feelings of deprivation.

Remember: Start to make changes in your eating habits by choosing steps that are easiest for you to take! Success breeds success! Learn how here.

Need assistance with weight loss and knowing what and what not to eat with diabetes check out my book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy.

Read the current nutrition recommendations for adults with diabetes from the American Diabetes Association.

It's critical to take diabetes seriously from day one and to make taking care of your diabetes part of everyday life. If you need to lose weight, like more than 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes do, then take a step by step approach to achieve this goal over time. And it’s not just about the weight loss. Keeping lost pounds off is also typically quite challenging. Learn more by reading The Truths of Keeping Pounds at Bay. 

How about trying to make slow and steady changes in your eating habits this way...

Perhaps during the first month you decide you will eat more fruits and vegetables and use less salad dressing, butter or spreads and/or mayonnaise. Sounds simple, but that's plenty to bite off as a first step. 

Next, you may decide you want to transition from being a couch potato to taking a 15 minute walk 3 times a week. Again, not easy but put one foot in front of the other and get out there day after day. 

Slowly but surely, step by step these lifestyle changes will get easier. Plus you’ll slowly trim off a few pounds and begin to feel healthier and good about your success. Yes, pat yourself on the back!  

Overtime these healthier lifestyle habits will be the new way you choose to live your life. Add these changes together and they will help you control diabetes symptoms and your blood glucose…as well as potentially improve your blood lipids and blood pressure. Plus they’ll accomplish a whole lot more. Excellent bang for your effort.! 

Today there's no longer a so called “diabetic diet”. To learn more about why this term is no longer used read Got Diabetes? Needless or Necessary to Follow a Diabetic Diet?.

Eating with diabetes is about eating healthy, more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy foods. And lightening up on the meats/protein foods, fats (especially those with saturated and trans fats), desserts, and sugary foods and drinks. And of course, it's a matter of watching those portions no matter what you eat. You'll get hundreds of tips and suggestions to eat healthier in my book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy.

Get more details by reading the answer to this question: "How can I learn more about the food and nutrition recommendations for diabetes?"