San Francisco Diabetes Resources

What can I eat?

People with diabetes can eat a variety of foods in moderation. Eat foods that are familiar to your family and culture. The most important thing is to know how different foods affect your blood sugar

A healthy diet for diabetes can also be a healthy diet for your heart, your cholesterol and blood pressure. Eating the right portions is also important to avoid gaining weight. 

Sweet or not sweet, carbohydrates are all the starchy foods that turn into sugar in your blood. There are a lot of them!

All grains and things made out of flour
All kinds of rice
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, yams, taro, beans.
Fruit and fruit juices, fresh, dried or canned
Milk, yogurt and ice cream
Desserts
Regular sodas and sweet drinks

The first step is to eat some carbohydrates, not too much, about 1/4 of your plate. Later, with a blood sugar meter, you can check your sugar to see how different carbohydrates affect your blood sugar, and eat more or less. You can learn to adjust your portions to keep your sugars in a safe range.

Proteins like meat, seafood, eggs, cheese and tofu don’t affect blood sugars. You need protein for energy and muscle. The first step is to keep the portion of protein to 1/4 of your plate.

Vegetables are the biggest part of your healthy plate.

Eats lots of colorful non-starchy vegetables. Try to fill up half your plate with vegetables.

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