Having diabetes should not limit your enjoyment of eating out. There are several ways you can manage your diabetes if you tend to eat out on a regular basis. Here are some healthy options for you to consider next time you dine out.
Mexican & Spanish
- Mexican and Spanish meals based on fresh seafood and grilled meats and salads offer lots of healthy alternatives
- Avoid loads of cheese and sour cream
- Bean and salsa dips
- Black bean or gazpacho soup
- Freshly cooked seafood or fish
- Enchiladas (corn tortilla filled with meat, chicken or beans)
- Burritos (filled flour tortillas) and fajitas
- Salad based dishes
- Seafood paella
Italian
- Pasta cooked al-dente is low GI – just be careful of serve size. Often an entrée serve of pasta will be sufficient.
- Avoid creamy sauces and lots of cheese and stick to tomato or vegetable based sauces.
- Load up on fresh salad and avoid deep fried and crumbed seafood
and meats. - Minestrone soup
- BBQ or marinated seafood dishes
- Grilled seafood or fish
- Entrée-sized pasta with tomato (Napolitana), bean (fagoli) or seafood (marinara) sauce, without cream
- Cannelloni with ricotta and spinach
- Roast or chargrilled fillet of beef, lamb loin or poultry
- Garden salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
- Caprice salad with tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella
- Vegetarian pizza
Asian Meals
Asian meals offer a great variety of healthy options – you just need to be smart with your menu choices. There are three steps to healthy balanced menu choices:
- Smart Carbs: choose low GI rice (avoid Jasmine rice), sushi, noodles or dahl
- Add some protein for fullness – marinated tofu, stir fry beef or chicken, steamed seafood or fish, tandoori chicken or sashimi
- Fill your plate with vegies (at least half your plate)
Chinese
- Clear soups with wontons and vegetables
- Steamed dumplings
- Stir fry chicken or beef with a sauce based on soy, ginger, garlic or chilli
- Seafood dish such as whole steamed fish or stir fried prawns or scallops
- Stir-fried or steamed green vegies
- Smaller serves of steamed or boiled rice and fresh rice noodles
Thai
- Tom yum soup
- Noodles in soups rather than fried pad thai–style noodles
- Thai salads or stir – fried vegetables
- Seafood and vegetable
- braised dishes
- Stir fried combinations of tofu, seafood, meat, chicken or pork with nuts, vegetables and sauce (avoid coconut milk-based curries)
Vietnamese
- Pho soup
- Fresh rice paper rolls filled with prawns, chicken or tofu
- Clay-pot dishes with eggplant or fish
- Fresh salads with rice noodles
- Stir fried beef, chicken
with vegetables - Steamed fish or seafood
- Stew or meat braised dishes
Indian
- Tikka or Tandoori based chicken, fish or seafood, beef, chicken, seafood curries
- Vegetable-based curries with chickpeas (channa) or cottage cheese (paneer), fresh salads
and side dishes such as cucumber raita, pickles - Dahl – a great low GI side dish
- Basmati rice – make sure you keep to ¼ of your plate and fill up with vegies
Japanese
- Sushi with seafood, chicken or vegetables
- Sashimi
- Miso or Ramen soup
- Teriyaki or Teppanyaki style meats or seafood
- Shabu shabu (slices of beef cooked quickly in broth with vegetables)
- Sides such as seaweed salad or edamame (young green soy beans)