Diabetes: Suitable Foods for Diabetics

• Sugar and artificial sweeteners, including honey. The only allowed sweetener is stevia. (Sugar is a problem as it is addictive. I suggest you cut down gradually until you can do without. The other option is to go 'cold turkey' and stop it altogether. This will give you withdrawal symptoms, just like stopping any other addictive drug. But this will wear off within about two weeks.)
• Sweets and chocolates, including so-called sugar-free types. (If you want a chocolate treat, say once a week, then eat Continental dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa solids, not the British stuff where sugar is the first named ingredient.)
• Foods which contain significant proportions of things whose ingredients end in -ol or -ose as these are sugars (the only exception is cellulose, which is a form of dietary fibre)
• "Diet" and "sugar-free" foods (except sugar-free jelly)
• Grains and foods made from them: wheat, rye, barley, corn, rice, bread, pasta, pastry, cakes, biscuits, pies, tarts, breakfast cereals, et cetera.
• Starchy vegetables: potatoes and parsnips in particular; and go easy with beet, carrots, peas, beans, et cetera and packets of mixed vegetables which might contain them
• Beans with the exception of runner beans
• Milk (except in small quantities)
• Sweetened, fruit and low-fat yogurts
• Cottage cheese (except in small amounts)
• Beware of commercially packaged foods such as TV dinners, "lean" or "light" in particular, and fast foods, snack foods and "health foods".
• Fruit juices, as these are much higher in carbs than fresh fruit. (If you like fruit juices as a drink, dilute about 1 part fruit juice with 2-4 parts water.)

• All meat — lamb, beef, pork, bacon, etc
• include the organ meats: liver, kidneys, heart, as these contain the widest range of the vitamins and minerals your body needs (weight for weight, liver has 4 times as much Vitamin C as apples and pears, for example);
• All poultry: chicken (with the skin on), goose, duck, turkey, etc. But be aware that turkey is very low in fat, so fat needs to be added.
• Continental sausage (beware of British sausage which usually has a high cereal content.)
• All animal and meat fats – without restriction – never cut the fat off meat.
• Fish and seafood of all types
• Eggs (no limit, but avoid "omega-3 eggs" as these have been artificially fed which upsets the natural fatty acid profile)
• All cheeses (except cottage cheese as this has a high carb content and very little fat)
• butter and cream (put butter on cooked veges instead of gravy; use cream in hot drinks in place of milk)
• Plain, natural full-fat yogurt
• Vegetables and fruits as allowed by carb content. (See tables below)
• Condiments: pepper, salt, mustard, herbs and spices
• Soy products are allowed but, as many are toxic, I don't recommend them (see http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz)

Apples
Blackcurrants
Blueberries
Cherries
Elderberries
Kiwi fruit
Kumquats
Loganberries
Mangoes
Pears
Pineapple
Plums

Apricots
Blackberries
Cranberries
Guavas
Lemons (peeled)
Limes
Mulberries
Nectarine
Oranges
Papaya (Pawpaw)
Peach
Redcurrants
Satsumas
Strawberries
Tangerines

Coconut meat
Gooseberries
Grapefruit (white)
Melon
Raspberries

Avocados
Rhubarb

Beetroot
Carrots
Celeriac

Leeks
Squash (winter)

Asparagus
Aubergine
Avocados
Bean sprouts
Cauliflower
Chicory leaves
Chives
Fennel bulb
Flax seed
Green beans
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mangetout
Mung beans (sprouted)
Mushrooms
Onions
Peppers (sweet)
Pumpkin
Squash (summer)
Tomato (fresh or canned)
Turnip

Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Cabbage (all types)
Celery
Courgette (zucchini)
Cucumber
Endive
Gherkins
Gourd (calabash)
Lettuce
Marrow
Mustard greens
Okra
Radishes
Spirulina
Spinach
Spring greens
Spring onions Squash (summer)
Swiss chard
Turnip greens
Zucchini