Exchange Meal Plan

People who have diabetes need to pay attention to what they eat. The exchange meal plan can help them do that. For this meal plan, foods are divided into 6 groups: starch, fruit, milk, fat, vegetable, and meat. The plan sets a serving size (amount) for each food, and, within each group, each serving has a similar amount of calories, protein, carbs, and fat.

The person can mix and match these foods and know what they're eating. Someone with diabetes especially needs to keep track of carbs because they cause blood sugar levels to rise after eating.