How to Plan a Diabetes-Friendly Picnic

When the cold temps and short days give way to the warmth and sunshine of spring and summer in New England, people flock to the outdoors for picnics.

If, like millions of other families, there are diabetics among you — diabetes affects about 12% of the general population in the United States — you want to do what you can to make the picnic diabetes friendly.

To that end, we turn to our resident diabetes specialists here at Bethel Medical — Dr. Douglas R. Grogan and Dr. Jennifer Hall DiFalco. In the following, we review some effective and thoughtful strategies for diabetes-friendly picnics that are long on fun and good food and short on diabetes no-nos.

Declare the outing to be diabetes-friendly

It’s always a great idea to let people know in advance that you’re planning a diabetes-friendly picnic, especially if it’s potluck. That way, you have more control over the menu, and you can make sure that nothing slips in that’s potentially harmful to diabetics.

In most cases, we’re talking about controlling the consumption of foods that raise blood glucose levels, so mainly sugars and empty carbs (carbs are broken down into glucose energy by your body). You also want to limit unhealthy fats, which can further damage blood vessels.

Use the diabetes plate

The American Diabetes Association has created simple-to-follow nutritional guidelines with their Diabetes Plate.

This easy-to-use system uses a graphic of a nine-inch plate to designate how much of each food group people with diabetes should eat. So, half the plate is devoted to non-starchy vegetables, one quarter to protein, and the final quarter to carbs and other foods.

If there are several people with diabetes at the picnic, you may want to give them a printout of the plate to guide their food choices that will keep glucose levels down.

Lose the fat and sugar, not the taste

The recommended dietary restrictions for people with diabetes are hardly limiting because there are plenty of healthier and delicious food options to choose from.

To give you an idea, take a look at these 75 diabetic-friendly recipes that are chock-full of taste and health benefits, while keeping ingredients that cause spikes in glucose levels, or that clog your blood vessels, to a minimum.

Lose the sugary drinks in favor of water

Although sodas have long been a picnic staple, these sugary drinks are not good for people with diabetes. So, we suggest that you limit sodas in favor of good old-fashioned water, because hydration is important for everyone at a picnic.

If you do want a special picnic drink, try non-sweetened teas, lemonades, and bubbly waters that aren’t loaded with sugar.

As you can see, there’s plenty you can do to create a diabetes-friendly picnic that will keep everyone there happy and well fed.

If you have more questions about dietary dos and don’ts when planning a diabetes-friendly picnic, please contact us at our office in Brockton, Massachusetts, today.