Vegetables and diabetes

Vegetables are an important part of healthy eating, with both fresh and frozen options, and also make nutritious snacks. However, people with diabetes generally should not eat too many starchy vegetables (eg, potato, corn, taro) as they are high in carbohydrate and may raise blood glucose levels. With frozen foods check the salt content of seasoned frozen veges and for oven chips check the fat content, and type of cooking fat used.

Fresh vegetables

BETTER BUYS

• All fresh vegetables in season
• Aim for a variety of different coloured vegetables.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Starchy vegetables such as potato, kumara, corn, yams, taro, breadfruit and cassava are high in carbohydrate
• Non-starchy vegetables contain very little carbohydrate, eg. broccoli, peas, green beans, lettuce, puha, watercress, kamo kamo, parengo
• Vegetables are low in fat and good sources of fibre. Leave the skin on if possible
• Vegetables are a good snack food, especially non-starchy vegetables
• Sweet tasting vegetables, eg. corn and kumara, don't need to be avoided but must be eaten in appropriate amounts.

WATCH POINTS

• For people with diabetes - eating too many starchy vegetables or too much of one starchy vegetable, or more starchy vegetables than usual, may raise blood glucose levels more than is desirable.

Frozen vegetables

BETTER BUYS

• Frozen vegetables are a quick, nutritious and convenient choice
• Have some in your freezer to use when you are in a hurry
• Use frozen vegetables in combination with fresh vegetables to make them go further.

LABEL INFORMATION

• Look for oven baked chips which have not been made with beef fat and contain less than 5g of fat per 100g.

WATCH POINTS

• Watch the salt content of seasoned frozen vegetables. Choose low or reduced salt varieties if available
• Eating too many chips may increase your blood glucose levels to more than is desirable
• The thinner the chip the greater the surface area and this results in a higher fat content.
• Most frozen chips have added fat, so you don’t need to add extra fat when baking them.

For information on what to shop for in other food categories, see the Food & Nutrition section on the Diabetes New Zealand website (contact details below under 'Further Information and Support').

Related topics

Also see: Glycaemic Index and High blood glucose type 1 and High blood glucose type 2 diabetes

Original material provided by Diabetes New Zealand, 2008. Edited by everybody, August 2011.