Balanced means eating by the ‘food pyramid’. Not the OLD one, the new one. In order of what you should eat the most, to what you should eat the least, the new one is Vegetables, fruits, complex carbs, meats and dairy, fats/oils/refined sugar.

I find that this diet is what controls my diabetes the best. I’m not a vegan–and don’t think a vegan diet is particularly healthy, to be honest. It can lack certain minerals, and it’s really hard to get complete proteins from a vegan diet. We need some of the nutrients found in meats and fish–and you just can’t get these by taking supplements.

However, I eat more vegetables than anything else, and the only carbs I eat are whole grains, and unrefined rice. I do eat some sugar–(have a sweet tooth) but I keep it to a low level. But I also make sure I get a decent amount of proteins–cheese, soy milk, yogurt and lean meats. I keep red meats and fatty meats very low–and stick to mostly fish and chicken, lean pork and very lean beef. I do not eat fast food or even restaurant food very often anymore. This was a HUGE help in controlling my sugar.

I think you can eat darn near anything as long as you practice sense and moderation. I have dessert with dinner. I have fruit. I have candy once in a while. I don’t binge, I don’t eat lunch at McD’s and I try to keep my portions reasonable, rather than the ones we’ve gotten used to these days.

A good book is called “Eat This, Not That” if you have questions about what you are getting in most commercial food. Otherwise, the best idea is to find out as much information as you can about what foods are and are not good for you–and stick to a sensible, balanced plan.

I recommend going moderate on the carbs. Having been a vegetarian as a teen, I really don’t think it would work. I’m on a moderately low carb diet now and its working fine for me. Extremes are best avoided, both extremely high and extremely low carb. They are too hard to stick with and may cause damage in the long run. We just don’t know.

Get a meter if you don’t already have one and test to see how foods are affecting you. I recommend Jennifer’s page on testing, its the best advice out there on how to figure out what diet works for you. Everyone is an individual and you have to find what suits you and you can stick with long term. I’d say that the South Beach diet is a good place to start, but skip the induction phase.

http://www.diabetic-talk.org/jennifer.htm

also check out
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-NbDgUzQhfrJTXdmg.DfXS.Tx