Protein

It's that time again for the weekly question from the http://www.foodpicker.org/ website's newsletter.  This week's question is:

"Since I've been diagnosed with diabetes, a lot of people have given me advice about how much carbohydrate and fat to eat.  I'm wondering about protein.  How much protein should I get in my diet and from what foods besides meat?"

Typically for any person protein requirements should be 15-20% of your daily calories.  It is hard to be exactly specific because each individual person is different and their bodies have different specific needs especially you are a person say living with diabetes.  In terms of protein you should follow the normal 15-20% of calories coming from your protein as long as you are controlling your diabetes well.  One thing that you may want to note when you are looking for protein sources is to keep an eye out for the amount of fat in the protein.  If you decide to eat meat for your protein source you should look to eat leaner meats.  Leaner meats are listed as Select Grades in the grocery store.  And if you decided to eat meats do not forget that roasting, broiling, grilling, baking, poaching, and steaming, are all better instead of frying.

Foods that provide protein are beans, edamame, hummus, soy burgers, nuts, tofu, egg whites, egg substitute(egg beaters), cottage cheese, and etc.  One thing to look out for though when choosing meat substitutes is that they could also count as starches so be cautious and careful.  I would highly recommend getting on the American Diabetes Association website http://www.diabetes.org/ or asking your physician/Registered Dietitian about obtaining the Choose Your Foods:  Exchange Lists for Diabetes booklet.