Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes, Sixth Edition, 2008: Description and Guidelines for Use

Abstract

Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes (formerly Exchange Lists for Meal Planning), a booklet used to help people with diabetes plan meals, has been in existence for more than 50 years. Planning for the fifth revision was guided by survey responses from >3,000 registered dietitians and other health professionals, current diabetes management and nutrition recommendations, and the food marketplace. In addition to a name change, major changes were made in design and overall readability. Changes within food groupings and the addition of a number of foods (mainly ethnic/regional) were accomplished while maintaining the well-recognized and accepted mean macronutrient and energy values of the basic lists. As with previous editions, this publication is intended as a resource for use by individuals with diabetes, with the guidance of a registered dietitian. This booklet is also intended to be used as a basis for nutrition educational materials developed by the American Dietetic Association and American Diabetes Association (eg, carbohydrate counting, weight management) and as a method for students and others to learn about diabetes meal planning. Practical guidelines for use of this updated resource for meal planning (eg, sugar alcohols, dietary fiber, and alcohol) are also presented.