Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes: The 2008 Revision of Exchange Lists for Meal Planning

Abstract

Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) for diabetes has undergone many changes since 1550 BC when the Papyrus Ebers noted that “wheat grains, grits, grapes, and sweet beer” were the foods of choice for those who needed to “eliminate urine which is too plentiful,” the earliest known reference to diabetes mellitus.1 Exchange Lists for Meal Planning , a well-known nutrition resource for individuals with diabetes since 1950,2 has been designed as a diabetes nutrition education tool that places foods into groups that can be “exchanged” or traded within a group because of their similar nutrient content. Exchange Lists for Meal Planning has undergone revisions as advances in nutrition recommendations have occurred through the years.3–5 In its most recent version, the 2008 Exchange Lists for Meal Planning has been given a new title, Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes ,6 and an updated look grounded in evidence-based nutrition recommendations for individuals with diabetes, as well as changes in the food marketplace and the eating patterns of Americans (Figure 1). Figure 1. Cover of Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes MNT is an integral part of diabetes prevention and management and is best provided by a registered dietitian. Clinical trials and outcome studies of MNT have reported decreases in A1C of ∼1% in type 1 diabetes and 1–2% in type 2 diabetes, depending on the duration of diabetes.7,8 The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has updated its nutrition recommendations,9 and the American Dietetic Association recently updated and expanded the Evidence Analysis Library (www.adaevidencelibrary.com) recommendations for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.10 The goals of MNT for individuals at risk for diabetes or who have pre-diabetes are to decrease the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) by promoting healthy food choices and physical activity …