Diabetes-Friendly Meals

Diabetes-Friendly Meals

We compare Australia’s best diabetes-friendly meal services, providing all the information and relevant providers for you to make the right decision for you and your family.

By
Rose Fenasse

Written by

Rose Fenasse
Clinical Nutritionist

Rose is a nutritionist who believes nutritional approaches should be flexible and sustainable for the long-term. Rose’s approach to nutrition is evidence-based and integrative, as she understands her scope of practice and sees value in working alongside other health professionals to compliment her clients most effectively. Rose is passionate about ditching diet cultures and focusing on label-free living, whilst educating clients on how to create healthy and flavour-packed meals. She has a comprehensive understanding of shaping nutritional interventions, meal plans, dietary analysis, whilst coaching clients around ditching diet cultures and embracing all foods without the associated emotional fears often seen with dietary changes. Rose stays up to date with current research looking to science and evidence-based nutritional medicine whilst continually studying to broaden her scope.

Updated August 25, 2021
Fact checked Fully qualified and expert nutritionists have reviewed and checked this content to ensure it is as accurate as possible at the time of writing.

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What is Diabetes?

Diabetes in a very simplified explanation is when your blood glucose (also called blood sugar), is too elevated. This blood glucose comes from the food we eat and is the primary source of energy.  The pancreas creates a hormone called insulin which helps facilitate the process of getting glucose from food into your cells to then be utilised for fuel. Unfortunately for some people their insulin isn’t created adequately and may have issues with glucose overstaying their time in blood and not being transported to cells for energy, this can create health issues over time.

There are different types of diabetes from gestational diabetes which is diagnosed during pregnancy, type 1 and type 2 which may be diagnosed at different stages in life and require ongoing management. Type 1 diabetes is more likely to be diagnosed in early life, whereas type 2 diabetes can develop throughout life and commonly can be associated with lifestyle and dietary choices.

Diabetes is considered a chronic disease that can have a systemic effect on the body, as there is no cure for diabetes it requires daily management including changes to diet, lifestyle, and may include medicating to effectively manage symptoms.

Diabetes Food Delivery

How does diabetes affect what you can eat?

Those with diabetes struggle to balance adequate glucose levels in the blood and when they eat glucose in foods, they struggle to turn this into energy therefore the glucose stays within the blood creating high blood glucose levels. Blood glucose levels can be managed and monitored to maintain recommended levels. 

Certain foods such as white bread, white rice, sugar-sweetened beverages, potatoes have a high Glycaemic Index (GI) which mean they release glucose quickly which can spike blood sugar levels. Foods that are low GI such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, nuts, meat, fish and so on – release glucose slower and more steady allowing diabetics to control blood sugar levels through dietary intakes. 

Like all health conditions, diabetes requires individual care and often has very individual requirements, before making any health or dietary changes ensure you consult with a trusted health care professional.

 

What are the Pros & Cons of Diabetic Meal Delivery Services?

low carb meals pros and cons

Diabetes-Friendly Meal Pros

  • Time-saving and convenient - Meal delivery services are convenient and reduce time planning or designing meals for time-poor people.
  • Takes the fear out of food choices - For those with a new diagnosis or struggling around food choices and meal times opting for a meal delivery service can take the fear out of prescribed dietary requirements.
  • Waste reduction- Ordering meal services can often reduce waste around meal planning, as all ingredients are proportioned and ready to consume.
  • Great for those needing introduction to diabetic-friendly meals - They can often be a great introductory step to eating a new diet, providing insight into how a balanced meal looks and tastes.

Diabetes-Friendly Meal Cons

  • Are often not educative - They don’t teach consumers how to prepare meals to their requirements, instead, meals can become thoughtless which is a long-term issue.
  • Meals are usually generic - They often aren’t individualised and with diabetes, everyone’s requirements differ which means you will more than likely receive a standardised meal that is a one size fits all approach.
  • May not be customisable - There are not many meal services or providers that cater to personalised diabetes requirements or additional dietary restrictions.
  • Meal times can feel isolating - Eating diabetic planned meals can feel isolating or hard to achieve especially in social settings and restaurants. It’s important to plan to avoid this added stress.

Are there any diabetic-friendly meals that deliver to Sydney?

Yes, all four providers listed deliver diabetic-friendly meals to Sydney.

  • The Diabetes Kitchen 

  • Dietlicious

  • Tender Loving Cuisine

  • Activate Foods

Diabetes Meal Delivery

Key factors when comparing diabetic-friendly delivery options

When choosing the right option for you, consider the following factors:

Target

Identify the type of diabetes delivery companies are catering to or the specifics such as carbohydrate quantities per serve to determine if the service meets your requirements.

Customisable

If you have dietary preferences or restrictions outside diabetes check to see if the meal service offers customisable options to suit your needs.

Dietitian/ Nutritionist approved

Check to make sure the meals you are selecting are designed and approved by a health professional to not only ensure meals are diabetic safe but also are nutritionally balanced.

Does the service match your needs?

Many meal service providers catering to diabetics are also catering to weight loss requirements. Ensure you investigate the energy density of meals and only choose a service that matches your needs, choosing a provider with a low energy serving may cause more harm than good if you do not require weight loss.

Always consult with a trusted health professional before making dietary changes.

Diabetic Friendly Meal Delivery FAQs

Yes, Dietlicious offers diabetic and vegan-friendly meal and snack options.

Dietlicious offers a wide range of meal options with filtering options from the meat of choice and dietary requirements. Meals also sit competitively priced with mains starting from $9.90, with snacks and extras that can be ordered too.

They also deliver to most areas in Australia.

Yes, the below providers offer diabetes-friendly meal services for Melbourne delivery:

  • Diabetes Meals Online
  • Dietlicious

They sit around the midline costs for prepared meal delivery services ranging between $10-15 on average.

Compare the above providers to seek out the best deal for your needs.

Search and compare wellness and health delivery services in Australia including meal kits, ready to eat meal delivery, vitamin subscriptions and much more at Wellhub. All content and information on this site is provided by qualified Australian nutritionists to ensure accurate representation of all products reviewed. Learn more about our expert team here.