The Diabetes Plate Method, Made Simple

The diabetes plate method is a way of building a balanced meal by dividing your plate, rather than weighing food or counting a single carbohydrate.

Start with a 9-inch plate — about the length of a business envelope. Fill half of it with non-starchy vegetables. Fill one quarter with a protein food. Fill the last quarter with carbohydrate: rice, roti, potato, or fruit. Drink water or something unsweetened alongside.

On most Indian plates this is upside down. Rice or three rotis sit in the middle, dal and sabzi arrive in small katoris at the edge, and vegetables are close to a garnish. The method does not ask you to eat different food. It asks you to change which of those foods is the biggest thing in front of you.

India's own dietary guidelines point the same way: 400 g of vegetables and 100 g of fruit a day, against 250 g of cereals and millets. Most of us have those two the wrong way round.

If this feels like a lot to judge by eye, it is still far less work than counting carbohydrates, and it gets you most of the same benefit. There is more on rebalancing an Indian plate in our Knowledge Base.