4 tips for dining out with diabetes

Suffering from diabetes can make dining out inconvenient, but it's still possible to enjoy delicious restaurant meal by following these helpful tips.

Limited menu selections and unexpected shifts in blood sugar can make dining out with diabetes difficult, but they aren't reasons to stop eating out completely. Find healthy, diabetes-friendly choices, while enjoying delicious restaurant meals by following these tips.

If you're planning to dine out, be sure to set your meals for the most appropriate time. Suggest this eating time for a business meeting or date, and try to make a reservation so you won't have to wait for your meal. Find dishes that won't take particularly long to cook by asking the waiter how long you'll have to wait to get your meal before you order, and also bring a healthy snack with you in case your meal still takes too long to arrive and you get hungry.

Restaurants' generous portions tend to be larger than those you serve yourself at home, so ask your waiter about a meal's portion size before you order. Consider making your main dish an appetizer instead of an entree if the portion size is too big, or ask for a doggy bag to bring home the rest of the meal so you can enjoy the rest later.

Try to avoid sugary foods or carbohydrates in your restaurant meal. Many menu items at restaurants are served with a carbohydrate or starchy side, like chips, pasta salad or French fries. If it's too hard for you to resist eating this kind of food, ask to substitute these carb-heavy options while explaining your order. Many restaurants will be happy to accommodate you with a substitute vegetable-based side or salad instead — they just need you to tell them first.

No matter what cuisine the restaurant serves, ask for any sauce that comes on your food to be served on the side. Sauce served on entrees tends to be extremely high in sugar, especially at restaurants that serve sauce-heavy food, like Asian, Italian and barbecue eateries. Asking for sauce on the side lets you control just how much sugar you'll take in with the meal, while still allowing you to enjoy its delicious flavour (in more limited amounts).

Remember, while dining out with diabetes can be inconvenient, it's still possible to enjoy many delicious restaurant meal by following these helpful tips.