There is a significant population of more than 20 million Americans with diabetes, including type 1 diabetes and type 2. When you have diabetes, healthy eating to control your blood glucose levels is a big part of diabetes management.
That is where a diabetes-friendly meal plan, like the one offered by Sunbasket, can be a great help. In this review about the Sun Basket diabetes-friendly meal plan, we will explore the menu and subscription options – and see if it’s worth it.
A Bit About Sunbasket
Founded in 2014 in San Francisco and managed by CEO Adam Zbar, Sun Basket is widely regarded as the innovator leader in the industry of healthy meal plans. Led by chef Justine Kelly, the Sunbasket meals are filled with organic and sustainable ingredients, wild-caught seafood, and more.
The service has taken a significant step towards harmonious living and ensuring customers who follow different diets and lifestyles can enjoy healthy meals at home.
Sun Basket provides a wide range of meal kit delivery plans and strives to offer more than 40 weekly recipes! Including, among others, vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, paleo, lean & clean, gluten-free-friendly meals, and Mediterranean meal options.
Sunbasket Diabetes-Friendly Meal Plan
Sunbasket has partnered with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to support people with diabetes by introducing a diabetes-friendly meal plan as a part of its healthy weekly menu. Some dishes are offered as pre-cooked meal kits and some as pre-made meals for busy people, ready to hit in the microwave or oven.
The Sunbasket diabetics-friendly meal plan offers low-carbon options with strict specifications for added sugar and sodium content for easy diabetes management. However, the nutritious meals are always delicious, with a wide range of tastes and styles to choose from (Asian, Classics, Mexican-style, and more).
The recipes emphasize nutrient-rich and high in fiber meals such as healthy vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruits, which have been shown to help people with diabetes to better manage blood glucose levels without sacrificing flavor. Most Sun basket diabetic meals are all under 700 calories.
Sunbasket will help you save time – with meal planning, short prep-time, and no grocery shopping needed. Therefore, you can concentrate on enjoyable and exciting meals.
Sunbasket Diabetes-Friendly Meals Nutritional Info
- Each serving is with a Calorie-count of about 400-700 calories.
- Plenty of lean proteins, with at least 10 grams per serving.
- 20-70 grams or less of high-quality carbs like whole grains and fruits per serving.
- High in healthy fiber, with at least 5 grams per serving.
- Low sodium and low on added sugars – Less than 700 mg of Sodium per serving, and less than 10% of calories from added sugar
- Fats that are good for you – like avocados, olive oil, nuts, and seeds, and no more than 10% of calories coming from unhealthy saturated fat
The Sun Basket Diabetics-Friendly Meal Plan Experience
Sun Basket food gives you the feeling of a home-cooked dinner without the hassle of hard work, presenting a fresh and delicious healthy meal kit delivered an experience to arrive straight to your door.
The company employs only natural, non-GMO ingredients, and foods free of antitoxins and hormones. Thus, you can feel safe about what you put into your body.
Sun Basket promotes high-quality, natural ingredients and reports that 99% of the products shipped are organic. Your delivery will arrive once a week, in a safe cold-packed box, straight at your doorstep.
The order arrives cold-packed for food safety in a compostable cardboard box. Inside the box, you will find individually numbered paper bags for each meal for extra easy unpacking at home.
Sun Basket Diabetes-Friendly Meals
Sun Basket offers a comprehensive list of healthy meals to add to your selection. Here are just a few highly recommended and popular diabetes-friendly meals:
- Lettuce-wrapped turkey sliders with basil mayo and black bean salad – only 540 calories per serving.
- Steak stir-fry with broccoli, carrots, and sesame seeds – only 450 calories per serving
- Sole with red pepper–caper sauce and lemon-garlic broccoli – only 360 calories per serving.
- Pollock en papillote with rémoulade and potato-kohlrabi mash – only 410 calories per serving
- Microwave ready meal – Spicy Sichuan glass noodles with pork, cabbage, and carrots – only 600 calories per serving.
- Microwave ready meal -Roast chicken with harissa-spiced veggies, cauliflower mash, and almonds – only 490 calories per serving.
SunBasket Diabetic Healthy Meals We Tried:
- Sole in parchment with the warm date and apricot salad – This fresh diabetes-friendly recipe is filled with lean protein and good fats while also bursting with other nutrients and North African tastes. The spinach mixture, almonds, dates, and apricots offer a lightly sweet, subtle crunch and beautiful color.
- Chicken larb lettuce cups with carrots and fresh mint – Known as Laos’ national dish, larb is a minced meat salad often paired with raw vegetables and fresh mint. Larb, when translated, means “luck” or “fortune.” This low-carb meal was just tasty and super easy to cook!
- Turkey meatballs and wilted greens in lemongrass broth – This recipe is healthy, incredibly flavorful, and should make you want to lick the pot. Sun Basket paired lean ground turkey and almonds with elegantly sweet light meatballs, a satisfying anchor for the Northern Thailand-inspired lemongrass broth.
Other Key Benefits of Using Sun Basket Diabetes-Friendly Meal Plan
- Discover various cultures and cuisines, with different ingredients and spices, in the comfort of your own home.
- Choose between Choose Easy—or Easier! Speedy meal kit recipes or ready meals (marked ‘Fresh & Ready’ on the menu) are available.
- Decrease time spent on grocery shopping and eliminate the guesswork in choosing the highest quality ingredients available.
- Easy & delicious creative recipes: Choose any meal you like from the vast weekly options.
- Enjoy the best seasonal ingredients at their peak flavor and discover new products and flavors that are difficult to find on your own.
- Flexibility to customize some of the meal’s proteins to match your taste better.
- Portion-controlled, for healthy eating and less food waste.
- Reduce your carbon footprint by adopting a meal kit service with 100% compostable and recyclable shipping material.
- Seasonally inspired chef’s basket – with add-on options for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and more.
Bottom Line – Does The SunBasket Diabetics Diet Meal Plan Worth It?
We strongly recommend Sun Basket’s diabetes-friendly plan for many notable and straightforward reasons!
The company provides quality healthy eating solutions through every aspect of their services, from food sourcing to sustainability policies to their dietary focus. This meal plan will minimize frustration and troubles with weekly meal planning.
And not less importantly – the meals are simply delicious!
Sunbasket makes it easy to maintain a good and balanced diabetes diet that saves you time and does not spare flavor. And, with the free skipping weeks and canceling policy, you really should give it a try.
FAQs
Diabetes is a long-lasting condition in which a person’s body either creates the incorrect amount of insulin (too little) or it’s not appropriately absorbed. This insulin resistance affects how the body absorbs the energy from food.
For those without diabetes, spikes in blood sugar from consuming a meal create a natural release of insulin produced in the body; this triggers your body to allow blood sugar in, providing sufficient energy for your body to run on.
To properly absorb energy from food, people with diabetes are prescribed insulin to take in the energy more efficiently. Other methods for healthily controlling diabetes include:
- Maintaining a healthy weight (or losing weight).
- Exercising regularly.
- Eating diabetic-friendly food and making more healthy food choices.
One can have three varieties of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Below is a quick summary of each.
Type 1
During Type 1 diabetes, the diagnosis arrives at a younger age, from children to young adults. This type of diabetes requires insulin to be administered every day as the body does not create insulin at all.
Type 2
Type 2 diabetes is often found later in life. Type 2 diabetes causes insulin not to be absorbed well in the body. This specific form of diabetes can be managed through eating healthy, staying active, and losing weight. For some, these actions may delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes
This third type of diabetes only occurs during pregnancy with women who have not had diabetes previously. Typically, once the baby is born, this type of diabetes disappears. However, having this type of diabetes can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.
Eating diabetes-friendly recipes does not mean people with diabetes have to completely cut out their favorite foods. Often, this means eating well-balanced meals with correct portions at regular intervals. This helps blood sugar levels stay as consistent as possible, allowing people with diabetes to use less insulin potentially.
The main idea behind eating on a diabetes diet is to include more nutrient-dense foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, and complex carbs like grains. It’s important to have lean meats, dietary fiber, and low-fat dairy products like milk (or non-dairy milk) and cheese daily.
It’s best to avoid certain foods like highly processed items, fried foods, and foods with added sugar and salt. While some doctors note these foods are okay to eat occasionally, it’s best to avoid them as much as possible to allow for blood sugar levels to stay regulated.
What to Eat On a Diabetes Diet?
Eating diabetes-friendly recipes does not mean people with diabetes have to completely cut out their favorite foods. Often, this means eating well-balanced meals with correct portions at regular intervals. This helps blood sugar levels stay as consistent as possible, allowing people with diabetes to use less insulin potentially.
The main idea behind eating on a diabetes diet is to include more nutrient-dense foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, and complex carbs like grains. It’s important to have lean meats, dietary fiber, and low-fat dairy products like milk (or non-dairy milk) and cheese daily.
It’s best to avoid certain foods like highly processed items, fried foods, and foods with added sugar and salt. While some doctors note these foods are okay to eat occasionally, it’s best to avoid them as much as possible to allow for blood sugar levels to stay regulated.
The foods consumed by each person will vary depending on individualized nutrition needs and any food allergy present. For example, those with diabetes can help determine the best diabetes diet by visiting a doctor and allowing the doctor to create a personalized meal plan.
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Meal delivery services can be incredibly helpful in managing diabetes. Many meal kit service options make cooking healthy easy. Ingredients arrive already proportioned and with a recipe card that details the recipe step-by-step.
Moreover, some meal kit companies, such as Sunbasket, offer pre-made meals without cooking. Having an easy and quick mealtime preparation makes it more likely that consumers will continue eating healthy foods.
Plus, each meal is designed to fit your preferences and dietary needs, even additional requirements beyond diabetic-friendly meals like gluten-free options. Because these meals are calibrated to your personal needs, you can focus on other aspects of healthy living, like exercising and planning out mealtimes. In addition, most meal kit delivery companies are expanding their healthy personal choice menu options, allowing for more and more dietary needs to be met.
One of the best parts about meal kits is that it offers users a wide variety of meals with new flavors and ingredients that you might not otherwise try. These delivery services provide delicious meals that satisfy cravings while hitting nutrition goals.
You can think of added sugar as any sweetener added to an ingredient or recipe before it’s eaten. For example, many processed foods, even frozen meals, contain sugar usually not present. This is one reason why doctors advise avoiding processed foods.
Some ingredients to look for on food items that will indicate added sugar include high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, nectars, and notes of sweeteners.
Fruits, vegetables, and dairy (milk, yogurt, and cream) contain natural sugars. When you purchase fruit like bananas, strawberries, etc., they have a sweet taste without adding anything to them.
It is essential to have some sugar in your diet as a person with diabetes. However, the aim is to reduce added sugar foods and incorporate more naturally sweet foods.
There is a debate on whether some added sugars like maple syrup, agave syrup, etc., are healthy even when added to meals (making them added sugars). While this is a valid concern, it’s best to assess these options’ quantity in your diet with a doctor.
The main difference between whole grains and regular grains, aka refined grains, is the way each is processed. Whole grains are minimally processed, allowing the majority of the grain to remain “whole.” In comparison, regular grains are processed more heavily, removing parts of the grain and some of the nutrients along with it.
Each type of grain has three parts: bran, endosperm, and germ. These sections remain while creating whole grain products. The bran is the exterior shell, the endosperm is a starchy section underneath the surface, and the germ is the grain section that can produce additional plants. When a grain is processed, the bran and germ are removed, leaving only the endosperm.
Whole grains are considered healthier because of the additional fiber and nutrients. However, when used in baking, they do not produce the same fluffy texture as refined grains, so many baking companies opt for regular grains to create a more appealing bread texture.
Grains can be any of the following: oats, millet, rye, barley, wheat, rice, and a long list of others. When grains are refined, it also creates a longer shelf life; another reason companies opt for this choice. While most companies add nutrients back in that are lost during the refining process, dietary fiber cannot be reintroduced.
Ultimately, it’s more nutritious to consume whole grains. However, there will be a noticeable texture difference and shorter shelf life.
