Finding a Great Restaurant to Take Your Guests With Diabetes

If you want to treat a friend or family member, there is nothing nicer than a meal in local restaurant where you can have a shared meal and chat. If your guest has diabetes that doesn't mean you need to go to a special restaurant, but they may need to order more carefully off the menu. Here are some tips that might be useful.

Lower fat foods and low sodium

People with diabetes need to eat lower fat foods and watch their sodium intake, so it's best to stay away from fast food joints that fry all their food. Don't get a basket of chips to share on the table as it may be a little too tempting, and try not to add any extra salt to shared dishes. Most restaurants are fine if you ask them not to salt dishes before they come to you, and they bring dressings on the side, particularly if they know this is for health reasons.

Keep up the carbs

If the meal looks like it might take longer, diabetics might need a carbohydrate snack to keep them going. A bread basket or serving of bruschetta can be ideal to keep up the blood sugar while waiting for the main meal to arrive, so it can be useful to order one as soon as you arrive.

Extra vegetables

It's important for diabetics to keep up their fibre through extra servings of vegetables, including legumes. You can try ordering extra salad, bean-based dips such as hummus and vegetable and bean soups such as minestrone. Be sure to choose shared sides that are vegetable rich so that your friend can have a healthy meal for them.

Have some healthy drinks on the table

It's extra important for diabetics to keep their fluid healthy and lower in sugar. If you want to make this a special meal you can choose some fancy mineral water or a nice low joule drink. Rather than sharing a bottle of wine, where it can be hard to keep track of how many drinks are being consumed if the glass is regularly being topped up, it can often be easy to order single drinks.

Low sugar deserts

One of the most-known parts of diabetes is avoiding sugary treats that can spike blood sugar. Instead of sweet cakes and cookies, you can try fresh fruit and cheese platters to keep the deserts as healthy as possible.

As you can see, with simple adjustments it's easy to eat out with guests with diabetes. Why not make a dinner reservation now?