Table 4. Examples of using food exchange units considering total energy and the proportion of energy from carbohydrates for adults with diabetes.
| Carbohydrate proportion | Total energy intake (kcal) | Food group distribution (exchange unit) | Nutrient composition | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains | Meat and meat substitutes | Vegetables | Fats and oils | Milk | Fruits | Energy (kcal) | Carbohydrate (g) | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Carbohydrate (%) | Protein (%) | Fat (%) | ||||
| Low-fat | Medium-fat | Low-fat | Whole | |||||||||||||
| 40%–45% | 1,500 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1,498 | 158 | 86 | 58 | 42.2 | 23.0 | 34.8 |
| 1,800 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1,795 | 194 | 104 | 67 | 43.2 | 23.2 | 33.6 | |
| 2,100 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2,085 | 232 | 116 | 77 | 44.5 | 22.3 | 33.2 | |
| 50%–55% | 1,500 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1,526 | 204 | 74 | 46 | 53.5 | 19.4 | 27.1 |
| 1,800 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1,823 | 240 | 92 | 55 | 52.7 | 20.2 | 27.1 | |
| 2,100 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2,093 | 275 | 102 | 65 | 52.5 | 19.5 | 28.0 | |
| 60%–65% | 1,500 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1,504 | 227 | 68 | 36 | 60.4 | 18.1 | 21.5 |
| 1,800 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1,767 | 265 | 80 | 43 | 60.0 | 18.1 | 21.9 | |
| 2,100 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2,114 | 324 | 92 | 50 | 61.3 | 17.4 | 21.3 | |