There I was minding my own diabetes business when I saw a pamphlet about fasting during Ramadan. Naturally, with Ramadan starting in a few days, I picked it up and read it.

There were some great tips on there about avoiding sugary drinks, butter, and large portions. But then something caught my eye.

Immediately when I saw this SAMPLE PLATE, I thought…now that’s a lot of carbs.

So, I decided to sit down and count them and to my surprise, this sample plate has over 100 carbs. A person living with diabetes should never eat that many carbs in one sitting. Now I’m not saying that I can’t be found guilty of probably doing that during the holidays, but I’m not the entity who designed this “ideal” plate.

Listen up, if you are fasting this Ramadan, please do NOT try this plate at home. Strive to max out your carb count at 45 grams per meal.

I can’t even imagine how I would feel after having lower blood sugar levels all day and then spike up with this meal.

Here’s how I would adjust this plate.

-Reduce rice from 1.5 cups to a 1/2 cup. (54 grams of carbs goes down to 18).

-Ditch the apple completely because the dates are already sweet (21 grams of carbs gone).

-Make the “vegetables” green and non-starchy (eliminating 12-15 grams of carbs).

The new plate is now only 41g of carbs instead of 124 and it’s just as filling.

And as a bonus, you can add more non-starchy greens if you’re feeling like you need another fork full of food.