Eating Well
Non-starchy Vegetables
Eat more! You don't often hear that when you have diabetes, but non-starchy vegetables are one food group where you can satisfy your appetite.
Vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals—and with so few calories and carbohydrate, everyone can enjoy more!
There are two main types of vegetables—starchy and non-starchy. For this section, we are going to focus only on the non-starchy vegetables.
Choosing non-starchy vegetables
Choose fresh, frozen and canned vegetables and vegetable juices without added sodium, fat or sugar.
- If using canned or frozen vegetables, look for ones that say no salt added on the label.
- As a general rule, frozen or canned vegetables in sauces are higher in both fat and sodium.
- If using canned vegetables with sodium, drain the vegetables and rinse with water to decrease how much sodium is left on the vegetables.
For good health, try to eat at least three to five servings of vegetables a day. This is a minimum and more is better! A serving of vegetables is:
- ½ cup of cooked vegetables
- 1 cup of raw vegetables
Common non-starchy vegetables
The following is a list of common non-starchy vegetables:
- Amaranth or Chinese spinach
- Artichoke
- Artichoke hearts
- Asparagus
- Baby corn
- Bamboo shoots
- Beans (green, wax, Italian)
- Bean sprouts
- Beets
- Brussels sprouts
- Broccoli
- Cabbage (green, bok choy, Chinese)
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Chayote
- Cucumber
- Daikon
- Eggplant
- Greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip)
- Hearts of palm
- Jicama
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Mushrooms
- Okra
- Onions
- Pea pods
- Peppers
- Radishes
- Rutabaga
- Salad greens (chicory, endive, escarole, lettuce, romaine, spinach, arugula, radicchio, watercress)
- Sprouts
- Squash (cushaw, summer, crookneck, spaghetti, zucchini)
- Sugar snap peas
- Swiss chard
- Tomato
- Turnips
- Water chestnuts
- Yard-long beans