Fortunately, many companies have launched meal delivery services, and several adhere to a healthy low-carb approach that can help people with type 2 diabetes. While many cook-at-home meal services, such as Blue Apron, can be customized to meet American Diabetes Association (ADA) standards, maybe you don’t have time to study the nutrition facts of every meal these services offer. That’s where the ADA-friendly options come in.
What to Look for in a Meal Delivery Service When You Have Type 2 Diabetes
If you have type 2 diabetes, be sure to research the amount of carbs, calories, and sodium in prepackaged meals because they can have a tendency to be higher in sugar and salt, says Katherine Zeratsky, RD, a dietitian at the Mayo Clinic who is based in Rochester, Minnesota. “You want to be mindful of the carb intake, but you also want good-quality carb intake,” she says. “It should be representative of a well-balanced, portion-controlled meal.” According to the ADA, diabetes-friendly nonstarchy veggies, including cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower, can help keep your blood sugar stable. RELATED: The Best and Worst Foods to Eat in a Type 2 Diabetes Diet Zeratsky says meal kits that provide raw ingredients in specific portions, interesting spices, and step-by-step recipes can be a good way to introduce high-quality ingredients in a way that’s deliberately portion-controlled and allows you to customize your plate. Some meal kits also let you choose organic options or specific proteins. “What’s nice about some of the box meal kits is that for a lot of people, you can get fairly decent quality ingredients that are premeasured, and I think that can very much help with portion control,” she says. “Right out of the gates, they’re doing some thoughtful planning. It allows not only that convenience, but it allows them to not have to put so much mental effort into controlling portions, because it’s not as if they can go back for seconds or thirds.” RELATED: 7 Easy Breakfast Ideas for Type 2 Diabetes We researched six of these services to find out more about their offerings, their price structure, and why the company decided to focus on type 2 diabetes–friendly meals. Here’s a look into the options that exist for premade, at-home delivered meals and delivered ingredient boxed meal kits (in no particular order):
1. Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen started as a service to offer healthy meals to busy families and seniors, but it expanded its offerings after customers started asking for diabetes-friendly menus. CEO Greg Miller says the business began in Northern California in 2005 to provide healthy, nutritious meals to seniors, especially those who were shut in. “We have been serving special diets for about nine years now, and diabetic-friendly meals were the first area we offered special diet meals in,” Miller says. “This portion of our business has grown dramatically since we started our offering on these meals. Today the menu is very broad and covers every individual’s taste.” Magic Kitchen’s registered dietitian–created menu for people with diabetes comes with a prepared and flash-frozen entree and two sides. The company offers lunch and dinner options, and each meal contains less than 65 grams (g) of carbohydrates, but the company says most meals stay between 25 to 40 g. Each meal is relatively low in sodium and has less than 700 milligrams (mg), but the company says most meals are below 500 mg. A Taste of What You’ll Eat Meal examples include beef pot roast with red wine sauce, tangerine orange chicken breast, and salmon and vegetable linguini. What You’ll Pay Pricing varies depending on how many meals you want per day. Seven meals (one meal daily) ranges between $75 and $85; 14 meals (two meals daily) costs between $150 and $165; and 21 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week) ranges between $225 and $250. That shakes out to about $11 to $12 per meal. RELATED: 13 Easy and Quick Snack Ideas for People With Diabetes
2. Diet-to-Go
Diet-to-Go is a meal delivery services that offers four meal plans for home-delivered, premade meals. Their meal plans include a diabetes-friendly option and a keto approach. Meal plans include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One of their meal plan offerings, called Balance Diabetes, follows ADA guidelines on carbs and fat. The ADA generally recommends between 40 and 60 g of carbohydrates per meal. Another diet option, called Keto-Carb30, offers a carb-restricted diet of 30 net carbs per day. (Just be sure to talk to your healthcare team before trying keto, as it may pose health risks for some people, including those on diabetes medication.) Both diets offer meals focused on fish, chicken, and nonstarchy veggies. RELATED: The Possible Benefits and Risks of the Keto Diet for Type 2 Diabetes Diet-to-Go CEO Hilton Davis says he started the company 27 years ago with the mission of providing meals for busy customers who followed health guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). As the company grew, it realized there was a need for diabetes-friendly meal services. Hilton says he wanted “to help people.” “We have many success stories of people who were prediabetic and now they’ve gotten their blood sugar down, people who were diabetic and have gotten off medication,” he says. “To hear the stories and know the product we’re providing is helping people in that way, it gives you a good feeling.” A Taste of What You’ll Eat The sample menu for the Balance Diabetes plan includes dishes such as blueberry pancakes and turkey sausage for breakfast, hummus pizza for lunch, and baked salmon with pineapple salsa for dinner. What You’ll Pay Before tax, meals are $9.99 apiece. Frequency is five or seven days a week, and you can choose to get all three daily meals, or just lunch and dinner. You can get meals delivered or pick them up at a local health club. The company notes that nationwide there are more than 200 participating health clubs where you can pick up their meals. RELATED: Which Low-Carb Diet Is Best for Type 2 Diabetes? How Keto, Paleo, and Atkins Compare
3. MedStar Healthy and Territory Foods
MedStar Healthy was the brainchild of the MedStar Institute for Innovation, a fellowship of the nonprofit MedStar Health that focuses on creating innovations in medicine. A group of elite college students set forth to create prepared meals that would meet the needs of people with type 2 diabetes, says Mandy Dorn, program director of MedStar Institute for Innovation. MedStar Healthy uses Territory, a food delivery service, for its meals. While Territory offers a slew of healthy meal options — even niche meal plans, like ones for new and pregnant moms — they offer MedStar Healthy’s options for customers in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Dallas–Fort Worth area. MedStar Healthy’s meals adhere to ADA and American Heart Association guidelines, are made by local chefs, are created by registered dietitians and MedStar Health doctors, are dairy-free and gluten-free, and are free of artificial ingredients. Each meal contains between 30 and 60 g of carbohydrates, between 350 and 600 calories, less than 750 mg of sodium, and a maximum of 7 g of saturated fat. A Taste of What You’ll Eat On MedStar Healthy, you’ll get meals such as corn-and-black-bean pizza, gingered beef and broccoli, and Mediterranean quinoa salad. What You’ll Pay According to the Territory Foods website, you can choose among three packages: Boost Size, which comes in at $9.95 per meal; Standard Size, which is priced at $12.95 per meal; and XL Size, which costs $15.95 per meal. RELATED: The Best Types of Nuts for People With Type 2 Diabetes
4. Martha’s Senior Gourmet
Martha’s Senior Gourmet offers at-home, premade meals for delivery in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, focusing on the dietary needs of seniors. Its menu plans range from vitamin K–restricted to gluten-sensitive diets, and they offer meal plans for people with diabetes and meal plans for people with diabetes who have kidney problems. The company was inspired by a founder’s great aunt, Martha, who loved cooking for seniors in her community. Her passion for providing healthy food that fit seniors’ needs spurred her great nephew to create a company that offered a variety of healthy food that is approved by registered dietitians, according to the company. The diabetes-friendly menu focuses on medical nutrition therapy to provide moderate-sized meals that are low in fat and calories. Their meals focus on lean protein, with at least one fish meal a week, whole grains, and nonstarchy vegetables. Martha’s Senior Gourmet offers lunch and dinner meals, such as chicken teriyaki, turkey chili, and grilled salmon. Their meals contain between 400 and 600 calories, and the sodium levels range from 300 to 600 mg. A Taste of What You’ll Eat The meal plans for people with kidney issues and diabetes are also modified to control for potassium levels. Some lunch examples include a roasted chicken sandwich and chicken tortilla soup, and dinner menu examples include meat lasagna and cauliflower shepherd’s pie. What You’ll Pay Pricing is highly customizable based on volume, frequency, and meal type. It ranges from $284 a week for three meals per week for four weeks to $584 a week for seven meals a week for four weeks. RELATED: 5 ‘Bad’ Diabetes Foods You Can Enjoy in Moderation
5. Sun Basket
Sun Basket began offering diabetes-specific meals in early 2018, marking the company’s second dive into health-specific meal plans. In 2017, Sun Basket began offering meals that are certified by the American Heart Association. The diabetes-specific meals were created in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association, Sun Basket CEO Adam Zbar told CNBC in May 2018. The meals focus on high-fiber ingredients and lower sugar and salt to help people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes with managing their blood sugar. All of the meals marked as diabetes-friendly are under 700 calories and have at least 15 g of protein. Less than 10 percent of each meal’s calories are from added sugar, and each meal contains between 20 and 100 g of carbohydrates per serving. Saturated fat consists of less than 10 percent of total calories, and meals contain no more than 700 mg of sodium. A Taste of What You’ll Eat Sun Basket offers cook-at-home meal options that can be eaten for lunch or dinner, including turkey–black bean tacos, green harissa sole, and seared pork with blueberry-apricot sauce and sauteed greens. Meals come with a protein and a side, plus typically a tapenade or vegetable-based topping for the protein. What You’ll Pay Meal plans cost $11.99 per serving at three meals a week for two or four people. Meals that follow ADA health advice are the same price as every other meal on the website. RELATED: 11 Vitamin-Packed Superfoods for People With Type 2 Diabetes
6. BistroMD
BistroMD delivers premade meals for people with diabetes that are reviewed by a licensed doctor. The BistroMD meal plan aims to reach the goal of food that is balanced and nutritionally proportioned for people who struggle with weight loss, without being “bland and boring,” according to the BistroMD website. CEO Ed Cederquist writes on the site that he aims to combine inspiration from chefs and local farmers markets with medically sound nutrition to create his company’s meals. He founded the company with Caroline Cederquist, MD, a weight loss physician in Naples, Florida, and Cederquist’s wife. Their team includes registered dietitians, chefs, and nurse practitioners. What You’ll Pay Diabetes-friendly meals cost $179.95 for seven breakfasts, seven lunches, and six dinners for seven days; $149.95 for three meals a day for five days; $149.95 for lunch and dinner each day for seven days; and $119.95 for lunch and dinner each day for five days a week. Most meals contains less than 25 g of net carbohydrates, contains lean protein, avoids all simple sugars (such as white bread), and focuses on complex carbohydrates. A Taste of What You’ll Eat The menu includes dinners such as lasagna with garden marinara, hickory smoked barbecue beef with potatoes, and turkey breast with cranberry chutney and rice. Lunch includes options like chicken cacciatore and sloppy joe with cabbage slaw, and breakfast includes options like turkey sausage and cheese frittata. The snack menu ranges from desserts like chocolate gelato and midday munchies like mixed nuts with peanut butter and chocolate — there’s even a coffee option called “java boost” that is a midday protein shake. For more on meal planning while managing diabetes, check out Diabetes Daily’s article “Tips for Healthy Eating for the Busy”!
