What healthy proteins should I eat if I have diabetes?

• Have fish at least twice a week. Make at least one of those servings a fattier fish, such as bluefish, salmon, sardines, or trout, which are rich in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids but low in mercury, a contaminant that has health risks.
• Vary your seafood picks. Lobster, crab, scallops, mussels, clams, squid, and octopus are all low in saturated fat; so is shrimp, although it's high in cholesterol. But for most people, saturated fat is a much more potent cholesterol-raiser than dietary cholesterol.
• Remove skin from poultry. Skinless light (breast) and dark (drumstick and thigh) meat chicken and turkey are both fine.
• Try vegetarian sources of protein. Tofu and tempeh (fermented tofu), made with soy, and seitan (wheat protein) are virtually carbfree and can be substituted for animal protein. (Check tempeh labels carefully; some include wheat and are higher in carbohydrates. That's okay, just count those carb grams toward your grains/starchy vegetable servings.) Another great alternative are foods that have the taste and texture of meat or poultry but are made from plant-based protein, such as the gardein line, found in the deli and frozen food sections of natural food stores and some mainstream supermarkets. Tofu stars in recipes on pages 290, 299, 321, and a number of our other recipes offer a vegetarian alternative. Protein-rich beans are also high in carbohydrates, so on this program they're a much encouraged high-carbohydrate choice -- not a protein option.
• Limit red meat to no more than twice a week, and stick with lean cuts, such as flank steak, sirloin, top loin or tenderloin, top round or eye of round, and ground beef that's at least 90% lean. Buffalo rib eye, shoulder, top round, and sirloin are lean cuts, as are lamb arm chop, leg shank, leg sirloin, leg top round, and loin chop. For pork, stick with center loin chop, lean ham, loin rib chop, shoulder blade steak, sirloin roast, tenderloin, top loin chop, and top loin roast.
• Have cured or processed meats, such as pepperoni and bacon, no more than twice a week. Less frequently is even better. This also applies to lean processed meats, such as turkey breast, because they're so high in sodium and most are preserved with nitrites and nitrates, which are linked to cancer.

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• Try a "meatless main dish." Have beans or a soy burger in place of meat or chicken.
• Include fish and other seafood in your meals at least twice a week.
• Try white meat chicken and turkey. It has less fat than the dark meat.
• Choose lean meats like round and loin cuts. Examples are pork loin, round roast and sirloin.

If you have diabetes, some healthy protein options for you are:

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Omega fat rich fish such as salmon and tuna
• Tofu
  Dried beans
• Non-fat Greek yogurt
• Natural nut butters
• Seeds
• Low fat cheese