| I hope your friend's diabetes can be controlled totally by diet. My father in
law is diabetic (insulin dependent, juvenile diabetes), and my sister in law
had gestational diabetes last year (controlled by diet). If I ever have
children they are very likely to be diabetic, hence my interest in the
subject.
The current diet for diabetics is a complex-carbohydrate based, very low fat
diet with moderate amounts of protein. This is different from the old diet
high in protein and very low in starch. Complex carbohydrates include whole
grains (rice, wheat, rye, millet, corn, etc, etc), "starchy" vegetables such
as potatoes and winter squash, and legumes (beans and peas). Jane Brody's good
food cookbook (mentioned elsewhere in this file) would have many recipes that
would make good diabetic recipes, as would many vegetarian cookbooks. I know
your friend isnt vegetarian, but those cookbooks usually have reasonable
vegetable and whole grain recipes. A good one is the "New Laurel's Kitchen",
by Laurel Robertson et al published by 10 speed press (I think). Especially
watch the fat content of recipes; Laurel's Kitchen is consciously lowfat, but
many cookbooks (vegetarian and non vegetarian alike) are not.
I would also suggest that your friend limit sweets to fruit. There are some
cookbooks that I have seen (I can't remember any names right now) that have
fruit only dessert recipes. Do remember that sugar is sugar is honey is
sucrose is dextrose is fructose, the main difference is "sweetness per
volume (or weight)". Fructose (fruit sugar) is sweeter per volume than
dextrose. In terms of artificial sweeteners, be careful! Anything in large
quantities is not usually good for you. I really don't want to start a debate
but the jury is still out on nutrasweet, and saccarin is not safe either.
I have seen some diabetic cookbooks, but many of them follow the old diabetic
diet (high protein, low carbohydrate) or use large amounts of artificial
sweeteners, so watch out. If you eat dairy products remember to switch to
non-fat varieties. Weight Watcher's cookbooks are usually good sources of
lowfat meat, chicken, and fish recipes, and the international one has many
good recipes (though it is expensive). Remember to eat lots of vegetables and
whole grains, cut out fat and be moderate with protein! I hope this helps.
Eryn
p.s. Do not worry about getting enough protein. On the average americans eat
at least twice as much protein as they need, and chicken and fish are very
high protein foods.
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| MY MOTHER HAS BEEN A DIABETIC FOR OVER 12 YEARS AND IS INSULIN
DEPENDENT, SHE TAKES IT TWICE A DAY (IN THE MORNING AND AT NIGHT)
SHE MAKES A LOT OF GOOD FOOD AND HAS LEARNED TO MAKE APPLE PIES
WITH SEET N LOW AND THEY COME OUT REALY GOOD. SHE ALSO EATS JELLO
AND JELLO PUDDING WIH NUTRASWEET. SHE WATCHES HER SALT INTAKE AND
EATS LESS RED MEAT, THE ONLY THING YOUR FRIEND HAS TO WATCH OUT
FOR IS THAT DIABETICS ARE VERY SEPCEPTIBAL TO CATCHING ALL SORTS
OF COLDS AND VIRUS'S THAT ARE GOING AROUND AND ANOTHER THING IS
THAT MY MOTHER WAS JUST DIAGNOSED AS HAVING A LOW THYROD WHICH LIMITS
HER DIET TO RED MEAT ONCE A WEEK AND LOTS OF CHICKEN, FISH AND PORK
SHE CAN EAT AS MUCH SALAD AS SHE PLEASES AND FRUIT 3-4 TIMES A DAY.
SHE ALSO GETS THIS MAGAZINE IN THE MAIL ON DIABETES I'LL FIND OUT
THE NAME AND POST IT FOR YOU SO THAT YOU CAN TELL YOUR FRIEND THIS
MAGAZINE HAS LOAD OF RECIPIES AND COOK BOOK OFFERS.
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