Nutrition: Cooking to Improve Health - for Diabetes Care...Create Your Recipes, the basics, Part I
In most instances, when people have just been diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, impaired fasting glucose or insulin resistance... they are told something like "eat well !" and nothing else on that subject. Of course your doctor does not have the time to explain what eating well means in terms of diabetes-friendly nutrition and recipes.
Caring for and controlling your type 2 diabetes is then up to you. Fortunately, finding cooking ways or methods to improve glycemia (blood sugar levels) becomes somewhat easier and even pleasant once you have some nutrition basics. You can create and even modify recipes to suit your purpose. In the present article, first of a series, we will use an hM Chef Goodwizzard's recipe as an example to illustrate the principles and the resulting recipe. We will compare the usual common "Spaghetti with meat sauce & meatballs" with the resembling "hM Spaghetti alla Bolognese - for diabetics". This recipe shares some features with its parent "for Heart Health" version. The reason is that diabetes and heart disease share a link and that atherosclerosis is a frequent complication of diabetes. We will therefore also adopt a cardiovascular-friendly nutritional approach. You will notice that although the hM recipe borders on the very-low fat, its total nutritional value is far superior to the regular common recipe. In many instances, the new recipe supplies two or three times more vitamins, minerals, fiber and other beneficial nutrients than the common recipe. Let us compare the "Nutrition Facts" Summaries. ( You will be able to study the recipe in next month's hM Nutrition Journal ).
Caring for and controlling your type 2 diabetes is then up to you. Fortunately, finding cooking ways or methods to improve glycemia (blood sugar levels) becomes somewhat easier and even pleasant once you have some nutrition basics. You can create and even modify recipes to suit your purpose. In the present article, first of a series, we will use an hM Chef Goodwizzard's recipe as an example to illustrate the principles and the resulting recipe. We will compare the usual common "Spaghetti with meat sauce & meatballs" with the resembling "hM Spaghetti alla Bolognese - for diabetics". This recipe shares some features with its parent "for Heart Health" version. The reason is that diabetes and heart disease share a link and that atherosclerosis is a frequent complication of diabetes. We will therefore also adopt a cardiovascular-friendly nutritional approach. You will notice that although the hM recipe borders on the very-low fat, its total nutritional value is far superior to the regular common recipe. In many instances, the new recipe supplies two or three times more vitamins, minerals, fiber and other beneficial nutrients than the common recipe. Let us compare the "Nutrition Facts" Summaries. ( You will be able to study the recipe in next month's hM Nutrition Journal ).
Nutrition Facts - Summary :
Total Calories
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
| 355 | KCal , very good |
| 16.9 | % , excellent |
| 47.8 | % , very good |
| 35.2 | % , good |
hM for heart health
Nutrition Facts - Summary :
Total Calories
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
| 651 | KCal , high |
| 50.0 | % , much too high |
| 31.0 | % , too low |
| 18.0 | % , good |
Common Recipe
Nutrition Facts - Summary :
Total Calories
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
% of Calories from Fat
% of Calories from Carbohydrate
% of Calories from Protein
| 334 | KCal , very good |
| 22.0 | % , very good |
| 53.0 | % , good |
| 25.0 | % , good |
hM for Diabetics
Comparison of fiber content
Common Recipe 4 gr, 16% of Daily Value
hM for Diabetics 12 gr, 47% of Daily Value
hM for Heart Health 13 gr, 53% of Daily Value
Common Recipe 4 gr, 16% of Daily Value
hM for Diabetics 12 gr, 47% of Daily Value
hM for Heart Health 13 gr, 53% of Daily Value
Comparing the total calories for similar tasting recipes, the difference is striking. The Diabetes Care version is almost half as light as the common recipe. Or the common recipe is twice as heavy. The difference is attributable to the lower fat content. Do yourself a very big favour and memorize the following:
One can take the advice of those leading cardiologists who have been able to clearly demonstrate coronary heart disease reversal. Some adjustments will have to made for diabetics. According to these heart specialists, the total fat content in any recipe should be in the vicinity of 15% or lower. Some people disagree with them, often because the sale of their products could be in jeopardy. However if you look at the angiograms ( special medical imaging of heart arteries ) provided by Dr. Esselstyn from The Cleveland Clinic, you have to concede that he wins. When the very respected Dr. Lance K. Gould ( University of Texas Medical School ) produces scans that prove improved heart perfusion, you have to concede. If you look at the overall record of Dr. Ornish, you have to concede that lower fat content and especially lower saturated fat content is most desirable. Since diabetics should not overload on carbohydrate, the amount of oil has been increased to 22% of Calories, so as to increase the source of calories from sources other than carbs. The amount of energy derived from protein is also higher than in the common version, at 25 % of Calories, but not as high as in the cardio version, so as to give a chance to diabetics' kidneys.
When you compare the diabetics version of the recipe with the cardio recipe, you will notice that the energy from carbohydrate is not lower than the cardio one. This is due to the use of the red kidney beans and the ground soy in slightly higher proportion. Legumes (beans) come with fiber and carbs. The fiber slows down the absorbtion of the glucose and helps in controlling glycaemia. The pasta portion has been slightly reduced, only whole wheat pasta is used. It contains fiber and thus helps in spreading in time the absorbtion of carbs.
In our recipe, we have used an oil sprayer to reduce the amount of fat used. The hM Oil Blend we refer to is in fact a mix of canola oil (50%) and extra virgin olive oil. Some brands already offer such a mix. The virtues of it are that it is low in harmful saturated fats but high in the more beneficial mono- and poly- unsaturated fats. Keep the total content low. In order to further reduce the total saturated fat content, we have used ground soy instead of ground beef. The protein content of soy, like beef, is complete. It supplies all the amino acids necessary for the synthesis of protein. The taste and texture is very similar to that of ground beef. The problem with the beef based protein is that it comes with saturated fat as a bonus. This would favour the synthesis of LDL cholesterol, which in turn causes cardiovascular ailments. For diabetics, the use of soy and legumes is a good idea since they contain plenty of fiber.
As a conclusion of part I, remember that when creating a recipe to improve your control of diabetes, spreading the absorbtion of glucose in time is an important factor. Keeping total fat within acceptable values and lowering saturated fat content are also important.
PRINCIPLE I : Use complex carbohydrate sources such as whole-grain products and add plenty of fiber rich ingredients such as vegetables. ( Remember to keep total fat in you recipes to around 25% of Kilocalories. Remember: 1 gram of fat equals 9 kilocalories.)
Replacing white bread with whole wheat
bread, replacing white pasta with whole grain
pasta and finding complex carbs sources
such as whole grain rice, barley and oats will
produce better recipes and will help
improve your management of diabetes. Such products
can be found in most grocery store. The box of brown
rice is shown only as an example of how easy it is to
find. Think of a brand, and... it's likely to be on the shelf.
Never mind the brand, read the labels and avoid cooking with products made with refined flour or that have a high trans fat or saturated fat content as this is not compatible with good nutrition.
The next article will cover the determination of the number of meals and snacks and the fulfillment of energy needs.
- One Gram of Fat Equals............9 ( nine ) Kilocalories
- One Gram of Carb Equals........ 4 ( four ) Kilocalories
- One Gram of Protein Equals.....4 ( four ) Kilocalories
One can take the advice of those leading cardiologists who have been able to clearly demonstrate coronary heart disease reversal. Some adjustments will have to made for diabetics. According to these heart specialists, the total fat content in any recipe should be in the vicinity of 15% or lower. Some people disagree with them, often because the sale of their products could be in jeopardy. However if you look at the angiograms ( special medical imaging of heart arteries ) provided by Dr. Esselstyn from The Cleveland Clinic, you have to concede that he wins. When the very respected Dr. Lance K. Gould ( University of Texas Medical School ) produces scans that prove improved heart perfusion, you have to concede. If you look at the overall record of Dr. Ornish, you have to concede that lower fat content and especially lower saturated fat content is most desirable. Since diabetics should not overload on carbohydrate, the amount of oil has been increased to 22% of Calories, so as to increase the source of calories from sources other than carbs. The amount of energy derived from protein is also higher than in the common version, at 25 % of Calories, but not as high as in the cardio version, so as to give a chance to diabetics' kidneys.
When you compare the diabetics version of the recipe with the cardio recipe, you will notice that the energy from carbohydrate is not lower than the cardio one. This is due to the use of the red kidney beans and the ground soy in slightly higher proportion. Legumes (beans) come with fiber and carbs. The fiber slows down the absorbtion of the glucose and helps in controlling glycaemia. The pasta portion has been slightly reduced, only whole wheat pasta is used. It contains fiber and thus helps in spreading in time the absorbtion of carbs.
In our recipe, we have used an oil sprayer to reduce the amount of fat used. The hM Oil Blend we refer to is in fact a mix of canola oil (50%) and extra virgin olive oil. Some brands already offer such a mix. The virtues of it are that it is low in harmful saturated fats but high in the more beneficial mono- and poly- unsaturated fats. Keep the total content low. In order to further reduce the total saturated fat content, we have used ground soy instead of ground beef. The protein content of soy, like beef, is complete. It supplies all the amino acids necessary for the synthesis of protein. The taste and texture is very similar to that of ground beef. The problem with the beef based protein is that it comes with saturated fat as a bonus. This would favour the synthesis of LDL cholesterol, which in turn causes cardiovascular ailments. For diabetics, the use of soy and legumes is a good idea since they contain plenty of fiber.
As a conclusion of part I, remember that when creating a recipe to improve your control of diabetes, spreading the absorbtion of glucose in time is an important factor. Keeping total fat within acceptable values and lowering saturated fat content are also important.
PRINCIPLE I : Use complex carbohydrate sources such as whole-grain products and add plenty of fiber rich ingredients such as vegetables. ( Remember to keep total fat in you recipes to around 25% of Kilocalories. Remember: 1 gram of fat equals 9 kilocalories.)
Replacing white bread with whole wheat
bread, replacing white pasta with whole grain
pasta and finding complex carbs sources
such as whole grain rice, barley and oats will
produce better recipes and will help
improve your management of diabetes. Such products
can be found in most grocery store. The box of brown
rice is shown only as an example of how easy it is to
find. Think of a brand, and... it's likely to be on the shelf.
Never mind the brand, read the labels and avoid cooking with products made with refined flour or that have a high trans fat or saturated fat content as this is not compatible with good nutrition.
The next article will cover the determination of the number of meals and snacks and the fulfillment of energy needs.
Reference
See also : William L Schneider, Nutrition Concepts and Applications, McGrAw-Hill, Publishers
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