[Healthy_Recipes_For_Diabetic_Friends] Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic looking for advice

Sunday, August 2, 2009

[Healthy_Recipes_For_Diabetic_Friends] Re: Newly diagnosed diabetic looking for advice

Unfortunately, not everything is reducible to simple terms, and diabetic nutrition is one of those things. The problem with giving someone a diet is that diabetic eating is not one size fits all, and must be adjusted for its effictiveness or lack thereof in controlling blood sugars. Therefore, any diet you get is just a starting point.

What you need is not a list of what you can and can't eat. There's virtually nothing you can or can't eat in appropriate quantities (very tiny for chocolate cake, and almost unlimited for lettuce).

What you need is a starting point for the number of calories, grams of carbs, and grams of saturated fat (please do not worry about good fats) you can eat a day. For carbs I usually recommend starting at 2/3 of a gram per pound of body weight. Divide those relatively evenly amongst several meals and snacks a day. There is nothing wrong with spreading it out over grazing. Come to our files section that has about 10,000 recipes in it to find things you will enjoy. Then see the results in terms of your weight and blood sugars, which need to be tested frequently until you understand how certain quantities of certain foods affect them. Then adjust. It's going to take some time to find a way of eating that works for you. Remember that this is a very long term project.

Here's some resources that can be helpful, but are not gospel.

http://www.diabetes.org/food-nutrition-lifestyle/nutrition.jsp
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

Gretchen Becker's Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed.

Diabetes for Dummies.

Ron

--- In Healthy_Recipes_For_Diabetic_Friends@yahoogroups.com, "t.susan40" <Taylos1@...> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
> I just wondered if anyone could point me towards a site that explains in simple terms what I can and cannot eat. I have to lose weight, but I must also keep to a low fat diet for different reasons and the dietician hasn't been much help. She gave me a diet which is basically three sandwiches a day (bread/potato/rice + meat and veg). It is so boring and to make it worse, I am a grazer and love eating fruit.
>
> Sue
>