Saturday, May 31, 2008

Cooking For A Diabetic

If you has diabetes,you may already know the important it is to strictly control the diet. Cooking for diabetic can be a challenge to prepare foods that are nutritious,won't cause a spike in blood sugar and yet are appealing to eat. There are many diabetic cookbooks on the market for you to prepare both healthy and yummy meals.


There are some guidelines you should follow to make sure your meals are healthy and you should keep an eye on fats, sodium and carbohydrates it possible avoid frying foods instead, broil, boil, or roast. Before cooking, remove the fatty portions of meat and take the skin off of chicken. Use broths and other food items that are low in saturated fats and sodium. Use non-stick frying pans so you can cut down on the amount of oil used. Substitute vegetarian meals in place of meat based meals on occasion and substitute certain fruits in place of ice cream and chocolate sweets. Use skimmed milk and other non fat dairy products and fat free dressing on salads or use yogurt as a salad dressing.


You can use an artificial sweetener instead such as splenda or cut the sugar back to about 1/4 as much as you would normally use. This may not work with sweets and other desserts and those should be eliminated except for diabetic desserts. Artificial sweeteners have their own drawbacks but can be used in recipes where sugar is not needed to create the right texture, color or moisture level.

It is also important that you use measuring spoons and measuring cups when you cook for a diabetic and measure out portion sizes accurately. Cooking for someone with diabetes can be a challenge but there are many cookbooks on the market today, it is getting much easier to make healthy and tasty meals. You can easily find diabetic dessert recipes and recipes for holiday meals as well as everyday eating. The most important is to follow the dietary guidelines as set forth by your doctor since everyone is different and the doctor is the best one to give advice on the proper diabetic menu to follow.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Chocolate Dessert For Diabetic

Don't give up all sweets and even chocolate because you have diabetes if follow a diabetic diet and avoid sugar but thanks to today's artificial sweeteners you can still have a sweet treat now and then. You can find many diabetic dessert recipes online or from diabetic cookbooks for treats that not only taste good but are actually good for you because they are not made with excess fats and sugars.

The recipe for it is below.

Chocolate Banana Mouse Diabetic Dessert Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup evaporated skimmed milk

3 tablespoons granulated artificial sweetener

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

2 sliced bananas

2 egg yolks


Directions

In the top pan of a double boiler mix together 1/4 cup milk with the artificial sweetener and chocolate. Put the remaining 3/4 cup of milk into the freezer to start chilling. Stir the chocolate until it is melted. Place the two eggs yolks in a bowl and pour part of the chocolate mixture on the eggs and beat. Transfer this egg-chocolate mixture into the remaining chocolate in the double boiler and stir until thickened. Let cool completely.

Now retrieve the milk from the freezer and whisk it until it becomes stiff. Add the cooled chocolate mixture, vanilla, and sliced bananas. Spoon this mixture into cups or a mold and place back in the freezer until firm.

For more delicious diabetic recipes , pick up a copy of The Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Recipes for 1 to 4 People. Other than great recipes this book also lists the nutritional content of various foods.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Books on Diabetic Cooking

Diabetes can lead to death if not properly cared and require a specialized diet that is designed to keep blood sugar levels at a steady normal level. If you has diabetes, it means that your blood sugar levels have increased very high and must be controlled through diet and medication.

Diabetes menu planning and cooking are very important and there are a number of sources for information diabetes diet and cooking. There are also several books on the market about this subject. This article will take a look at a couple of popular books on diabetic cooking.

The Diabetes Diet: Dr. Bernstein's Low Carbohydrate Solution


Dr. Bernstein is an authority on diabetes and he has written a book that is packed with diabetes information and comes complete with a menu planner and 100 delicious recipes. His approach emphasizes the importance of controlling diabetes through low carb eating. The first edition of this book was released in 1997 and has sold over 120,000 copies. The goal of the book is to help diabetics enjoy the pleasure of eating delectable meals while controlling the blood sugar by preventing swings through the practice of a low carb diet.

Atkins Diabetes Revolution: The Groundbreaking Approach to Preventing and Controlling Type 2 Diabetes

This book was written by two colleagues of the low carb diet guru Dr. Atkins. Mary Vernon and Jacqueline Eberstein put together this diabetes cooking book which focuses on a low carbohydrate diet which allows the eating of fats. This book contains important information for diabetics concerning how eating a low carb diet can help them to alleviate the symptoms of their disease and keep their blood sugar from swinging up and down based upon what they eat. This diet allows for hearty eating and helps to promote general good health and can also be used to prevent diabetes from developing in the first place.

Important work has been done in the past couple of decades regarding the effects of low carb eating and diabetes. A person with diabetes has to be very careful with their diet so it is highly recommended to consult with a doctor before starting on any type of eating regime to make sure it will be safe and effective. Even if one is taking medication to control diabetes, it is still necessary to eat properly to keep blood sugar levels on an even keel. The reward of eating properly and keeping blood sugar levels down will be worth it since it will help to ward off many of the severe conditions that can develop along with advanced diabetes such as blindness and loss of circulation in the extremeties.