CHEW ON THIS
Dispelling myths about diabetes
Posted on Tue, Mar. 25, 2008
By SHEAH RARBACK
Related Content
This recipe is from The All Natural Diabetes Cookbook by registered dietitian
Jackie Newgent (American Diabetes Association, $18.95). This is one of my
favorite cookbooks. The recipes are delicious and use regular healthy foods to
make wonderful dishes. No special "diabetic'' foods. Each recipe provides
exchanges for anyone who is on a prescribed diet for diabetes.
Fudgy Brownies
Ingredients
1 ½ cups turbinado sugar
-1/3 cup canola oil
½ tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp water
¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3 oz. high quality unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
4 large egg whites
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 nonstick baking pan with
natural cooking spray. In a large microwave safe bowl, stir the sugar, oil,
salt, and water together. Microwave on high power for 2½ minutes or until the
mixture rapidly bubbles, stirring once midway through the cooking time. (Be
careful, as this mixture will be extremely hot.) Stir in the cocoa and
chocolate until the chocolate is melted. Vigorously stir in the egg whites one
at a time and then add vanilla. Stir in the flours until the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake 18 minutes or until springy to the touch
1 inch from the edges. Cool completely in the pan. Cut into 25 pieces.
Per serving: 100 calories (45 percent from fat), 5g fat (1g saturated, 2.8 g
monounsaturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber,
55 mg sodium.
Exchanges
1 carbohydrate
½ fat
12 grams sugar
When I am giving lectures on making food changes for a healthier diet I often ask how many people in the audience have a family member with diabetes. When I first started this a number of years ago, few people raised their hands. Now a majority, myself included, have hands high in the air. With so many people affected by this disorder you would think knowledge and understanding had risen, but that's not the case. Help is on the way. A new book, 16 Myths of a Diabetic Diet by registered dietitians Karen Chalmers and Amy Campbell (American Diabetes Association, $14.95) busts some long-standing misconceptions.
A major area of confusion is that people with diabetes can eat only ''diabetic'' foods. Not true. People with diabetes eat tasty, healthy foods. Food choices need to be balanced with medication and calorie needs but they are the same foods the rest of the family enjoys. There are no forbidden foods.
In the beginning, this disorder was called sugar diabetes and many mistakenly believed that eating excessive sugar was the cause. This led to the myth that people with diabetes must avoid all foods that contain sugar. It's almost impossible to avoid all sugar, and it's unnecessary. The current nutritional therapy for diabetes does not endorse unlimited sugar, but it does accept using sugar as part of the total carbohydrate intake. That's good news. The book details 14 other common and incorrect beliefs about diabetes. I'll give you the most important truism: Being at a healthy weight improves blood glucose control.
Confusion and deprivation do not have to be part of a diabetes diagnosis. For anyone newly diagnosed, I recommend a consultation with a registered dietitian. Enlightened insurance companies will pay for this.
To find a dietitian in your neighborhood, go to www.eatright.org.
Sheah Rarback is a registered dietitian at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. E-mail:
srarback@hotmail.com
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