Special Diets – Dietary Needs

Special Diets – Dietary Needs

LOW GLYCEMIC DIET

Adding a low GI food to a meal will lower the glycemic index of the whole meal.

LOW-PROTEIN DIET

Usually protein-restricted diets come with other restrictions as well, such as sodium, potassium, and/or phosphorus. The best way to manage this is to check the exact values at the back of the book for all nutrients in the recipe to be sure they fit into your daily allowances. The most generalized advice for using any recipe is to serve only half portions and bulk up the rest of the meal with pasta or rice. I have also provided variations on recipes that reduce the protein levels. Whenever possible I have substituted tofu, beans, or additional vegetables for the meat and where necessary increased some of the seasonings to compensate for the loss of the “meaty” flavors.

Special Diets

LOW-SODIUM DIETS

The recipes in this book are written without specific salt suggestions. If you are on a lowsodium diet, just don’t add any salt. That should be adequate for most “no salt added” diets. If you are on a restricted sodium diet, look for the low-sodium variations of the recipes. Wherever canned products are called for, use salt-free products or homemade products prepared without salt. Check the sodium content of each recipe in the back of the book to be sure you are staying within your prescribed guidelines.

LOW CHOLESTEROL

Cholesterol and fat are two separate issues but they are frequently both of concern to the diabetic. Cholesterol is an issue for anyone at risk for heart disease, and as a diabetic your risk is greater than the general population. Therefore, many people with diabetes try to keep their cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams per day. Most of these recipes are moderate to low in fat and cholesterol. Whenever a recipe seems higher in cholesterol, I try to present a lower-cholesterol variation. The only fats that contain cholesterol are those that come from animal products, such as butter or ghee (clarified butter), lard, chicken fat, and suet. Of course there are also “invisible” fats such as the marble in meats or skin of poultry—or the not-soinvisible layer of fat outside a roast or ham. Oils from plants do not contain cholesterol. As a rule, any dish that is vegan (no meat/no dairy) is cholesterol-free. Look for reduced-protein variations to find vegetarian versions of meat/chicken/fish dishes that are also lower in cholesterol. Check for actual figures in the back of the book to see if the recipes fit in with your needs.

LOW SATURATED FAT DIETS

Although some physicians, such as Dean Ornish, prescribe very very low fat diets, not all sources agree with him. Many physicians feel that some fat is essential in the diet. Current findings indicate that eating monosaturates (molecules that have one double bond—consult your high school chemistry texts for further explanation), such as olive oil or canola oil, ctually protects your heart. Polyunsaturates (molecules that have more than one double bond) are also considered healthy oil. They are safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, and peanut oils. However, saturated fats (molecules with no double bonds), which come primarily from animal fats, as well as tropical oils are extremely unhealthy and should be limited to less than 10 percent of the daily total fat intake.

LOW FAT DIETS

Although weight control and heart disease are probably the leading reasons for people to watch their fat intake, there are other conditions such as gallbladder and liver disease that also require fat counting. Most recipes have less than 1 teaspoon of fat content per serving. Whenever possible I have variations for even lower-fat methods to prepare recipes.

CARBOHYDRATES DIETS

When you say carbohydrates many people think bread, pasta/grain/cereal, beans, and potatoes. These carbohydrates are also known as starches. Although they are carbohydrates, they are just a small part of the carbohydrate universe. There are other foods that are also sources of carbohydrates: fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and sugars (including sugar, honey, molasses, syrups, and all the other sugars that can be hidden in prepared foods). Sugars are known as simple carbohydrates. They consist of one or two molecules and not much else. These are foods that enter your bloodstream quickly. They are frequently eferred to as “empty” calories because nutritionally they contribute very little to your daily equirements. Simple carbohydrates should be used sparingly, if at all. Besides sugar, other “empty” calories are found in candies, sodas (diet soda is okay), sweet wines, and chewing gum (sugarfree is okay). In addition to empty calories, there are foods that are not good carbohydrate choices: jellies, jams, candy, cakes and cookies, puddings and pies, fruit juices, and sweetened condensed milk or sweetened coconut milk. Although the current ADA guidelines suggest that you can find a place for sugars in your diet, it is still not advisable to do so often.
Complex carbohydrates are longer chains of molecules and provide other nutrients such as fiber, minerals, and vitamins as well as possibly some fat and/or protein. Even within the complex carbohydrate group there are some that impact your blood sugar more than others. The starches are higher in carbohydrates (that is, they have more grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams of weight) than vegetables. And there are some vegetables that are higher in arbohydrates than others. The starchy vegetables are artichokes, brussels sprouts, carrots, corn, kale, okra, onions (including onion family members such as leeks, scallions, chives), peas, red peppers, tomatoes, turnips, and winter squash. These vegetables should be counted and portions should be controlled more closely than the “watery” vegetables. Vegetables with a lower ratio of grams of carbohydrate to weight, such as asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, mushrooms, summer squash—you know, “vegetables”—can be eaten with much less regard to portion size, unless of course your physician or nutritionist has you on a very low carbohydrate diet.

MINERALS

Patients with renal complications may have specific limitations on some minerals—such as sodium, phosphorus, potassium, and others. This is something that you must keep track of carefully. For you, it is best to pick recipes by looking at the tables in the back and finding recipes with the amounts of minerals that fit in your daily food plan.

VEGETARIAN DIET

Diabetes is not picky—it strikes all populations, including vegetarians. Maintaining a healthy diabetic diet as a vegetarian can be a little trickier than for the meat eater. As usual, my dvice is to consult your nutritionist. If you get the go-ahead, the best way to use this book is to look at the low-protein variations of the recipes. Many of them substitute tofu or beans for meat. When recipes call for broth, use vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef.

MEAL PATTERNS

Different physicians and nutritionists have different theories on the best way to manage diabetes. Some recommend three meals plus a snack. Others recommend smaller, more frequent meals. The portions in this book are suitable for the three-meal-a-day plan. If you are on a many-small-meals plan you can use any recipe in this book, but eat half of the serving suggestion. Other good small meals are soup-and-salad, if it is a hearty soup. If it is a vegetable soup, you might want soup plus a piece of bread or other starch. Appetizers are by definition small portions. Many of the appetizers would make suitable small meals, as would salads.

MENU PLANNING

When considering a menu, it’s best to decide what the entr?e will be, and then build the meal around it. If you have chosen a dish that is primarily protein, such as a grilled or saut?ed chicken breast, or a fish fillet, then try to include a starch such as a grain, pasta, or starchy vegetable plus at least one nonstarchy vegetable. After you’ve chosen your side dishes, consider adding a soup and/or salad and/or appetizer, and after that, see if you feel there’s room in your allowances for a dessert. I have included menu suggestions after each entr?e recipe. You do not have to make the entire meal. You certainly can skip the soup, appetizer, or dessert and still have an adequate meal.

Diet Planning - DEFINITIONS OF HIGH AND LOW NUTRIENT VALUES

HIGH CALORIE 400 calories (20% of daily intake of 2000 calories) or more
LOW CALORIE 40 calories (~2% of daily intake of 2000 calories) or less

HIGH FAT 13g or more
LOW FAT 3g or less

HIGH SATURATED FAT 4g or more
LOW SATURATED FAT 1g or less (FDA)

HIGH PROTEIN 10g (20% of adult women’s recommended daily requirement) or more
LOW PROTEIN 2.5g (5% of adult women’s recommended daily requirement) or less

HIGH CARBOHYDRATE 25g (20% of recommended daily carbohydrate intake for healthy
person) or more
LOW CARBOHYDRATE 3g (~2% of recommended daily carbohydrate intake for healthy
person) or less

HIGH FIBER 5g or more (FDA)
LOW FIBER 2g or less

HIGH CHOLESTEROL 60mg (20% of maximum daily recommendation of 300mg) or more
LOW CHOLESTEROL 20mg or less (FDA)

HIGH CALCIUM 160mg (20% of recommended daily requirement) or more
LOW CALCIUM 40mg (5% or less of recommended daily requirement) or less

HIGH IRON 3mg (20% of adult women’s recommended daily requirement)
or more
LOW IRON .75mg (5% of adult women’s recommended daily requirement)
or less

HIGH MAGNESIUM 36mg (20% of recommended daily requirement) or more
LOW MAGNESIUM 14mg (5% or less of recommended daily requirement for women)
or less

HIGH PHOSPHORUS 160mg (20% of recommended daily requirement) or more
LOW PHOSPHORUS 80mg (5% of recommended daily requirement) or less

HIGH POTASSIUM 350mg (10% of recommended daily requirement) or more
LOW POTASSIUM 100mg (~5% of minimum daily requirement) or less

HIGH SODIUM 400mg or more (FDA)
LOW SODIUM 140mg or less (FDA)

Special Diets – Dietary Needs

Source: DIABETES COOKING FOR EVERYONE