Diabetes Information

Sugar, jaggery and honey should not be used in cooking. Flour, cheese, groundnut powder and coconut have considerable food value and should not be added as “free foods” (food stuffs of low caloric value and low carbohydrate content).
In order to preserve the fibre, vegetables should be cut into large pieces. The skin, seeds and stalk of the vegetables should not be discarded. Whole wheat flour should be used instead of chickpeas flour.
Butter, ghee, and oil should not be poured while cooking but its exact quantity should be measured in terms of teaspoons. The quantity of cooking fat can be cut down by using non-stick pans. Frying should be avoided. Cooking, baking or grilling are preferred.
Saccharin is available in the form of drops or tablets. The tablet should be crushed and mixed with a little warm water before adding to a foodstuff. Saccharin is decomposed by heat, imparting a bitter taste. It is added after foodstuff is prepared and not during boiling or cooking. Not more than two tablets should be added to one serving. Syrup of sorbitol is prepared by mixing 3 parts of water and 7 parts of sorbitol. A cake made with fructose does not rise like the one made with sugar. Cakes made with sorbitol or fructose may appear paler than those made with sugar. If this appearance is not to one’s liking, a little yellow food color may be added. It is bit difficult to beat air into sorbitol or fructose mixture hence the usual beating or whisking time should be doubled. Fructose browns more easily than sugar; hence foods containing fructose should be cooked in the oven at a slightly lower setting than usual. Aspartame is decomposed at high temperature, so it should not be used in baking cakes. Jams made with sugar substitutes should be stored in small jars because once opened, do not last as long as ordinary jams. Fruits or dates can be used to sweeten a dish. A housewife need not prepare separate foodstuffs for a diabetic. The initial stages of cookery are the same for non-diabetic and diabetic persons. Before the last stage that is addition of sugar, jaggery, groundnut powder or grated dry coconut, the housewife should set aside the serving for the diabetic person and then add these food stuffs for the rest of family members.

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Filed under: Diabetes Diet