Diabetic



Definition A Diabetic diet is for Diabetics to follow. Their goal is to stabilize their blood sugar level.

Why do people follow this diet? Diabetics have unstable blood sugar levels. It is a medical issue which people are born with or can get due to old age.

Foods that can/cannot be eaten Diabetics can eat everything, unless they have other restricted diets as well. Following a diabetic diet limits only in certain food groups that are high on the food pyramid, for example; Sugar. Lots of people think that diabetics can't eat sugar, but they can as long as they control how much sugar they consume per day. //Below is a table of best and worst choices for each food group for a diabetic://
 * **Best Choices** || **Worst Choices** ||
 * __BREAD AND GRAINS__ ||  ||
 * Whole wheat flour || White flour ||
 * Brown rice || Processed grains, such as white rice ||
 * With whole grain ingredients || Cereals with little whole grain and lots of sugar ||
 * Whole grain bread || White bread ||
 * Baked potato or baked steak fries || French fries ||
 * Whole grain flour/corn tortillas || Fried white-flour tortillas ||
 * __VEGETABLES__ ||  ||
 * Fresh vegetables, raw/lightly steamed/roasted || Canned/processed vegetables with lots of sodium ||
 * Frozen vegetables, lightly steamed || Cooked vegetables with lots of butter/sauce ||
 * Fresh cucumbers || Pickles ||
 * Fresh shredded cabbages or coleslaw || Sauerkraut ||
 * __FRUITS__ ||  ||
 * Frozen fruit or canned fruit in fruit juice || Canned fruit in syrup ||
 * Fresh fruit || Chewy fruit rolls ||
 * Sugar-free/low-sugar jam || Regular jam or jelly ||
 * 100% fruit juice || Fruit punch, fruit drinks ||
 * __MEAT AND OTHER PROTEINS__ ||  ||
 * Baked/broiled/grilled meat, fish || Fried meat, fish ||
 * Lower-fat cut of meat (eg. Top sirloin) || Higher-fat cut of meat (eg. Ribs) ||
 * Turkey bacon || Pork bacon ||
 * Low-fat cheese || Regular cheese ||
 * Skinless poultry || Poultry with skin ||
 * Tofu lightly sauteed/steamed/cooked in soup || Fried tofu ||
 * Baked/stewed beans || Beans prepared with lard ||
 * __DAIRY__ ||  ||
 * 1% or skim milk || Whole milk ||
 * Low-fat yoghurt, cottage cheese, sour cream || Regular ones, ice-cream ||

Benefits and constraints Diabetics don't lack any nutrients because they eat everything. Their on ly main concern is the intake of sugar.

Recipes We looked at 8 recipes which you can find below. However, we chose two final dishes to make, one sweet and one savoury. Our sweet dish was sugar-free brownies, using an artificial sweetener specially for diabetics. We also made spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread, which was our savoury dish.

//This is our brownie recipe:// __Ingredients__ 1/2 cup margarine 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 eggs 1/2 cup Splenda granular (sucralose artificial sweetener) //we used Tropicana because we couldn't find Splenda// 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup skim milk 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, //although it gives it more flavor//) //(Although it wasn't in the recipe, we added 1/4 teaspoon baking powder)//

__Method__ 1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180° C. 2. Spray Pam and flour an 8x8-inch pan. (Or line the pan with oiled baking paper) 3. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt margarine and cocoa together, stirring occasionally until smooth. 4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 5. In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. 6. Stir in sucrolose sugar. 7. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the egg mixture then mix in the cocoa and margarine. 8. Finally stir in the 1/4 cup of milk and if desired, the walnuts. 9. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven. 10. Stick in a toothpick-when it comes out clean its done. 11. Let cool and then cut into squares. Pasted from < [] > // The brownies came out quite flat so either making more batter or using a smaller baking pan would improve it. // These are our brownies:

//This is our spaghetti bolognaise sauce recipe:// __Ingredients__ 4 Tablespoon Olive oil 1 Carrot Chopped 2 Cans (1kg) peeled tomatoes 1 Teaspoon Black pepper 1/2 kg Ground beef 1 Teaspoon thyme + basil + oregano 10 Fresh mushrooms, diced 1 Onion, chopped 2 Gloves garlic 1 Small can tomato paste

__Method__ 1. Put carrot, garlic, onion in the blender. (then put aside) 2. Put tomatoes (separate from juice) in blender (then mixed back with juice) 3. In a saucepan, heat oil and lightly brown onion, carrot and garlic. 4. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste and pepper. 5. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes. 6. While sauce is simmering, brown ground beef in skillet over medium-high heat, drain off fat. 7. Add meat and thyme to tomato mixture. 8. Cover and simmer ½ hour, stirring occasionally. 9. Add mushrooms and cook another 10 minutes //This was Reya's homemade recipe so there isn't a link where you can get this from.//

//This is the garlic bread recipe which can go with the spaghetti:// __Ingredients__ 16 ounce loaf of bread (French or Italian); for bread of different size, vary the other ingredients proportionately. ½ cup of unsalted and softened butter. 2-3 large garlic cloves, minced thoroughly; feel free to ramp up the intensity 2 tablespoons of freshly and finely cut parsley.

__Method__ 1. Preheat oven to 350°F, which is about 176.6°C. 2. Mix the minced garlic, parsley and butter in a container to make garlic bread spread or mixture. 3. Slice the bread into as many slices 4. Spread the garlic bread spread / mixture / paste evenly on all slices 5. Use a tough baking container or pan; bake for about 10 minutes. 6. Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes. Pasted from < [] >

Links to other diabetic recipes: Ice Cream [] Smoothie [] Oatmeal Cookies [] Fried Rice [] Links to references for more information on diabetes: [] [|http://diabetes.webmd.com/diabetic-food-list-best-worst-food]