Diabetes cooking is about much more than knowing cooking techniques and composing delicious meals. Cooking for diabetes begins long before the diabetic sets foot in the kitchen. It begins with the effort to sit down and write a shopping list in preparation for a trip to the grocery store or farmer’s market.
Diabetes Cooking Begins with the Right Ingredients
Diabetes cooking cannot be accomplished successfully without the right ingredients: ingredients that are guaranteed to nourish diabetics without sending their blood glucose levels sky-high. That is why writing a shopping list for groceries is so important. It helps to ensure that the low G.I, low-fat, low-sugar, and high-fiber foods necessary for cooking diabetes-friendly meals will be prioritized during shopping trips.
Such foods include whole grain cereals and whole grain cereal products (including bread, wraps, tortillas, breakfast cereals, and flours). Canned vegetables should be avoided as they tend to be highly processed, with high salt or fat content. These are not remotely healthy for diabetics or for anybody else for that matter. In their place, fresh vegetables should be purchased, and if these are impossible to get, frozen vegetables should be bought. It doesn’t take long for the diabetic to notice that diabetes cooking with fresh vegetables makes a world of difference. Not only does the food taste much better, but eating it also makes him or her feel healthier.
When shopping for fruit, similar precautions should be taken. Canned fruit in sugar syrup is absolutely out of the question. Sweetened applesauce, fruit drinks, fruit juice and fruit punch are a definite no-no. Chewy fruit rolls and ordinary preserves, jams and jellies must not be on the shopping list. In their place, fresh fruit or frozen fruit are alright. Any jams, jellies or preserves should be sugar-free and low in fat content. Juices, fruit-based soft-drinks and fruit sauces should have no added sugar.
For meat-lovers, diabetes cooking is not complete without choice selections of meat and cheese. Here, the emphasis is on the fat content of the meat or cheese. When buying red meat, it is important to select lower fat cuts. For chicken or turkey, the white meat is best, and it should be skinless. Any pre-cooked meats should be grilled, broiled, baked or stewed. Fried meats should not even be considered. Highly processed meats are high in sodium and other questionable preservatives, so they should simply be left off the shopping list. Any cheeses should be low in fat.
For those who are not keen on meat, beans and lentils are worthy options. However, they should not be canned and salted, nor should they have been cooked in lard.
Related articles: Diabetic Friendly Recipes | How Do I Know I am Diabetic? | Best Diet for Metabolic Syndrome |
