Art of a sweet life

Posted: November 22, 2011 by New Straits Times, Health

Food needn’t be boring for diabetics. Aneeta Sundararaj finds out how to add variety to meals

Dietitian Bee See Wei at Sime Darby Specialist Centre in Subang Jaya has observed that many diabetics cut sugar from their diet completely. It doesn’t have to be this way. The three factors that underlie her approach to a diet for someone whose diabetes is under control are variety, balance and moderation.

Keep in mind these tips

• Plan your meals. If you know that you’re going to a meeting later on in the day, have a snack in between. Do not starve throughout the meeting and gorge on food later.
• Watch the portions. Use the Plate Concept — half of the plate should be filled with vegetables, a quarter with carbohydrates and the last quarter with proteins.
• Limit your intake of refined sugars such as carbonated drinks, teh tarik and cakes.
• Increase intake of soluble fibre like oats, dhal, nuts, seeds, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, flax seeds and prunes.
• Use mono-unsaturated fats such as canola oil, peanut oil and olive oil.
• Be smart when eating out. Choose grilled foods rather than those that are deep fried. If you opt for salad, skip the dressing.
• Vary the kind of food you eat. Eating brown rice every day can become boring. Alternate brown rice with chapatti, toasted bread or pasta.
• Learn to read food labels. Focus on the nutrition content per 100g rather than per serving, when comparing two products.

She suggests a typical meal-plan that consists of the following:

Healthy recipes

These recipes are from the booklet provided by Nestle called Simply Delicious. The recipes use Nestle’s Nutren(R) Untuk Diabetik. This is a “formula dietary food for people who need to manage their blood sugar levels”.

• Chicken Salad Sandwich
• Mango Smoothie