Cooking For Diabetics: When you are diabetic, or when you have a friend or family member that is, your cooking style is going to have to change in a few ways. The diabetic lifestyle doesn’t have to be that different from other lifestyles, as long as you can make the right accommodations in your cooking. It is often easy to make sure that you provide your friends or family members with great food, as long as you follow a few steps.
First of all, don’t just assume that all diabetics are the same. If you are cooking for yourself, talk to your doctor about your sugar intake and what it should be. Depending on the type of diabetes that you have and the severity of it, you might be managing it with only insulin, or with a combination of diet and insulin. Some diabetics manage it only with diet, so it is important to talk to your doctor about what your sugar intake should be. If you are cooking for someone else, talk to them about it. Don’t’ just assume they can’t have any sugar, and don’t’ assume they can have sugar at all. Talk to them about what they need to eat and drink and then be sure that you stick to their recommendations when cooking.
Secondly, if you think carefully about the way that you cook, and then you make some changes, you can easily slip into a habit of cooking for diabetics. Often, this can end up being a much healthier way to cook overall, so you might want to stick to these habits even when there isn’t’ going to be a diabetic at the table.
A good way to start is making a variety of foods. Diabetics do need a variety of foods, just like everyone else. Get some cook books for foods that are naturally low in sugars, and for foods that can be cooked using a sugar substitute. You will find that no matter what type of meal you would like to make, or no matter what type of food you want to eat, there are ways to eat them without sugar or with less sugar.
First, you can cook meals using alternative ingredients. Foods that are naturally low in sugar but taste similar to other foods can be used in place of the foods that are high in sugar. Sugar substitutes can be used in place of sugar. Just about everything comes in sugar free varieties – sugar free candy, sugar free cake and brownie mixes, sugar free drinks and drink mixes. If you cook for diabetics often ,you can simply change what you do to include these sugar free options.
Another thing that you can do while you are cooking for diabetics is to make several choices. If you have a large family or group that you are cooking for, you can make two different bowls of Jello – one with sugar and one without. You can make two pies – one with sugar and one without sugar. Having a couple of choices can be good for everyone, not only for those with diabetics.
Look into a sugar-free lifestyle for yourself, even if you aren’t dealing with diabetes. If you can change the way that you cook for your friends and family members, you might find that it is actually a great benefit to you as well.
