The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible : A Complete Guide to Planning, Shopping, Cooking, and Eating

Introducing the American Diabetes Association's first all-in-one food book, a combination of nutrition guideline, menu planner, and cookbook. Readers will learn how to shop, plan nutritious meals, and cook low-fat and healthy foods. The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible is divided into three sections: Meal Planning, Healthy Shopping (for fruits, vegetables, protein, etc.), and Recipes (using the ingredients from the previous section). Helpful sidebars throughout the text will offer helpful cooking and nutrition tips.

"The Diabetes Bible" does have workable recipes - the ones I have made were very tasty. The biggest shock comes when you actually measure the serving sizes specified. A 4-ounce apple did not exist in my grocery store - they were all 8 ounces. So, if you follow their menu plans (I used the 1,200 to 1,400 calorie plan), you can eat only half that apple. It is amazing how small a half-cup portion of cooked vegetables is or two ounces of lean protein is an incredibly tiny piece (I once virtuously ate a small fish fillet, only to find out that I had consumed "four exchanges"). And one cup of milk is only a few swallows.

My biggest complaint about the book is that many menus rely on reduced fat cheeses, "lite" sour cream and margarine, although they do admit you can used the real thing, but (obviously) eat even less of it.

It is no lie to say that controlling pre-diabetes or diabetes is a heck of a lot of work. Given the risks of not controlling these conditions - eye damage, peripheral neuropathy, risk of heart attack and stroke - patient motivation to lose weight, increase exercise, control blood pressure and blood glucose, reduce cholesterol, etc. should be high, but it certainly is no day at the beach. The "Diabetes Bible" at least gave me some place to start.


More than one hundred healthful and tasty dishes   August 9, 2001
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In The Diabetes Food & Nutrition Bible: A Complete Guide To Planning, Shopping, Cooking, And Eating, Hope Warshaw and Robyn Web effectively collaborate to draw upon their more than twenty years experience with the challenges of a diabetic lifestyle. They provide the reader with a wealth of information on how to turn out more than one hundred healthful and tasty dishes for the diabetic -- meal time dishes that will be enthusiastically received by their non-diabetic friends and family members as well. All aspects of sound and nutritious cuisine for the diabetic is covered including the what to look for and what to avoid with respect to canned and prepared foods from the supermarket, portion control and the role it plays in a healthy eating plan for diabetics; five "Nutrition Superstars" that compliment any diabetic diet; and the diabetes meal plan based on building blocks of healthful eating for people with diabetes. No diabetics's reference shelf and cookbook collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of The Diabetes Food & Nutrition Bible!