Tips To Help You Enjoy Your Favorite Recipes (NAPSA)—A diagnosis of diabetes is often equated with having to make drastic changes to your diet and giving up many of the foods you love. But simple ingredient replacements will allow diabetics to still enjoy their favorite recipes while keeping blood sugar levels stable. Christiane Rivard, Registered Dietitian, member of the Vitamin Shoppe Health Advisory Board, offers the following helpful cooking “tricks” for modifying recipes without losing their great taste: e Slashing Sugar: It’s common knowledge that diabetics should drastically reduce their sugar intake. However, that doesn’t have to mean cutting out sweets entirely. For baking recipes, a simple trick is to decrease sugar by % and increase sweet-tasting spices and flavor- ings, such as cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla. For example, if a recipe calls for 1% cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, decrease the sugar to 1 cup and increase cinnamonto 2 teaspoons. e Fighting Fat with Flax: Decreasing unhealthy fat such as saturated fat and trans fats is important for everyone, but this is especially true for diabetics to maintain stable blood sugar levels. By using fiber-rich flaxseed meal instead of vegetable oil, you will add healthy fat (omega-3 fatty acids) and increase fiber, which is also essential to a diabetic’s diet. When baking, if a recipe calls for oil, replace it with If you need to decrease fat and sugar in your diet, a few simple tricks will let you enjoy the foods you love. three times the recommended amount in flaxseed meal. For example, instead of using % cup of oil, use 1% cups of flaxseed meal. Satisfying Substitutes: Other tricks for decreasing fat include replacing one whole egg with two egg whites or using an egg substitute; using applesauce or baby food prunes instead ofoil; replacing whole milk or cream with 1 percent or skim milk; substituting low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt for sour cream. These modifications are basic ways to supplementdelicious foods without sacrificing health. While the tips are helpful for people with diabetes, they are also practical for anyone looking to decrease his or her fat and sugar content. For more information about diabetes, including tips, recipes and nutritional supplements, visit www.vitaminshoppe.com.
