Murphy's Menu
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Eating these days is so hard. You have to watch the fats and cholesterol for your heart, the calories for your waist, the sodium for your blood pressure — and now the carbohydrates for your blood sugar? It’s just a little too much.
I called clinical dietitian Wilma Malone and asked for some enlightenment. She was very helpful!
I’ve had several requests for a column on diabetes, and after doing all the research I’m afraid it would take a book to cover everything. I’m just going to focus on Type 2, and what you need to think about to either control, or even — gasp — prevent it! I like prevention. Prevention is very good.
Wilma explained to me that the focus on Type 2 is a fairly recent phenomenon thanks to better research into the disease and thanks not-so-much to Americans’ increasingly sedentary lifestyle. You thought computers were your friend and video games were cool? Better go buy a Wii while you’re still able to get off the couch.
So, what is Type 2 diabetes? According to diabetes.com, Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. It means that your body either doesn’t make insulin or not enough insulin, which is a hormone that converts food you eat into sugar for your cells to use as energy.
When insulin doesn’t work right, sugar can’t get into your cells. Instead, high levels of sugar build up in your blood. This can lead to serious health problems, like heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney damage, eye damage, nerve damage, gum disease and difficulty fighting off infections.
Pre-diabetes is a term used to describe people who are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Their blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes. Although you may have no symptoms, studies have shown that most people with pre-diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes within 10 years. The good news is that people with pre-diabetes can delay or prevent getting Type 2 diabetes and may even be able to return their blood sugar levels to normal.
Wilma pointed out that you have to have sugar to live — your body converts most of what you eat to glucose, and that’s the stuff that makes your cells work, from the brain to the pinky toe. If you’re trying to control your diet by going after the “sugar free” things, you still need to look at the nutrition label and see how many carbohydrates (and calories) there are because they’ll be converted to sugar whether you like it or not.
I asked Wilma some bone-headed questions because all my understanding is 30 years out of date. My first question was about people having to keep food on them to keep from passing out. Wilma said food is good for counteracting low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), and it’s usually more for Type 1 diabetics.
Type 2’s might have trouble depending on the medication they’re taking. Wilma says when this happens, you might feel shaky or confused, have a headache and perhaps be a little sweaty. These are warning signs, and if you don’t take steps to regulate the sugar flow you will get worse, maybe even go into a coma. A quick bite of the right kind of food can hold you together long enough to check your glucose level and see if you need to seek help.
My next question was about feet. You always hear about diabetes and feet, but not “why” feet. Diabetics are at risk of nerve damage, meaning you can’t feel what’s going on. Often this occurs in the feet, and you could walk across a field of glass, followed by a bed of hot coals and never know something was wrong. So, you have to bend over and actually look at your feet to see whether you have any damage. If you do, and you don’t take care of it, you can get an infection that you can’t fight off, thanks to diabetes. The result could be amputation or, in a worst-case scenario, death.
My next question was about how to do it. All the counting. The fats, the carbs, the cholesterols, the fiber — it’s HARD! It takes a lot of time, unless everything you eat comes with a nutrition label on the side. That’s really hard for those of us who cook from scratch, and for people who want to get away from overly-processed foods. Wilma had a great suggestion — eyeball it.
Dish up your portions according to size — a piece of meat the size of your palm or a credit card, a scoop of potatoes the size of a tennis ball, etc. There’s handy information about that at www.mayoclinic.com, go to “Food & Nutrition,” then “Tools,” then “Portion Control for Weight Loss.”
When you sit down for a meal, draw an imaginary line through the center of your plate. Draw a line to divide one section into two. Then follow these guidelines:
- About one-fourth of your plate should be filled with whole grains or starchy foods like rice, pasta, potatoes, corn or peas.
- Another fourth should be low-fat, low-cholesterol proteins like meat, fish, poultry or tofu.
- The remaining half can be filled with non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, carrots, spinach or salad.
- Then, add a glass of non-fat milk and a small piece of fruit or bread and you are ready to eat!
So, just because you’re watching the old Type 2 diabetes thing doesn’t mean you can’t EAT. I’ve borrowed a few recipes from http://vgs.diabetes.org. Here’s a delicious variation on Hoppin’ John that will give you a good boost without pumping up your glucose levels.
HOPPIN’ JANE
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
1/4 cup black-eye peas 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 Tbsp. chopped tomatoes
1 hard boiled egg white, chopped
1 tsp. parsley
1 dash hot pepper sauce
Heat the oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat. Add the red onion and cook until soft, stirring often.Add the black-eyed peas and pepper, stirring continuously until thoroughly heated. Spread the warmed brown rice on a serving plate and top with the hot skillet mixture. Sprinkle the mixture with the tomato, egg white, and parsley. Season as desired with hot pepper and sauce and serve.
I attended a certain annual garden party last weekend, and served these impressive — but easy — appetizers. Double or triple it at will — most people will eat at least two.
SKEWERED ANTIPASTO
8 medium baby spinach leaves 8 medium cherry tomatoes
8 medium pitted greek olives 2 oz. mozzarella cheese, part skim-milk
2 artichoke hearts 2 hearts of palm
8 slices turkey pepperoni slices
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp. dried basil crumbled
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Cut the cheese into eight 1/2 inch cubes. Drain and rinse the hearts of palm, and cut crosswise into 4 pieces. Drain and quarter the artichoke hearts.
Thread a 6-inch skewer with one each: spinach leaf, tomato, olive, cheese cube, artichoke heart, heart of palm piece and pepperoni slice. Repeat with the other seven skewers and arrange on a platter. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly over the skewers and serve! Since there’s still a lot of basil to be had right now, I prefer to add a basil leaf, and to use fresh basil and oregano, cut chiffonade, in the dressing. If you use fresh herbs, double the quantity since the dried herbs are more concentrated.
Sweets are NOT off the menu, as long as you are sensible about it. I’ve heard mostly good things about baking with Splenda, although I haven’t used it yet myself (it does cost quite a bit). This recipe is provided by Equal, so that’s what you’re going to see. It claims a 14 percent calorie reduction and a 29 percent carbohydrate reduction from the traditional recipe.
ORANGE CRANBERRY COOKIES
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3 Tbsp. orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1/3 cup Equal Spoonful (or 8 packets Equal sweetener) 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 dash salt
1 tsp. orange peel, grated 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Beat butter in medium bowl. Beat in egg and orange juice. Mix combined flour, oats, Equal, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and orange peel into creamed mixture until blended. Stir in dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack. Store in airtight container at room temperature. Makes 2 dozen cookies.
- Next week we’ll hear all about the 2007 Lyon County Free Fair Exhibitors of the Year. Let’s get cooking!
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