Cookbooks to the rescue

12/18/2001

Several new cookbooks and books may aid in customizing menus by adapting recipes to low-fat, low-sugar, sugar-free, or low-salt.

Note that today there are two ways of looking at foods for those with diabetes: the diabetic exchange list with food groups, and carbohydrate counting which looks at all sources of carbohydrate and considers them equal.

“This is a new approach, where one fruit equals one starch,” says registered dietitian Katherine Navarre. “If you have three carbohydrate choices, it is more flexible. You could have three starches, or two starches and a fruit.

“Exchanges used to dictate more of a prescribed meal as opposed to achieving variety in choices.”

Recipes that are low in sugar or have sugar-free ingredients often include low-fat and low-salt ingredients as well.

1,000 Delicious Recipes for People with Diabetes by Linda Eugene, Sue Spitler, and Linda R. Yoakam, (Surrey Books, $19.95);

At Home With Gladys Knight, by Gladys Knight with Abe Ogden, (American Diabetes Association, $16.95);

Complete Guide to Carb Counting, by Hope S. Warshaw and Karmeen Kulkarni (American Diabetes Association, $16.95); and

Light & Easy Holiday Cooking by Sandra Woodruff (Avery, $15.95).

The Diabetes Food & Nutrition Bible: A Complete Guide to Planning, Shopping, Cooking, and Eating by Hope S. Warshaw and Robyn Webb (American Diabetes Association, $18.95).