When this blog was started, the main premise revolved around substitutions. If you are a Diabetic and you really, seriously care about controlling the disease then you MUST cut way back on the amount of carbohydrates you eat. I have found that huge amounts of diabetics do not understand that, within the body, carbohydrates metabolize into sugar. I read the nutrition label on all foods I buy that are labeled. Foods that aren’t, I look up. I don’t even read how many grams of sugar are in something. That is because the sugar that is listed is accounted for in the carbohydrates. For example, if a label says there are 19 grams of sugar and 29 grams of carbohydrate per serving, 19 of those carb. grams are the 19 sugar grams listed. My personal rule of thumb is, I try extremely hard to keep my carb intake down to 15-25 or so grams per serving/meal. By the end of most days my total carb intake for the day is typically below 100 grams (usually in the 80s). The typical American most probably eats two or three times that many grams of carbs before 10:00 in the morning. And we wonder why obesity and diabetes are rampant in this country!
So, how does one control carbs? Substitutions. Notice that the photo with today’s post is five different kinds of squash. Well, that is because squash is my “go to” for substitutions. Squash can be baked, boiled, fried, stir- fried, sauteed, steamed, mashed, made into “pasta”, put in soups, stews, casseroles, deserts, omelettes, salads pretty much, you name it. And look at these comparisons. One cup of cooked spaghetti pasta has 220 calories and 42.95 g of carbs. One cup of cooked spaghetti squash has 75 calories and 10.08 g of carbs. No brainier as to which one I am going to eat. One cup of mashed potatoes has 210 calories and 33 g of carbs. One cup of cooked winter squash has 83 calories and 21.5 g of carbs. With numbers like that, who in their right minds would NOT make the substitutions? I know I make all manner of substitutions every single day. I eat quite well, do not feel the least bit deprived, and get praise and raves from anybody else who eats my cooking. Most importantly, after 20 years and 5 months with this cursed disease, my Endocrinologist, Ophthalmologist, P.C.P, and Dentist have found absolutely no indications of Diabetic complications. I absolutely recognize that can change at any moment, but so far, so good! I get those good medical results by using two types of insulin and knowing the calories and grams of carbohydrates in everything I eat and drink. Yes, all that logging and documenting is a bit tedious, but the result is well worth it!
