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The best Diabetic Cookery Book

Pegi

Well-Known Member
Messages
84
Location
Wales
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Please could anyone recommend a diabetic cookery book. I'm asking on behalf of my brother who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
I've looked on Amazon and there are plenty but which one would be the best ? Some use American measurements and I need one with UK recipe measurements.

I'm afraid his partner has no idea what to cook for him and ends up serving totally unsuitable meals.
I'd be grateful for any advice please.
And whilst on the subject, my sister was asking about Stevia sweetener, any comments please ?
Thanks in advance.
 
Hi
Just a thought , but why not have a look at the recipes provided by various diabetic organisations and pick out the ones that suit your brother's tastes. For example, www.diabetes.org has over 600 recipes - just go to 'my food adviso'r and then to 'recipe's. They all have a print option and you could put together your own tailor made global culinary reference.
Best of luck to your brother.
 
Does he want to lose weight?

If you want a book with explanations, then the New Atkins Diet book is good (written by Low Carb experts)

But I have to admit that I haven't ever seen a Diabetic diet book I have thought worth the money. The author usually has some improbable or irrational axe to grind - eat 'clean', complex carbs are fine, you just need to avoid sugar, sweet potato instead of potato, everything in moderation, bucketloads of aspartame, fruit is good for you - you know the kind of thing? Well NONE of those work for me, and I usually end up having to moderate every recipe.

At least the Atkins book explains WHY diet choices are made, which would start to educate your SIL in the reasons behind the way of eating. One she understand that, she can adapt anything, and know WHY.

Instead, if I fancy a certain dish, I end up googling, 'Low Carb lasagne', 'Low Carb ginger biscuits' or 'Low Carb chocolate brownies'.
So far, I have ALWAYS come up with a better range of options than would be in a single book.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you everyone for your replies. Much appreciated.
It's my brother's 60 th birthday next weekend and I thought a recipe book might be a good idea as part of his present.
I know what he should and shouldn't be eating as I myself follow a rigid diet due to being borderline diabetic over two yrs ago.
Problem is, we have no contact as such, he lives 40 miles away and I'm housebound with a couple of life changing medical conditions.
 
Hi. Be very wary of diabetes cook books as I've seen some terrible ones recommending high-carb/low-fat. You need a book that recommends low-carb cooking together with higher fat and/or protein. Don't worry too much about fats as they aren't the villain we have been told and don't directly increase deposited fat in the arteries whereas too many carbs can. You can always favour unsaturated fats such as Omega-3 which are the least contentious.
 
Pegi said:
Hi, I looked up this book and it's high fat ?
My brother has high cholesterol and high blood pressure as well.
Click to expand...
And therein lies the problem.. you say you know what he should and shouldn't be eating but then query the diet that a lot of us follow to control our blood sugar levels. So what do you think he should be eating? We might have different ideas..
 
bulkbiker said:
And therein lies the problem.. you say you know what he should and shouldn't be eating but then query the diet that a lot of us follow to control our blood sugar levels. So what do you think he should be eating? We might have different ideas..
Click to expand...
Hi there,
I'm not querying your diets at all, I'm sorry if I've misled you
I think he should be eating less carbs, for example his partner puts a load of potatoes on his plate and tinned steak and kidney pie. My opinion wrong diet. He should be eating protein for breakfast such as scrambled egg on wholemeal toast, salads or vegetables and fish such as fresh salmon for lunch / dinner. No refined carbs. No sugary snacks such as chocolate biscuits. Potatoes - limited amount ? Plenty of fresh vegetables. Not sure about fruit, too many at the same time raises blood glucose. Not sure about bananas ?
Whole grain bread and cereal, limit the cereal ? I personally am not a fruit lover, I prefer veggies. Please feel free to comment, that is how I learn. Thanks.
 
The book gift idea was to help educate his partner on what she should be cooking him.
 
Thank you , very helpful advice, much appreciated.
 
If he wants to get his blood sugar down asap then he should dump as many carbs from his diet as possible. No bread, potatoes, pasta, fruit (apart maybe from some berries), root veg, cereals and of course cakes biscuits etc. If you want to give some ideas you could do a lot worse than point the partner or your brother at http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb. However it's your brother that needs to "own" his condition and want to do something about it...
 
www.diabetes.org is the US diabetes association site with some truly awful advice concerning diet...in my humble opinion
 
Thank you for your valued reply.
I'm the one doing all the research as my brother won't . You are right it is ' his condition '
He is on medication for diabetes since last Weds, not sure what as I don't get to see him.
He was recently diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer as well.
 
If fighting cancer then he needs to make sure he gets a good amount of protein in his diet...and cut the carbs.. Protein is very important.
 
I definitely agree that Trudi Deakins book is an excellent introduction to a lower carbohydrate diet, and the one I'd not hesitate to recommend. It's a basic essentials guide book that I wish had been available when I was first diagnosed.

It has some good information in an easy to understand form and guides to suitable (and otherwise ) food in a simple traffic light format, and will also give, for example(!), details on suitable sweeteners - stevia together with erythritol are both OK.

Even if your brother doesn't choose to go a very low carbohydrate way, reduction in carbohydrates means that in general more fat (and possibly a little more protein) is needed to replace the fuel that was previously obtained from the extra carbs.

To reassure, I had both highish cholesterol and very high blood pressure when I was diagnosed, and eating a very low carb higher fat diet, has brought my cholesterol down - I've come off statins - and my long term much too high blood pressure has finally come right down to the lower end of normal and I'll be asking if I can stop my blood pressure meds when I next see my GP.

Robbity

PS: You also say that unfortunately your brother has cancer too, so have a root around Google, as you'll find some evidence that a lower carb diet appears to help with this too (e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267662/) - low carb higher fat isn't just for diabetics.
 
fene48 said:
I regret that the science of this somewhat large organisation is not in accord with your humble opinion - why not just say 'I do not agree with them' and why.
Click to expand...

From the site...
"Healthy eating includes eating a wide variety of foods including:
  • whole grains
  • fruits
  • non-fat dairy products"
need I say more?
 
bulkbiker said:
From the site...
"Healthy eating includes eating a wide variety of foods including:
  • whole grains
  • fruits
  • non-fat dairy products"
need I say more?
Click to expand...
Dairy products contain fat !
Please explain how non fat can be classed as dairy, I'm getting quite confused now.
Thanks.
 
Pegi said:
Dairy products contain fat !
Please explain how non fat can be classed as dairy, I'm getting quite confused now.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
I assume they mean 0% fat dairy like yoghurt and milk where the fat is replaced by sugar... and frankenfood spreads.
 
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