Food Exchanges Made Easy

Judging by the number of e-mails we get each week, one would think there's something terribly complicated about food exchanges. Not so, actually. Developed back in 1950 as a way to make meal planning easier for people with diabetes, the food exchange system now merely categorizes foods into three main groups:
  • Carbohydrates
  • Protein (Meat) and Protein (Eggs, Cheese, Soy, etc.) Substitutes
  • Fats
The Carbohydrate group is further broken down into bread/starch, fruit, milk, other carbohydrate (sugar and sweets), and vegetables. When a meal plan says 2 1/2 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch, 1 fruit, 1/2 milk), it means that many servings for those kinds of carbohydrate. You will need to refer to a food exchange list for the exact measurement of the food-they are posted in most every diabetic cookbook-or refer to the diabetic exchanges listed at the end of each recipe.

For example, for those 2 1/2 carbohydrate exchanges, you might choose 1 slice of bread, 1 medium fresh peach, and 1/2 cup of skim milk. You could have chosen to have 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, 1 cup of cubed melon, and 1/2 cup of nonfat yogurt. Generally speaking, 1 carbohydrate exchange (bread/starch, fruit, and milk) provides 12 to 15 grams of carbohydrate. Since a serving of vegetables only has 5 grams of carbohydrate, it takes 3 vegetables to equal 1 carbohydrate exchange.

The Protein group is broken down into very low-fat protein, low-fat protein, medium-fat protein, and high-fat protein. A protein exchanges provides 7 grams of protein and varying amounts of fat. Again look to a food exchange list or the exchanges listed at the end of each diabetic recipes for the amount of each serving.

The Fat group is divided into monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats. One fat exchange provides 5 grams of fat and 45 calories. You'll be surprised at how quickly your fat exchanges will be used-1 exchange only means 1 teaspoon oil, butter, stick margarine, or mayonnaise. For the same fat exchange, you could choose 1 tablespoon of reduced fat margarine or mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon salad dressing, 1 tablespoon cream cheese, 8 large black olives, or 1 slice of bacon.

Even if you are only counting carbs, it still makes sense to familiarize yourself with the serving size of different foods that make up 1 exchange so you'll know how much to eat to get 15 grams of carbohydrates. Once you've done it for a while, you'll find you no longer need your list-when you look at a baked potato or a serving of cooked rice, you'll know just how many exchanges that will use. You'll find an earlier article in 'cooking tips' on estimating portion sizes to be helpful. If you didn't read and print it, now would be a good time to do so.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Start Your Healthy Eating

Before you can really get started on your healthy eating you first have to evaluate what you eat now. You need to educate yourself about the different types of food and their benefits. Healthy eating requires a balance of different food groups. Eating three healthy, moderate meals per day which cover a variety of different food types is what you need to aim for.

Be aware not to eat too much or too little. Everyone needs to feed the brain and body on a regular basis with enough food to keep strong and healthy. As you practice being a healthy eater you will become more aware of what you eat and how it affects you.

Although eating is a basic requirement for life, learning to be a healthy eater requires a level of discipline to achieve success. What you eat will affect every area of your life. Make sure to eat sufficient foods of different types and not to restrict yourself too much as this will have a detrimental effect on your health. Crash diets, or any plan that focuses too much on one particular food group are definitely not the way to eat healthily.

Healthy eating is a lifestyle choice that can only improve your life and this will also be of benefit to the other members of your family. Like most things, getting started is always the hardest part but you will soon see and feel the benefits as you practice and learn. Life and food are for two things to be enjoyed.

For a more detailed plan on healthy eating

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