0 grams fiber
TOTAL
860 calories
15 grams fat
12 grams fiber
15 grams bad fat = 3 pats butter
or
8 grams good fat = 1 ½ teaspoons oil
1 ½ cups vegetable wonton soup
80 calories
1 gram fat
4 grams fiber
6 ounces assorted seafood, 2 cups Chinese vegetables in ginger sauce
290 calories
7 grams fat
10 grams fiber
½ cup brown rice
110 calories
0 grams fat
2 grams fiber
TOTAL
480 calories
8 grams fat
16 grams fiber
BARBECUE
Summertime means barbecue to many, but how will you do it this summer? Here’s a meager barbecue on the left: a single sausage, a single burger and a single piece of buttered garlic bread—and just look at the tally of calories and fat! Contrast it with this groaning board of barbecued items—veggie sausage and burger; shrimp and peppers grilled on a skewer; corn, mushrooms and onion. Not to mention a healthy slice of watermelon for dessert. All of it comes in at way less than half the calories of that meager choice on the left, with one tenth the fat, and it has the added plus of fiber to help you keep the weight off and fight diabetes. In fact, with every bite, you’re eating the Pyramid way and gaining health.
1 sausage, 3 ½ ounces
350 calories
30 grams fat
0 grams fiber
1 burger, 3 ½ ounces
290 calories
21 grams fat
0 grams fiber
3 ounces garlic bread
240 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
1-ounce butter
220 calories
24 grams fat
0 grams fiber
Garlic
0 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
TOTAL
1,100 calories
75 grams fat
0 grams fiber
75 grams bad fat = 15 pats butter
vs.
1 veggie sausage, 3 ½ ounces
150 calories
5 grams fat
2 grams fiber
1 veggie burger, 2 ½ ounces
70 calories
½ gram fat
4 grams fiber
4 large shrimp and ½ pepper
40 calories
½ gram fat
1 gram fiber
1 ear corn
120 calories
0 grams fat
2 grams fiber
2 portobello mushrooms
30 calories
0 grams fat
2 ½ grams fiber
2 slices red onion
30 calories
0 grams fat
1 ½ grams fiber
1 slice watermelon (1 pound)
50 calories
0 grams fat
1 gram fiber
TOTAL
490 calories
6 grams fat
14 grams fiber
6 grams good fat = 1 ½ teaspoons oil
LESS PASTA, JUST AS MUCH TASTE
You love pasta, but as this bowl of pasta in cream sauce on the left seems to confirm, you’re sure your waistline and your health would be better off if you stopped eating it. You don’t have to. Here’s a way of getting your hit of pasta taste by eating just half the amount of pasta but the same amount of food. And check out the savings in calories in fat—plus the added fiber this choice provides.
Pasta with cream sauce
4 ounces pasta
420 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
1 cup cream sauce
(e.g., Alfredo, vodka)
590 calories
54 grams fat
0 grams fiber
TOTAL
1,010 calories
54 grams fat
0 grams fiber
54 grams bad fat = 11 pats butter
vs.
Pasta e fagiole
2 ounces pasta
210 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
1 cup broth
20 calories
1 gram fat
0 grams fiber
1 cup beans
230 calories
0 grams fat
15 grams fiber
TOTAL
460 calories
1 gram fat
15 grams fiber
1 gram good fat = 0 teaspoons oil
LESS PASTA, EVEN MORE TASTE
Don’t want to give up the taste of pasta in meat sauce? We don’t blame you—and here’s a way to enjoy not just that taste but a whole Pyramid of tastes. In addition to the pasta-in-meat-sauce taste that you love, you’ll also get delicious zucchini in tomato sauce, a superb soup of white beans and spinach, and the meaty taste of marinated mushrooms on greens. Even with all that food, your tally is fewer calories and half the fat of the pasta in meat sauce alone, plus 17 grams of fiber for nutrition.
Pasta with meat sauce
12 grams bad fat = 2 ½ pats butter
4 ounces pasta
420 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
1 cup meat sauce
280 calories
12 grams fat
1 gram fiber
TOTAL
700 calories
12 grams fat
1 gram fiber
vs.
6 grams good fat = 1 teaspoon oil
2 ounces pasta
210 calories
0 grams fat
0 grams fiber
½ cup veggie sauce
70 calories
2 grams fat
2 grams fiber
1 cup zucchini in tomato sauce
50 calories
1 gram fat
3 grams fiber
1 ½ cups white bean and spinach soup
180 calories
2 grams fat
10 grams fiber
1 cup marinated mushrooms on greens
20 calories
1 gram fat
2 grams fiber
TOTAL
530 calories
6 grams fat
17 grams fiber
HOW MANY SKEWERS?
How many skewers of kebabs can you eat? One? Two? More? This single skewer of lamb kebab costs as many calories—and has four times as much fat!—as all four of these scallop-and-mushroom kebabs. Eat one, two, three or more of these tasty and healthful skewers and fight diabetes in the bargain.
Lamb kabob (8 oz.)
560 calories
32 grams fat
32 grams bad fat = 6 ½ pats butter
=
4 scallop-and-mushroom kabobs (each with 4 oz. scallops, 4 oz. mushrooms and teriyaki sauce)
560 calories, 4 grams fat
4 grams good fat = 1 teaspoon oil
GOOD FOR YOU
The raspberry tart looks small and insignificant, and it has fruit, so it must be good for you, right? Well, take a look at the amount of calories, fat and sugar it contains. There’s a better way to enjoy the sweetness of raspberries, as shown in this generous serving—and you add the benefits of phytonutrients as well.
15 grams bad fat = 3 pats butter
7 teaspoons sugar
Raspberry tart
320 calories, 15 grams fat
vs.
1 ½ cups red and black raspberries with a small amount of whipped topping
80 calories
9 grams fiber
DESSERT CHOICES
It isn’t just the high calorie count and fat content of the rugelach that make them a tough choice if you’re trying to lose weight and fight diabetes. It’s also the added sugar! Neither the dried fruit nor the fresh fruit has any added sugar,
nor any fat, of course. So if your choice is a platter of pastry or the generous serving of dried fruit shown here, go for the dried fruit. Or fix yourself a mountain of fresh fruit to save even more calories.
4 rugelach
480 calories, 24 grams fat
24 grams bad fat = 5 pats butter
8 teaspoons sugar
vs.
5 dried apricots
100 calories
3 prunes
70 calories
2 dried pear halves
60 calories
TOTAL
230 calories
0 added sugar
0 pats butter
or
½ pound grapes
110 calories
1 small pear
40 calories
TOTAL
150 calories
0 added sugar
0 pats butter
SUGAR ADDED
Not all dried fruit products are equal. In some cases, the manufacturers add sugar, as in this cup of mixed berries, pineapple and papaya. Be sure to check the package to see if you might be taking in more sugar than needed. You’ll see the calorie difference between the sweetened dried fruit and the unsweetened as well.
5 teaspoons added sugar
1 cup sweetened, mixed dried fruit
(berries, pineapple and papaya)
360 calories
vs.
3 dried peach halves
60 calories
5 black mission figs
100 calories
3 dried apricot halves
30 calories
TOTAL
190 calories
0 added sugar
CHOCOLATE BIG OR SMALL
How will you take your chocolate? In small bits that cost you big-time in calories and fat? Or in large mouthfuls that minimize the calories, have no fat at all and actually add the benefits of phytonutrients?
Chef Franklin suggests you try making your own chocolate dip for fruit by melting no-sugar-added chocolate bars.
2 truffles, ½ ounce each
140 calories
9 grams fat
3 pieces chocolate-covered creams, nougats, etc. (1½ ounces total)
195 calories
10 grams fat
335 calories
19 grams fat
vs.
5 large chocolate-covered strawberries
150 calories, 2 grams fat
LONG-LASTING SWEETNESS
It’s true: all candies have pretty much the same amount of sugar per ounce, and this Tootsie Pop is pure sugar. But it is only 60 calories of sugar, equivalent to the amount of sugar in half an apple. What’s more, while we tend to consume these mini chocolate chips almost mindlessly—by the handful, barely savoring the taste while taking in lots of calories and fat—a Tootsie Pop is a treat we can enjoy for a while. And once it’s done, we don’t need to reach for another and another and another…
1 ½ ounces mini chocolate chips
200 calories, 12 grams fat
vs.
Chocolate Tootsie Roll Pop
60 calories, 1 gram fat
ICE CREAM BY THE NUMBERS
How much do you love the taste of ice cream? And how much ice cream do you want? The numbers here tell the story: this single scoop will cost you dearly in calories, fat and sugar. Or you could have seventeen of these no-sugar-added fudge pops and frozen fruit bars.
1 scoop (½ cup) rich ice cream
380 calories, 26 grams fat 25 grams sugar
=
17 no-added-sugar fudge pops and frozen fruit bars
380 calories
SABOTEURS
Saboteur foods come in many forms and are found everywhere. Where weight loss and diabetes prevention are issues, it’s important to look beyond the packaging.
WHAT’S IN A MUFFIN?
This Fiber One muffin contains just about everything the health-conscious muffin lover looks for. Just read the package: Whole grains! Wild blueberries and oats! A whopping 28 percent of the Daily Value of fiber! All at one-fourth fewer calories than the leading muffin! So what could possibly be bad about making this muffin the core of your breakfast or an afternoon snack?
4 teaspoons sugar
How about the 16 grams of sugar in every single muffin? That’s 4 teaspoons of sugar—just what you want to avoid if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight and fight diabetes. Especially if you eat two or three.
SUGAR-FREE?
“Sugar-free” is the way these oatmeal cookies are described, and sugar-free is what they are. Okay, but each serving—and a serving is just three cookies—contains 14 grams of starch from flour. And since starch is metabolically equivalent to sugar, there’s no difference where your waistline and your health are concerned. That’s why you’re seeing 4 teaspoons of starch.
What’s more, the fat contained in sugar-free cookies is very often the saturated fat that can seriously undermine your attempts to maintain a healthy weight and fight diabetes. This serving, for example, contains 7 grams of fat. That’s why sugar-free cookies tend to be saboteur foods: because they’re free of sugar, we allow ourselves to eat more of them—and end up taking in starch and fat!
WATCH OUT FOR LOW-FAT PRODUCTS!
Weight Watchers is as reputable a program as there is, and its products are equally reputable. But as this demonstration makes clear, even with Weight Watchers, you can sometimes rationalize the situation and sabotage your own weight-loss effort.
This Weight Watchers Giant Fudge Bar rates only a single point on the Weight Watchers program, so it sounds like a food that’s appropriate for anyone interested in weight loss—until you note that it contains 16 grams of sugar, represented here by the 4 brimming teaspoons of sugar on the plate.
Here’s a better idea: when you crave a lush dessert, go for the many choices available on the Beat Diabetes Pyramid. They have no sugar at all. That makes them not just low-fat but downright good for your waistline, good for the fight against diabetes and still good-tasting.
4 teaspoons sugar
CHAPTER 10
Recipes for Beating Diabetes
Here are recipes from Chef Franklin Becker and some of his celebrated colleagues—executive chefs from major restaurants around the country. Of course, all the recipes constitute eating the Beat Diabetes Pyramid way.
FRANKLIN BECKER RECIPES
THREE-BEAN SALAD WITH GINGER-LEMON VINAIGRETTE
The flavors of spring abound in this light, colorful salad. While it makes a fine first course on its own, you can also serve it as a side dish with a number of fish entrées.
1 cup snow pea pods
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 cup haricots verts
½ cup red cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup snow pea shoots
¼ cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (1 to 2 lemons)
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Kosher salt
Freshly milled white pepper
1. Blanch the snow pea pods, sugar snap peas and haricots verts separately in boiling salted water until only slightly crunchy, 2 to 3 minutes; immediately shock each batch in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and maintain their bright green color.
2. Remove the beans from the water when cooled, and dry them off with paper towels or a clean dish towel. Toss the beans together with the tomatoes and set aside.
3. Gently combine the pea shoots and basil together in a separate bowl, and refrigerate until they are ready to use to prevent them from wilting.
4. For the dressing, whisk together the ginger, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil and honey, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Dress the beans lightly with the vinaigrette, and the basil and shoots e
ven more lightly to maintain their texture and avoid the addition of excess fat (from the oil) in your diet. Combine together after dressing.
NOTE: The slightly sweet Champagne vinegar is a favorite of many chefs, but white wine vinegar is easier to find and will work just as well for this recipe.
VARIATION: Whenever possible, I recommend using locally grown vegetables for maximum flavor and freshness. So if any of the ingredients called for in this recipe are not in season, feel free to substitute something that is; for example, you can replace the snow pea shoots with a handful of mesclun greens.
Yield: 8 servings
CUCUMBER-MANGO SALAD
8 beefsteak tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
Freshly milled white pepper
2 English cucumbers, medium dice
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 red onion, small dice
1 mango, peeled, medium dice
½ cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
To turn this salad appetizer into a larger meal, serve it with seafood, such as grilled shrimp, soft-shell crabs or raw oysters.
1. Cut the beefsteak tomatoes in half across, and place them in a microwave-safe casserole dish. Microwave the tomatoes on high for 4 minutes.