This is a simple method to teach carbohydrate counting using menus. Follow these simple steps:

• Copy a diner menu (You can use a menu from your favorite restaurant)
• Distribute copies of menu to patients and provide them with a budget (women 45-60g per meal; men 60-75g per meal).
• Instruct patients to select any food item on the menu and stay within their assigned CARB BUDGET
• Using Wite-out, erase prices on the menu and replace them with “CARBOHYDRATE PRICES”
• Use www.calorieking.com or www.nutritiondata.com to obtain nutrition composition of foods
• Refer to PDF file titled, “DINER CARBOHYDRATE TEACHING TOOL” http://www.slideshare.net/lorenamsrd/diner-carbohydrate-teaching-tool
• Provide new menu with carbohydrate prices (amounts) to patients
• Provide patients with a CARBOHYDRATE BUDGET; 45-75 grams for the meal
• Ask them to select foods from the menu while staying within their allowable CARBOHYDRATE BUDGET

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One of my favorites foods, the green plantain is versatile, starchy, potato-like flavored fruit. One of my favorite ways to eat a plantain is in the form of patacones or tostones. This twice-fried side dish is crunchy and delectable. Full of photographs, take a look at this step by step guide to making patacones/tostones. Nutritional information is included as well as my tip to lower-calorie patacones. http://slidesha.re/5kvkbM

Paratha, chapati, puri, or naan? Do you know the difference? Let Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator Karmeen Kulkarni guide you through the different Indian breads. Let Dr. Rose Mo unveil Filipino’s basic cooking principles. This new podcast series highlights MEXICAN, FILIPINO, CHINESE, and INDIAN food and culinary traditions. Expert guests share practical nutrition survival skills to make your next cross-cultural encounter a success. To learn more about which foods are considered “good” and “not good” for diabetes and what some Chinese call “diabetes” visit http://hispanicfoodways.podbean.com/. Happy Listening!

I recently attended a party where a relative asked me for nutritional guidance. Her husband’s doctor informed him that his blood glucose was “borderline” and he needed “to watch what he ate.” I thought about my carbohydrate elevator speech. Yes, the one that all diabetes educators and registered dietitians face at least once in a lifetime. How do you provide guidance to an anguished guest succinctly? Let me share with you my nutrition elevator speech for people with diabetes so you may go back to dancing, sipping Merlot or eating tanned crackers disguising themselves as whole grains. Nutrition Elevator Speech for People with Diabetes – Libreto de Nutrición para Personas con Diabetes