DIABETIC APPLE CHEESECAKE

Instructions
38% calorie reduction from traditional recipe

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons Equal® Spoonful*

Cheesecake
2 packages (8 ounces each) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup Equal® Spoonful**
1 2/3 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup reduced fat sour cream

*May substitute 3 packets Equal sweetener

**May substitute 24 packets Equal sweetener

For crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and Equal®. Press onto bottom and 1-inch up side of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack while preparing cheesecake.

For cheesecake, beat cream cheese and Equal in mixing bowl on medium speed of mixer until smooth and well combined. Mix in applesauce, eggs, egg whites and lemon juice until blended. Blend in cornstarch, cinnamon, apple pie spice and vanilla until combined. Fold in sour cream, just until combined.

Pour cheesecake mixture over baked crust. Bake in preheated oven 60 to 65 minutes or until center of cake is just set. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

To serve, carefully run sharp knife around edge of cheesecake. Carefully remove side of pan. Cut into wedges and serve.

Makes 16 servings

Nutrition information per serving: 171 cal., 5 g pro., 13 g carb., 11 g fat, 56 mg chol., 154 mg sodium

Food exchanges: 1 milk, 2 fat

Diabetes mellitus is a disease affecting 20 million Americans at present and the incidence of adult onset diabetes continues to rise. Simply stated, diabetes is the inability of the body to either make or use insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the body to assist in the breakdown of sugars in the food to become fuel for the body. Before food can be utilized, it must be broken down by the hormones produced in the pancreas and liver into sugars. When the body doesn’t accomplish its assigned task of producing or utilizing insulin, the blood stream and the urine become full of the sugar molecules called glucose.

The cells cannot use the glucose in this form, so they are starved for fuel and in the meantime the blood is thickened by the glucose. The blood sugar counts may be either too high or not high enough. Although diabetes may creep up on a person gradually, there are some early signs of diabetes which will help you begin an active containment program of the disease. Although diabetes is not curable at present, the disease can be monitored and controlled by the patient who takes an active role the treatment.

The most common of the early symptoms of diabetes is excessive thirst. Because the glucose in the blood captures the moisture in the cells, the body interprets the condition as dehydration and sends the third signal to the brain. You’ll also find early symptoms of diabetes reflected in the frequent urination. Because the person with diabetes is drinking more, and the cells are not absorbing the water because the glucose is moving it through the blood stream to the kidneys and bladder, frequent urination is common.

Fatigue is another of the common early symptoms of diabetes. Because the cells of the muscles are not getting the fuel they need on which to run, the brain interprets the condition as fatigue. In addition to fatigue caused by lack of the energy sources the body needs, the thirst and frequent urination during the night means that the sleep which is received is not the deep and restful sleep required for healthy bodies.

Flu-like symptoms such as headaches, muscle aches and pains are all part of the symptoms of diabetes. The dehydrated cells throughout the body are demanding nourishment, the blood is sluggish with unmetabolized glucose, and the brain, liver and pancreas are not being healed. Is it any wonder the brain recognizes the sensations as being the same as the flu? Headaches and muscles aches and pains cause the sleep patterns to be even more disrupted, and it’s a vicious circle.

Frightening vision problems are part of the onset of diabetes. The dehydrated condition of cells in the eye can mean heavy blurring of vision. Worsening early symptoms of diabetes means a potential for blindness. During the course of diabetes, the body may form new blood cells over the retina. This will cause permanent loss of the eyesight.

Diabetic Diets And Wine: The Mediterranean Diet And Diabetes considered health diets.
By: Thomas H. Lindblom
The Mediterranean wine is considered very essential in meals and health. Actually, a new research is showing that there may be some truth to this hopeful claim. An important study of over 40,000 people showed that compared to more modern western diets, a traditional Mediterranean Diet which included 1-2 glasses of wine a day reduced the danger of death by heart disease by 30%.

Unfortunately, for people with diabetes a simple glass of wine or beer doesn’t appear in most diabetic diets. It is truth that the sugars in many alcoholic beverages can either elevate or lower blood glucose to dangerous levels. But, recent studies show that dry wines can greatly enhance diabetic diets by getting better insulin resistance, help regular blood glucose and reduce the risk of heart attacks and heart disease in a high percentage and a lot of advices are shown in many diets online.

Blood sugar and wine

People with diabetes are agreed that the elevated levels of blood sugar is dangerous for them so diabetic diets are geared towards managing blood glucose levels. Actual studies have shown that drinking a reasonable amount of wine daily (1-2 glasses) can lower blood glucose. It is also supposed that alcohol metabolize without insulin and can lower peak levels of insulin. In a different study, women improved the insulin resistance just for addeding moderate consumption of wine to her diets. We all know that high peak levels of insulin are dangerous to people with diabetes since they can lift blood fat and cholesterol increasing the risk of heart attacks and heart illness. In additon, if you take a medical recommendation that can add health diets to your regular meals, we consider you as one of the diabetic person that has all controlled.

Wine and cholesterol

One of the greatest benefits of wine is its capacity to decrease the risks of heart disease, heart attacks and other heart-health issues because it increase levels of “good” HDL-cholesterol in the body.In addition, the flavonoids found in red wine help lower levels of “bad” LDL-cholesterol which are responsible for fatty buildup in the arteries. That is the beneficial part that wine have for people with diabetes and if they complement it with health diets, they can consider themselves as winners. It is also good to take some advices that diets online can give, but please ask for the advice of a doctor. As a complement we can say that a new study confirm that drinking 1-2 glasses of wine a day reduced the danger of coronary heart disease by 60% for people with diabetes compared to a drop of only 40% for people without diabetes.

Wine and diabetic diets

It only takes adding 1-2 glasses a day to most diabetic diets to grow the health benefits of alcohol outlined above. Of course, even if you have or not diabetes, it’s significant not to overdo it as consuming too much alcohol can bring you other health problems. Diabetes is a grave condition which should always be managed under the care of a medical professional so it is good to ask him for a nutritional program too. But we recommend to ask your doctor about the heart-healthy benefits of wine and other foods in the Mediterranean Diet when exploring the various diabetic diets available to you in may medias as the diets online in internet.
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All members and visitors to The Diabetic Weekend Chef are welcome to download The Weekend Chef’s 500 Diabetic Recipe Cookbook. This pdf is free of charge.

You may also want to sign up for our free membership. Each month we publish a newsletter with articles and recipes for each of our sites. Paid Membership includes access to our recipe database with over 300,000 recipes. A quick check showed that there are over 800 recipes for the diabetic chefs out there.

The Weekend Chef Diabetic Recipe Cookbook

Since antiquity, herbs have been used to treat diabetes symptoms and root causes. Particularly in Chinese medicine where such common plants as dandelion and licorice root as well as ginseng has been used for centuries. Herbs for diabetes, when used under the care of a naturopathic practitioner can quite possibly cure Type I Diabetes and hold off the onset of Type 2 Diabetes. Other herbs for diabetes are efficacious in treating symptoms rather than root causes.

Generally, any herb that strengthens the pancreas or liver will be helpful for diabetes treatment. Herbs for diabetes include Pterocarpus Marsupium, Gymnema Silvestre, Momordica Charantia, Allium Cepa, Allium Sativum, Trigonella Foenum-Graecum, Vaccinium Myrtuillus, Asian Ginseng, Bilberry, Stevia, Ginkgo Biloba, cinnamon and barberry.

Pterocarpus Marsupium is also known as Dragon’s Blood, Kino, Pitasara and Venga. The gum resin of this Indian tree has the look of dried blood, hence the name. An alcohol extract of the resin and the flavonoid epicatechin extracted from the bark of the tree both have been shown to prevent pancreatic alpha cell damage in rats and to actually regenerate beta cells. These pancreatic cells directly or indirectly control metabolic processes to balance glucose in the blood stream.

Gymnema Silvestre reduces the desire for sweets. It helps in the production of insulin in Diabetes Type 2 and reduces the blood sugar levels for both types 1 and 2. 500 mg per day of Gymnema extract is a substitute for oral medications to lower blood sugar for both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Momordica Charantia or bitter melon is also known as balsam pear. It is widely cultivated in Africa, Asia and South America as a vegetable and as a diabetes treatment. Several compounds in bitter melon are confirmed as effective in treatment of diabetes. Charantin is a hypoglycaemic agent; Momordica contains a polypeptide which is confirmed by clinical trials to reduce blood sugar when injected subcutaneously.

Allium Cepa and Allium Sativum are respectively onion and garlic. Both foods are helpful in diabetic treatment plus have the added benefits of being beneficial in treating cardiovascular problems. Both substances lower blood sugar levels.

Trigonella Foenum-Graecum is also known as Fenugreek. Fenugreek contains an anti-diabetic compound via the defatted portion of the seed.

Vaccinium Myrtuillus is commonly called blueberry. A concoction of the leaves of the blueberry plant injected is only slightly less effective but less toxic than insulin. Its beneficial effects can last several weeks. The active ingredient is myrtillin, used to improve the functioning of the vascular system and effective in preventing diabetic retinopathy—an eye disorder associated with diabetes.

Each of the other herbs for diabetes mentioned above is helpful in treating particular symptoms of the disease. Particular mention should be made of barberry—one of the best liver tonics available and cinnamon which make insulin three times as effective as without the use of cinnamon.

Continuing research into the use of herbs for diabetes may well result in a cure for the disorder. In the meantime these herbs for diabetes have been shown to be helpful in treating the disease or its symptoms.

By: Darrell Miller-1603
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when the beta cells of the pancreas are unable to produce an adequate amount of insulin to prevent hyperglycemia. Type 1 diabetes is usually caused by autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. There is no known preventative measure that can be used against type 1 diabetes, as most people affected are otherwise healthy when onset occurs. Diet and exercise cannot reverse or prevent this type of diabetes. While this type of diabetes can affect both children and adults, it has a nickname of “juvenile diabetes” because the majority of its cases are found in children. Type 2 is a tissue-wide insulin resistance that occurs due to a combination of defective insulin secretion and insulin resistance. It is usually first treated by attempts to change physical activity, diet, and weight loss. These measures can restore insulin sensitivity, allowing type 2 diabetics to regain satisfactory glucose control for years. Both type 1 and 2 are incurable chronic conditions. However, they have been treatable ever since insulin became medically available and are usually managed today with a combination of dietary treatment, tablets, and insulin supplementation. Diabetes causes many complications in its victims. Acute complications may occur if the disease is not looked over and controlled sufficiently enough. Serious long-term complications including cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage, nerve damage, and micro vascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction and poor healing, are often a result of inadequate treatment of this disease. However, adequate treatment of diabetes, along with an increased watch on blood pressure control and lifestyle factors, may improve the risk profile of the above mentioned complications.

Many diabetics have trouble controlling their blood sugar. Even those who exercise regularly are still confused about what and how much they should be eating. The longer you deal with diabetes, the easier it will become for you to manage the disease. Although regulating your blood sugar can be complicated, it is not impossible. There are many variables that affect blood sugar, including mood, stress, infection, illness, and sleep disturbances. Because blood sugar regulation isn’t an exact science, you should meet with your doctor or dietician regularly to plan a diet customized especially for you. Be sure to ask them questions, let them know your habits, and check in with your doctor to let him or her know your progress along with any problems you may be encountering. It is a good idea to keep a food journal in which you document the kinds of foods you eat along with the serving sizes and your after-meal blood sugar levels plus any other helpful information your doctor may need. Make sure to be specific because the more information you give your doctor and the better they will be at helping you. Visiting with an herbalist or alternative care doctor could be a good idea too. They will be able to tell you with vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, and alternative treatments that may help alleviate your symptoms. There are numerous cookbooks that give guidelines on serving sizes for diabetics. There are also a lot of new computer programs that help diabetics plan their diets and calculate the amount of food to eat. If you are able to access the internet, there are also many sites online which can help diabetics including diabetes.org, diabetes.com, diabetes-net.com, diabetic-lifestyle.com, diabeticdiet.net, and diabeticgourmet.com.

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