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Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category

Diabetes awareness is improving!

The supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, publish a magazine and they recently ran a four-page spread on diabetes…

…which included an interview with me.

It’s a subscription magazine and unavailable free on-line; but we’ve cheated and photographed the interview!

If you click on it, you can test your juggling skill to read it!

AND

A UK diabetes charity* with a monthly newsletter asked me to contribute a piece for the September issue: Diabetes Wellness News Sept 12 0.5

(Scroll down to find my piece on pages 5, 6 and 8.)

*Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation

Awareness is all.

The figures are staggering:

There are an estimated 80 million undiagnosed cases of Type 2 Diabetes in the USA and

800, 000 in the UK.

I had no symptoms–but a simple blood test revealed the truth.

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Aubergines/eggplants–are piled high on the market stalls at the moment and I’m ever on the lookout for new ways to cook them.

Beautiful shiny black, purple and even white torpedoes, these enigmatic vegetables have always felt a bit daunting to me–where does one start!

Well yesterday I started with Nigel Slater’s heavy tome Tender (weighs in at 4 lbs).

He’s an English cookery writer with an air of the solitary about him and a touch of genius, who wrote  about his childhood in a book called Toast.

Tender is the story of his urban London vegetable garden:

As the church bells chimed New Year’s Eve and fireworks lit up the night sky, I vowed to dig up my lawn and grow at least some of my own vegetables.

So far I’ve not dug deeply into it. Time to look again.

The section on aubergines is extensive–and this simple recipe leapt out at me.

We had these last night as a light supper with green beans (their ubiquity is beginning to cause comment!).

for two

1 large aubergine/eggplant–sliced carefully into rounds about a 1.5 cm/.75″ thick

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves of garlic–thinly sliced

1lb/450gms tomatoes–cut up with their juice

1 dried red chili–chopped roughly

salt and pepper

more olive oil as you need it

4 tablespoons grated parmesan

  • salt the aubergines and leave them to drain for an hour or so.

set the oven at 220C/425F

  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and soften the garlic–about 30 seconds.
  • Put in the tomatoes and the chili, season and cook over a medium high heat until you have a sauce–stirring often.
  • Line a shallow oven tray with foil and brush it lightly with oil.
  • Brush the aubergine rounds with olive oil.
  • Arrange them on the tray and bake in the upper part of the oven until soft (undercooked aubs are un-eatable!)-15-20 minutes–turning them over after 10 minutes.
  • Pile some sauce on each round–be generous–and top with some parmesan.
  • Put the tray back in the oven for 15 minutes.
  • the rounds should come out–as Nigel puts itsizzling!

This is how much we liked them..!

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As I came out of the new organic supermarket this morning, the dry heat hit me–transporting me directly to California.

That would be nice.

Enter the shop in France and exit six thousand miles away and close to the ocean–all stocked up!

Dream on–though they did put a robot on Mars this week–not in my lifetime.

Good weather for a stressful day–a double clinic visit and the results of a blood test.

On second thoughts, maybe California and the land of perpetual sun is not such a good idea….

My first clinic visit is to a skin surgeon for him to look at a small cancer on the left side of my nose.

Stop PressPoldark’s scar becomes a reality!

Pas de soucis–the dermatologist assured me, providing a referral to Docteur Mylonas, the plastic surgeon–nothing to worry about!

He confirmed what she’d told me–that the culprit was the sun.

I had spent all my sun capital!, she’d said, charmingly.

Docteur Mylonas picked a date at the end of August for the small operation.

Just after lunch on the 28th suit you?

It’s this easy? Seems so. 

That’ll be forty euros for today, says the receptionist, all reimbursable barring 2 euros.

Quel système!

The blood sample was taken–here in the kitchen–at 8 am Tuesday by our friend, Sylvie, one of the local team of nurses.

Just the quarterly A1C  (measuring the glucose levels in my blood).

Sometimes the result comes in the post from the lab the next day.

Nothing yesterday.

I listen anxiously for the postal van’s vibrations on my return from the clinique.

Just before 1pm–a tad early–I hear it and go out to the box.

The envelope is there and the moment of truth–eek!

Worryguts in my head, it’s bound to be bad…

I unfold the paper and…

6.4% is clearly written–0.1% less than 3 months ago. In the range of normal–just!

A silent whoopee is followed by a moment of self-satisfaction as the anxiety recedes.

But there is no room for complacency, Robin, I quickly remind myself.

The 6pm appointment with the cardiologist will round off the day!

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Turmericthe brilliant yellow spice, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties–important weapons in the battle to stay on top of diabetes. (Cuminanother spice in this souphas these beneficial properties too.)

It also has a world class, gold medal ability to stain anything that comes into contact with it–so handle with care–or rather with a spoon is the rule!

It helps give this stunning summer soup–suggested almost as an afterthought in the lovely Riverford Farm Cook Book–its luminous colour.

 

Which apples to use?

I used Fuji last time, which are a favorite apple for me.

Next time I want to try Granny Smith.

You could try a mix too.

for 4

3 large apples–peeled, cored and chopped up

1 medium onion–chopped

25 gms/1 oz butter

1 tsp each turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard powder (I use English mustard powder. Whizzing some seeds in a grinder is another option–or simply leave it out!)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 pint/450ml stock (I use organic vegetable stock cubes)

salt and white pepper

juice of half a lemon

creme fraiche or yoghurt (for garnish)

mint leaves (for garnish)

  • Melt the butter in a pan.
  • Add the onion and sauté gently to soften.
  • Add the apple pieces and the spices and mix in.
  • Add the stock and simmer gently for fifteen minutes.

  • Liquidise to a smooth texture, using a food blender or hand mixer.
  • A ladle and a half per bowl is perfect.
  • Top with a teaspoon of creme fraiche or yoghurt and a leaf of mint for garnish (if you have it).

We asked guests at lunch a couple of days ago to guess what soup they thought it was–it puzzled a few!

Serve it hot in the new apple season to come too!

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A package arrived in the post a couple of days ago.

In it were three sample copies of the new hardback edition of my cook book,  Delicious Dishes for Diabetics!

It’s a year to the day since our launch party in the garden, though the timing is purely coincidental.
(We served gazpacho as the first course--recipe to be posted tomorrow!)
This hardback is no coffee table tome with lavish photos–the kind that are too heavy to be of practical use in the kitchen.
It is a LARGE PRINT edition for people who forget where they’ve put their spectacles!
(My answer to that problem is to have MANY spare pairs–some of which I can find– sometimes….)
This new version (in black & white) is available via  Amazon.com/.

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Our friend Julie put me onto this recipe–which originated from Jocelyn Dimbleby.

slices of peeled sweet potato roasted with the chicken for its last half hour in the oven.

The marinade has the spices turmeric and cumin whose anti-inflammatory and antioxident qualities are a plus for diabetics.

The smell wafts through the kitchen and whets the appetite.

Marinade the bird for a few hours in the fridge and roast it for an hour and a quarter.

for the marinade

Juice of a large lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic–crushed

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 free range/organic chicken (weighing about 1.4k/3lb)

For the sauce

glass of white wine

  • Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
  • Put the chicken in a large bowl and pour/brush/smooth over the marinade.
  • Turn the bird in the marinade.
  • Leave for a few hours–covered–in the fridge.

not pretty but effective!

Heat the oven to 180C/350F

  • Sprinkle some salt over the bird.
  • Place it, breast down, in a large roasting pan.
  • Pour any marinade remaining in the bowl over the chicken.
  • Add a further tablespoon of olive oil.
  • Place in the middle of the oven.
  • Roast for 3/4 of an hour–basting it from time to time with the juices.
  • Turn the bird over for the remaining half hour.
  • Let the chicken rest while you make a sauce from the juices.

  • Tip the pan and spoon out all but a tablespoon of the fat.
  • Add a glass of white wine and stir–dissolving the “bits” into a sauce over a low heat.
  • A garlicky yogurt sauce goes well with it.

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Our friends Irv and Iris from Washington D.C. stayed over the weekend en route to Paris.

Ex-history teacher Iris kindly tore herself away from reading Hilary Mantel’s second installment of the Thomas Cromwell saga long enough to show me that Delicious Dishes for Diabetics is now available as a Kindle download– an ebook–for £4.93 from Amazon.co.uk/.

She’s thinking of downloading it for their time in Paris.
I’m thrilled!
(* ee by gum!– English expression of surprise and amazement!)

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Our friend Deming emailed with a link to an interview on CBS’s This Morning programme with Dr. David Ludwig from Boston’s Children’s Hospital where he discusses a new study on the effects of a low glycemic diet.

To quote from the CBS website:

The study, published on June 27 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, says that low-glycemic diets that compliment a person’s changing metabolism are the best at helping keep the pounds off.

It’s better to view the video before reading the text. Dr Ludvig is clear and concise.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57461950-10391704/low-glycemic-index-diet-may-be-best-at-keeping-off-pounds/

The Glycemic Index a measure, on the scale of 1 to 100, ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels and thus their post-meal impact.

The Glycemic Load–a measure of the impact of the glucose in a single portion of food.


Speaking for myself, the GI and the GL have been good friends as guides to everyday eating. Though I now take a pill a day, I credit them ( and regular exercise) with allowing me to control the condition for six years without medication. 

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The Supreme Court Of America confirms the legality of the Affordable Care Act.

The American Diabetic Association just issued this statement on the Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act.

Why was the law needed?

Under the old health care system, it was legal to deny health insurance to people with diabetes or force them to pay more for insurance coverage simply because they had diabetes.

Even for people who had insurance coverage, their plans sometimes didn’t cover the most basic diabetes needs, leaving them with large expenses in addition to the cost for insurance.

This lack of affordable access to care led many people to forgo the care they needed to prevent, delay or slow the progression of diabetes.

That meant cutting back on – or even going without – the doctor visits, insulin, medicines and test strips necessary to managing diabetes.

As a result, many people ended up suffering needlessly from diabetes complications that might have been prevented had medical care been available to them earlier. 

 I have diabetes. What does the ACA mean for me?

The ACA has many important provisions that impact people with diabetes, including rules about pre‐existing conditions, lifetime limits on benefits, drug costs, and programs aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes. 

In 2014, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage because a person has a pre‐existing condition such as diabetes.

Will I have to pay more for my insurance coverage because of my diabetes?

Once the ACA is fully implemented in 2014, insurers will no longer be allowed to charge higher rates because you have diabetes. 

The statement goes into more detail about the effects the ruling will have in the lives of those adults and children already diagnosed  with diabetes and those who are yet to find out.

http://www.diabetes.org/assets/pdfs/advocacy/health-reform-qa.pdf?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Post&utm_content=062812-SCOTUS-decision&utm_campaign=AHEALTH

There are 80 million undiagnosed diabetics in the USA and 26 million who have diagnosed.

This is an historic day for them.

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Marie A Bright wrote plaintively on Facebook yesterday after the post on Sugar:

What if you have a sweet tooth but don’t want to use sugar? I know artificial sweeteners are no good either but sometimes, you want a bit of sweet. Robin, I know you don’t really have a sweet tooth and you are so lucky but is there anything out there that is natural but not harmful to your health? Thanks.

Without much reflection I suggested a square of 80-90% cacao chocolate, a slice of apple, a dried fig or apricot or a bowl of raspberries. 

It is the season–supposedly! Summer arrives officially in a week, though it’s hard to credit.

I’d bought a small punnet yesterday in a new vegetable & fruit shop in Castres.

They looked good–but not exactly home grown.

But mixed in with some Realmont Market strawberries from a trusted source–they made a colorful addition to my breakfast bowl and lifted the spirits.

Soon after, from somewhere in deep cover in the garden, Meredith announced :

We have raspberries!” Hardly a bowl of them yet, but thanks to the rain and now the sunshine we live in hope.

Beau was on the case too–Watson to Meredith’s Sherlock.

Here’s perhaps more than you need to know about raspberries!

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