Caring For Yourself >> Email Newsletters >> September 2008 >> How to tell if a recipe is healthy

How to tell if a recipe is healthy

It looks healthy, it reads healthy but is it really? Dietitian, and author of the cookbook NOSH, gives you an expert's tips on how to read a recipe and be sure it really is healthy.

How to tell whether a recipe is healthy and suitable for someone with diabetes?

The majority of recipes, in most recipe books and magazines, are not nutritionally balanced. Even recipes that are promoted as being healthy are not always so. Recently I analysed a recipe for a cake, which was in a healthy recipe book. Each slice had nearly the sugar content of a can of coke and the fat content of a moro bar! Just because the recipe had carrots, used oil and lite cream cheese, instead of other high saturated fat ingredients, made it a little bit healthier - but certainly not healthy!

For a recipe to be healthy it has to be balanced - not just low in fat or sugar or contain one nutritious ingredient. Healthy recipes start with using a range of ingredients (predominantly low in fat, sugar and salt and high in fibre and nutritional value) in the right amounts, have healthy cooking methods and recommend healthy portion sizes. Here is a quick checklist to help you decide whether a recipe is nutritionally balanced.

Author

Who has developed the recipe and what expertise do they have in nutrition?
Look for recipes that Registered Dietitians/Nutritionists have been involved in the development of. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist or a nutrition consultant without having any nutrition qualifications! Being registered means that the individual has to have a certain level of training and keep themselves up-to-date. Dietitians are specifically trained to apply nutrition principles to health disorders such as diabetes, heart disease etc - nutritionists aren't.

Fat - does the recipe

Use no or only small amounts of oil or margarine instead of butter (see last e-newsletter for recommended quantities)?
Use low fat dairy foods (trim milk, low fat yoghurt, buttermilk) rather than full fat dairy varieties (standard milk, cream, full fat yoghurt) or reduced varieties (lite sour cream, lite cream cheese, lite cream) in small amounts only?
Avoid large amounts of cheese - a recipe for 4 people ideally should not have more than ½ cup of edam cheese or 1/3 cup of mild, Colby, tasty or parmesan cheese?
Limit the use of egg yolks (1 per person for quiches and no more than 2 for baked products). Egg whites don't need to be limited as they are low in fat.
Use lean meats or recommend that the fat is trimmed or the skin removed from chicken? Do main meal meat dishes only recommend 120 - 150 grams or less, of meat per adult?
Limit the amount of other foods containing a high amount of saturated fat such as coconut (dessicated, cream/milk) and chocolate?

Sugar - does the recipe

Include sugar (white, brown, raw, honey, syrups), only in small amounts. As a general guide, up to ½ cup per 2 cups of dry ingredients, is acceptable for most people with diabetes, providing the dry ingredients contain some form of fibre?
Include only small amounts of concentrated forms of fruit such as dried fruit & fruit juices?

Salt - does the recipe

Not add salt when salty ingredients (stocks, soy sauce, tinned foods, olives, dried soup etc) are included in the recipe?
Encourage you to season to taste in preference to adding a specified amount of salt?

Fibre - does the recipe

Include a good portion of vegetables or fruit per recipe or recommend that they are served alongside the recipe?
Recommend that the skins are left on the vegetables and fruit where possible?
Include some wholemeal flour, wheat or oatbran, rolled oats etc in place of white flour?

Glycaemic Index (GI) - does the recipe

Include some low GI foods. Some recipes have a GI rating for each recipe - choose recipes with low GI ratings most of the time?

Nutritional Analysis - does the recipe

Have a nutritional analysis? Any recipe that claims to be healthy or suitable for Diabetes should provide a nutritional analysis for each recipe to back up the claim.
If a recipe has a nutritional analysis it doesn't necessarily mean that it is healthy!

Portion Size - does matter!

Be aware that some recipes make the portion sizes small so that the nutritional analysis looks better per serving.
Some recipes have too much carbohydrate in them per serve. This is often the case with pasta and rice dishes and baked products. One way around this is to reduce the portion size for example make smaller sized muffins instead of large ones.

Cooking Methods - does the recipe

Use low fat cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, microwaving, baking, stewing, stir frying, dry frying etc?

Quick Checklist

Is oil or margarine used instead of butter? Are these used in small quantities only?
Are low fat dairy foods used in place of full fat varieties?
Are reduced fat dairy foods (edam cheese, light sour cream/cream cheese/cream) used in small amounts only?
Is the amount of other foods that contain a high amount of saturated fat, such as egg yolks, coconut (dessicated, cream/milk) and chocolate, limited?
Are lean varieties of meat used or a recommendation for the fat to be removed?
Is sugar (white, brown, raw, honey, syrups etc) only used in small amounts?
Are some of the ingredients high in fibre? Has some of the white flour been replaced with a higher fibre alternative?
Does the recipe contain a good portion of vegetables or fruit?
If the recipe contains salty ingredients does it limit the addition of extra salt?
Do some of the main ingredients have a low glycaemic index?
Is the amount of carbohydrate per serving adequate or is it too little or too much?
Are low fat cooking methods used?
Has a qualified and registered nutrition expert been involved in the development of the recipes?

The quantities specified in this article are very general and will depend on what other ingredients are in a recipe. They provide a guide only. For individualised information talk to your Dietitian.

Julie Leeper, Dietitian & author of the NOSH recipe book

Eat healthy and delicious with NOSH
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NOSH is a delicious cookbook for people with diabetes as well as the rest of the family. It's your guide to eating delicious (tasting and looking), and responsible (good for health and wellbeing) food that is made simple, with easy methods and readily available ingredients. NOSH is not another fad diet. There are no food groups to avoid, no single foods to overdose on and no strange foods to eat. NOSH is simply healthy eating.

The recipes include longed-for treats like chocolate cake, as well as tasty pasta dishes, pies, pizzas, and a whole section on Christmas. Most recipes are low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, salt (sodium), lower in calories (kilojoules) and high in fibre. And every recipe comes with a nutritional analysis and a GI (Glycaemic Index) value.

And in case you're wondering if it's too good to be true, relax. It's recommended by Jim Mann, Professor of Human Nutrition & Medicine, Otago University; and Teresa Cleary, NZ Registered Dietitian, Diabetes Auckland.

Better still, author and registered dietitian, Julie Leeper is offering a special price to our readers plus the chance to win a $100 grocery voucher. Julie will send you the book for just $29.95, and put you in our exclusive reader's prize draw to win the $100 grocery voucher.

To order your copy of NOSH just quote this special code: DIABETES and:
Email Julie - Julie@nosh.net.nz
Phone 0800 NZ NOSH (0800 69 6674)

Go to special offers at www.nosh.net.nz
OFFER ENDS 30th September 2008