Chartwells and Being Diabetic Friendly. When you look around campus do you ever stop to think about the many students and

Transcription

1 Ahnert 1 Laura Ahnert Professor Gilliar ENG-364 Research and Argument Paper Final Version Chartwells and Being Diabetic Friendly When you look around campus do you ever stop to think about the many students and faculty who are diabetic, or are border-line diabetic? There are so many people who could have it and do not even know. Would it not be a great idea to accommodate those people who are diabetic, and by accommodating them, help the health of others as well? There is a predicament in this issue because about half of college students prefer unhealthy foods, such as hamburgers and French fries, while the other half is more prone to like healthy foods, such as salads, fruits, and whole grains. Diabetics have enough to worry about with checking their sugar levels and even taking insulin shots to have the stress of worrying about what they will eat if all that is available is greasy and fried foods. Diabetics are given a system of carbohydrate-choices to follow, the food that is served in the union is fattening and full of carbohydrates, and diabetics like dessert too. Carbohydrate-choices are based on the total amount of carbohydrates in a food. They are used as a special diet that helps to control weight and sugar intake. They are also used to make sure diabetics eat consistent amounts of carbohydrates at each meal. One carbohydratechoice is equal to about fifteen grams of carbohydrates and varying amounts of protein and fat (American Diabetics Associate Online). Carbohydrate-choices must be regulated to help

2 Ahnert 2 control blood glucose levels. One really helpful tool to diabetics is a food label. By looking at the Total Carbohydrate line, a person can tell how many carbohydrate-choices a product is, and therefore can decide whether to buy it or not. A little trick to the Total Carbohydrate number is the amount of fiber that the product contains. If a food has five or more grams of fiber, the total grams of fiber can be subtracted from the Total Carbohydrates and then be converted into carbohydrate-choices (American Diabetics Associate Online). This is a lot to remember, and there is so much more. Each and every food out there has a carbohydrate number, so diabetics are always converting that number into carbohydratechoices to decide if they can eat it or not. Nine carbohydrate-choices are allowed throughout the day, which divides equally into three per meal. It gets somewhat easier as time goes on. They eventually learn that a cup of milk is one choice by itself, add to that a medium apple and they are up to two choices, add a piece of toast with regular cream cheese on it and there are the three allotted carbohydrate-choices for the meal. This may not sound like very much to eat for breakfast, but it really is. Now lunch, start with a taco with lean ground chicken, one choice. This is just the taco with nothing on it. Add to that chips and salsa. The good news is that the salsa is a part of a fantastic group of foods that are free. They do not count towards the carbohydrate-choice count. The chips on the other hand, are not. The diabetic eater would be allowed twelve chips to make another carbohydrate-choice. They then might add some ingredients to their taco, such as lettuce, tomato, black olives, and cheese. The extras make up the last point. If they do not use the extras, they would have another point for dinner. Finally dinner, grilled chicken with no skin, the average piece of chicken would end up being half a carbohydrate-choice. Add to that four spears of steamed asparagus, which is around half a

3 Ahnert 3 carbohydrate-choice. Include a half cup of mashed potatoes to bring the total up to two carbohydrate-choices. Now for dessert, and depending on which option they went with at lunch the diabetic can either have a cup of light ice cream with berries on top, which is two choices and would put them right at nine for the day, or one small cookie measuring around three inches across, which would also put them at nine carbohydrate-choices for the day (eat Right Online). This is very complicated planning and counting. Why should diabetics have to worry about extra carbohydrates if they do not need to? The food that is served in the union is greasy, fattening, and full of carbohydrates. A lot of the foods that are served are cooked in oil or fried and are therefore not as good for the body as they could have been. Frying adds carbohydrates to foods that could have potentially been good for you at one time (National Diabetics Education Program Online). Also, there are always some kinds of potatoes, corn, or peas served at just about every meal. These foods, while seeming good for you are in the top five with the most carbohydrates, only after bread and pasta (Eat Right Online). A diabetic s plate should be half filled with salad or bright vegetables, a quarter filled with a lean meat, and the other quarter filled with starchy foods such as pasta, rice, or bread (Eat Right Onlin). Carbohydrates are rich in sugars and are good for a quick pick-me-up, but diabetics need to have a good supply of bright, fresh, and crisp vegetables and certain fruits to keep their sugar level going at a constant rate (American Diabetics Association Online). Manchester needs to serve more of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only is this a good thing for diabetics, but it is also a good all around food group to serve to anyone. It would be a good idea

4 Ahnert 4 to have a fruit of the day or week. It would be nice to have a different fruit as an option rather than having apples, oranges, and bananas all of the time. Also it would be nice to add more loose vegetables to the salad bar. The broccoli, carrots, and sometimes cucumbers that we have now are good, but why couldn t we have asparagus, celery, cauliflower, or pea pods as well? Diabetics can not always be good though. To make a lifestyle like theirs work, they must cheat just a little, so why not help them by making some of the desserts sugar free or with a sugar substitute so they feel the guilty pleasure of cheating without actually cheating! Diabetics like desserts too! When people think of desserts, they think of sugar, and sugar is a big no-no for diabetics. There are ways that diabetics with a sweet tooth can enjoy a desert every once in a while too. Instead of making so many desserts that they can barely even look at without their sugar level sky rocketing through the ceiling, why not make some desserts with a sugar substitute such as Splenda that they can actually have and enjoy without worrying and feeling sick. There is little to no taste difference between real sugar and a sugar substitute. The sugar substitute makes the average dessert so much better for anyone who eats it, and it can then be eaten with a lighter conscience. Accommodating diabetics in the union is not only good for the diabetics; it is also good for every other person that eats there. If we could get rid of some of the greasy foods that are being served now and replace them with better foods, it would be good for everyone. We need to help the diabetics out in their counting madness as much as we can. I am not saying that we get rid of everything served that is not so good for us, but I think we can live without some of them. Also, it would be a great idea to consider using an artificial sweetener in some of the

5 Ahnert 5 desserts, which would also be better for everyone on campus. We should have a fruit of the week, and get some bright vegetables in as well. These suggestions are small changes, but if implemented they would make a huge impact by slowly changing the way that people eat.

6 Ahnert 6 Citations: o American Diabetics Association. American Diabetics Association, Web. 9, Apr, o National Diabetics Education Program. National Institute of Health, Nov. 25, Web. 9 Apr, o eat Right. American Dietetic Association, Web. 9, Apr, o "Chartwells." Chartwells Dining at Manchester. Manchester College, n.d. Web. 19 Apr <