the diabetic who came to dinner

July 22, 2009 10:36 AM

What food/drink should I bring to a small dinner party where there will be one diabetic person?

I'd like to get something everyone will enjoy eating/drinking but that is also diabetic-friendly. Bonus points for a dessert or something I can buy rather than make.

posted by MaddyRex to health & fitness (10 comments total)

There was a diabetic dude I worked with once, and rather than bringing in a cake for his birthday the office staff brought - at his request - a veggie platter. You could snap up one of those huge ones and then invest in some nice dip from whole foods or something, one that doesn't have corn syrup in it. Plus if you call it "crudites" instead of "a veggie platter" it sounds fancy, and who doesn't want to look fancy.
posted by brittafilter at 10:55 AM on July 22

You could do some sort of lean protein.

Try marinating some chicken breasts (if you must buy store bought marinade - make sure it doesn't have a high sugar content), cut them into strips and grilling or broiling them on wooden skewers. make sure to soak the skewers so they don't catch fire.
posted by royalsong at 10:57 AM on July 22

Depends if they are Type 1 or Type 2, and depends on what nutritional advice they are following. For example, I'm pre-Type 2, and sugar and flour are both restricted on my diet, so I generally don't eat dessert at all - but, I don't mind if others do.

If you wanted to get ambitious and make a low-carb cheesecake, I can recommend this recipe. But then, keep in mind that the diabetic in question may not use artificial sweeteners, or may be following low-fat rather than low-carb guidelines.
posted by chez shoes at 10:58 AM on July 22

stuffed jalepenos?

8 or so jalepenos - cut in 1/2 length wise and de-seeded (gloves are nice)

box of cream cheese - softened
chili in adobo sauce (one, minced fine)
a cup or so of shredded cheddar

mix well and stuff in the pepper halves. bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so.

meanwhile, take a pound of bacon, dice it and fry it. to serve, put the bacon in a bowl next to the pepper with a spoon and let people put bacon on top.

it's nice of you to think of your diabetic friend!
posted by kiwi-epitome at 10:58 AM on July 22 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Type I vs Type II comment above. Type I means they can't make their own insulin, so they're the ones testing blood sugar before every meal, taking shots of insulin with all food, or using an insulin pump. Type II is the one where people still make their own insulin, but their body doesn't use it very efficiently - so they may be able to get by on just diet changes, or may have to test every so often and take a pill, but they aren't insulin-dependent per-se. If you don't know the person well enough to ask what type they are, maybe this could give you a couple hints to figure it out.

My son is Type I, and he can technically eat anything he wants, we just dose the insulin accordingly. Granted, in general we follow a good diet (not a lot of unhealthy snacks/food), but the kid loves putting a hurt to a Ci-Ci's Pizza buffet so every once in a while it's ok if he goes crazy with all those pizza and dessert carbs. So if they're Type I, you definitely don't have as many "worries" as a Type II person, so they probably won't be as wary about eating certain foods.

If they are Type II, that's where you're getting into a more strict diet-related change. The key here is Type II diabetics need to stay away from simple carbs - like plain sugar ingredients, corn syrups, plain flours. Basically the simple carbs spike the blood sugar, and since their body can utilize its own insulin very well, those blood sugar spikes can cause issues. So either bring a high-protien, low or zero carb dish like Kiwi-Epitome suggest (man, those sound good). Or, if the dish does have carbs look for something with more complex carbs - that is, things that have lots of fiber compared to the number of carbs in them. If you're buying something and reading labels, this means something with 4+ grams of fiber in it where there may be around 20-40 carbs per serving and you don't see simple sugars or syrups in the ingredients list. The fiber-carbs help slow the body's absorption of the sugar and prevents the spikes in blood sugar. If you're making from scratch, this means using whole-wheat flour instead of white flour, for example. Or, making sure there's lots of other fiber when a recipe does call for plain sugars.

Also, "sugar free" stuff made with sugar-alcohols still technically contain sugar and can affect their blood sugar, so unless things are sweetened with actual sugar substitutes they'll still have to treat sugar alcohols in a similar way as normal sugar.
posted by JibberJabber at 11:22 AM on July 22

Uhhh..small typo on my not-so-great previewing:

"and since their bodycan't utilize its own insulin very well"
posted by JibberJabber at 11:26 AM on July 22

As a Type 2 diabetic I'd appreciate angel food cake (the local grocery makes them in the store with splenda) with real strawberries or blueberries and diet soda. I'd probably want to smack you if a veggie platter was brought and I love veggie platters, but it's party, so lets have some fun. Sugar free ice cream is also good in small doses. Cheese and grapes are nice. Apples and peanut butter are heaven.

That said, almost everything is diabetic friendly if the diabetic is good with portion control. It really depends on the diabetic as chez shoes hints at. Can you ask them? While your gesture is nice and thoughtful, ultimately it's my responsibility so I don't ask people to worry about it too much. Sometimes I'll go low carb at dinner, skipping bread and high carb stuff so I can indulge with desert, particularly if I've done a heavy weightlifting workout that day, which sucks up carbs I may eat like a congresscritter in a room full of lobbyists.

I'd really suggest talking to the diabetic. They may have a particular weakness for X dessert, or specific needs (low carb and low fat) and most importantly, suggestions. They've probably been in this situation before, so they'll have ideas. If you can't do that, check with your local diabetes organization, they should have ideas.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:42 AM on July 22

How about Italian sodas? Buy some club soda and a variety of italian soda syrups (torani). That way people can make their own sodas - or just have the club soda (bring some lemon and lime slices too for the club soda in case your diabetic friend passes on the syrups).
posted by Sassyfras at 11:47 AM on July 22

my dad is diabetic, and I often get him sugar-free chocolate. These candies are sugar free, and you really can't tell the difference - very tasty. A bowl of them would be a nice table addition.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:03 PM on July 22

I'd be careful about the Italian sodas. Some are very tasty, but on multiple occasions I've reacted to the extreme acidity of some flavors and thrown up almost immediately. I think it's probably less of an issue with non-citrus flavors, particularly if they're mixed with something other than seltzer, but just FYI.

How about some tortilla pinwheels with those low-carb tortillas, if you've seen those? I like the green onion ones; I don't think they have any sugar alcohols, etc., but they're still pretty tasty.
posted by Madamina at 1:09 PM on July 22