Читать книгу Practical Carbohydrate Counting - Hope S. Warshaw - Страница 26

Teaching people what measuring equipment and portion control tools to have and how to use them is a critical aspect of teaching carbohydrate counting. Consider using the online tool from National Institutes of Health, called the Portion Distortion Quiz (http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/ as of the time of this writing) to raise consciousness about the portions a person is currently eating.

The following is the measuring equipment that people should have at home and be encouraged to use regularly:

• Measuring cups for both liquids and solids

• Measuring spoons (a set)

• Food scale

Most will have the first two items, but not the scale. Encourage people to purchase an inexpensive scale ($10 to $15), particularly to measure foods that don’t come with a Nutrition Facts panel, such as fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, bagels, and raw or cooked meats. More expensive food scales ($40 to $100) are also available. These scales may provide features such as the gram weight of the food and the grams of carbohydrate pulled from a database for several hundreds to thousands of common foods. The Diabetes Mall at www.diabetesnet.com or 800-988-4772 is a good resource for information on several of these scales. Additionally, the EatSmart Nutrition Scale (www.eatsmartscales.com) is a good choice.

Portion control tools are not just limited to measuring utensils. The following are additional portion control tools:

• Nutrition Facts panel on food labels. Encourage people to read the serving sizes on a food’s Nutrition Facts panel. Make sure they realize that the nutrition information provided is for one reasonable serving of the food for most Americans. Have them think about the quantity they eat in comparison to the food label portion. If willing, have them measure out this portion with measuring equipment, then put it into a serving item to see how the quantity looks.

• Eyes. Help people train their eyes to judge portions. Teach them that their eyes are always with them in the supermarket, at the bakery, or at restaurants. Tell people that the more they use measuring equipment at home, the better they will be at estimating portions when they eat out.

• Hands. Many educators find it helpful to teach the hand guides found in Table 4-1 to help people eat foods in proper portions. These can be particularly helpful for meals eaten away from home.