Think life is pretty grim? A Cookbook for Diabetics (American Diabetes Association/ Maude Behrman, 1969 11th edition) shows that no matter how grim things look now, at least we're not diabetics in 1969.
A lot of "recipes" are just assemblages of ingredients meant to create just the right mix of protein, carbs, and fats to keep diabetes at least somewhat under control when there were not a lot of treatment options. Want a sumptuous luncheon platter?
Well, three lettuce leaves-- one heaped with a quarter-cup of cottage cheese and chives, one with a little pile of asparagus spears (fresh if you're lucky and canned if you're not), and my favorite-- one with two pineapple rings, each with a ball of peanut butter (shaped by hand!) in the middle-- will have to do.
Admittedly, the book tries not to leave diabetics feeling left out. We wouldn't want them to miss experiencing the iconic Ham Banana Rolls, right?
I'm not sure why the American Diabetes Association thought this particular recipe needed to be part of the repertoire, but at least it gave even more people a chance to "enjoy" the ham and banana dish.
There are attempts at desserts, too. For those tired of eating plain fresh fruit all the time, there are Sparkling Dainties.
They're kind of like Jell-O Jigglers (long before those were a thing!), but rolled in nonfat milk powder(?!) and made, of course, with artificially sweetened gelatin. I don't mind artificial sweeteners most of the time, but I am not sure how tasty an extra-concentrated dose of them might be.
A birthday celebrant would probably be better off having this instead of some Sparkling Dainties:
Cheese on one's "loveliest cake plate" instead of actual cake may be the best idea in the book-- and one that's still a thing. At least cheese will taste good. (I'm sure that the birthday celebrant will love being referred to as "the diabetic patient," though! If they're not in a medical setting being cared for by medical practitioners, why use "patient"?)
If all of this is enough to make you just want a drink, well...
The good news is the "Cocktail" is only worth half of a fruit exchange, and that's only if you decide to eat the cherry. The bad news is that the "Cocktail" is not going to make any of this easier to bear because alcohol is off limits.
So, hey! If life gets you down, just repeat to yourself, "I'm not a 1960s diabetic!" It might help. At the very least, it might also make you look just a little off-kilter, which can help with the whole social distancing thing-- something that 1960s diabetics didn't usually have to contend with.
I had to do some googling on this one. Blood glucose meters were invited in 1971, so this was back in the era when there was still a lot of guessing. Eating the same ratios of different nutrients gave them a guess about how things were going, but we're starting to learn that blood sugar is not a simple equation of input versus output. Also, how do they expect anyone to live off of such tiny meals?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean tiny? One was a WHOLE PLATTER!
DeleteAlthough I was diagnosed in 1982, these rules were still very much in play. It was hellish. And the hospital served everything pureed. I remember asking Mom, "I'm still allowed to chew, right?"
ReplyDeleteThat must have been hellish! I remember my days pureeing food when I was a nursing home cook and hoping that I died before I got to the point when everything had to be served pureed.
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