Defeat Diabetes Eat Thai

Diabetes and pre-diabetes seem to have become epidemic. Some estimates of their prevalence in the population run as high as 30%. This is not okay, and not necessary. Doctors have told the diabetics in my family that the disease is incurable and only gets worse as time goes by. This is not necessarily so. Losing weight by cutting back on carbs can equal losing diabetes. Your body is able to create and use enough insulin for a slimmer you. But losing weight fast without even trying can be, paradoxically, a symptom of diabetes.

To lose or avoid gaining weight, keep the carbs down and take a 30-minute   walk after your biggest meal. Work standing when practical. Keep moving. Dance, bike, and park at the farthest slot from the store entrance when you shop, or a few blocks from where you work. Walk briskly. Eat Chinese or Thai.

Raw vegetables contribute fewer calories than cooked vegetables. Eat salads daily. Dress them lightly with vinaigrette made of one third vinegar of your choice, 2/3 extra virgin olive oi and a dash of garlic salt. Or go Thai and mix lime juice and Nam Pla (fish sauce.) Go easy on the Nam Pla. It’s really salty.

This high protein, low carb salad, combines vegetables with thin slices of deli beef or home roasted or grilled leanest possible grass-fed beef from the butcher. Chill it and thinly slice it. Any Thai main-dish salad stars in a perfect a light supper at the end of a summer day. You might offer a thin soup with crackers or toast to precede the salad, and follow it with a light dessert of sliced strawberries with a small topping of spry-on whipped cream. The label says 1 gram of carb per serving, but their serving is only 2 Tablespoons. Even 1/2 cupful yields only 16 carbs.

 THAI BEEF SALAD
     4 servings

 large spinach, de-stemmed, or dark green lettuce leaves
½ pound very lean thin sliced roast beef
8 mint leaves, shredded
2 to 3 Tablespoons slivered cilantro leaves
1 stalk lemon grass, bottom 2/3 only, minced (optional)
¼ to ½ of 1 red onion, sliced into rings

 Dressing:
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 hot green peppers, seeded and minced
1 Tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla)
2 Tablespoons lime juice (or lemon juice)
½ teaspoon coconut sugar

Garnish:
2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes dried
(find in Oriental store, or deep-fry thinly sliced onion) or omit
½ teaspoon red hot pepper flakes
Arrange the lettuce to line a platter. Sprinkle with the mint and cilantro and lemon grass if using. Evenly lay the beef slices on top. Cover with onion rings. In a small bowl or teacup, mash the garlic and hot green pepper pieces together. Add th fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Pour evenly over the beef. Sprinkle the onion flakes and hot pepper flakes over all. Refrigerate before serving. Carbs per serving almost zero.