The Nourish Project
The Nourish Project’s mission is to develop and share resources to manage and prevent diabetes through tasteful modifications to traditional Asian cuisine. The Nourish Project strives to promote healthier eating in Asian communities by putting the spotlight on classic dishes that are both healthy and delicious. Our goal is to empower Asians by equipping them with the knowledge to make healthier choices in the kitchen and beyond.
Join us in engaging the API community through nutrition education and showing members how to enjoy healthier versions of their favorite dishes.
How We Do It:
The Nourish Project acknowledges the complex relationship between culture, diet, and wellbeing. We aim to highlight nutritious recipes that our API community can easily enjoy.
Through a joint effort by our API team and registered dietitian, we strive to develop effective and culturally relevant ways to provide Asians with healthy ideas to enjoy traditional Filipino, Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese dishes.
Here at The Nourish Project, we emphasize balanced meals that are low in refined carbohydrates and sugars. We base our recommendations on the American Diabetes Association's Plate Method, which encourages balanced meals and eliminates the stress of calculating macronutrients. We also follow American Diabetes Association's recommendation of generally keeping carbohydrates between 45-60 grams per meal and 15 grams per snack. We believe that balanced, sustainable eating styles will positively change the future of Asian health.
Educational Resources:
Check out some of our educational resources:
Easy to follow recipe videos that make eating healthy easy and tasty:
Facebook posts that showcase traditional dishes with our healthy spins:
Chia Seed Kheer from the Indian Cuisine
Kheer is a favorite Indian dessert. When made with white rice, milk, sugar, and dry fruits, Kheer can rapidly spike your blood glucose level. Instead, members can enjoy chia seed kheer, which has the same great taste and additional benefits from chia seeds like omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, fiber, iron, and calcium.
Try out the recipe by our team chef, Sanchita Tiwary from @livinglocarb :
Soak chia seeds in unsweetened almond milk with saffron and any low-carb sweetener of choice. Let it rest for 4-6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator for the seeds to bulk up. Serve and enjoy!
Kẹo Mè Xửng from Vietnamese Cuisine
How to make homemade Kẹo Mè Xửng?
Sesame candy is a sweet snack typically bound together by sugar syrup, and it is a popular snack in Vietnam during New Year. Due to the high amount of sugar needed to make it, it can spike blood glucose quickly. To reduce the number of carbs, you can add ingredients such as nuts to enhance the rich creaminess. You can cut the sugar by 1/2 in the recipe below and enjoy the crunchy, savory taste of this snack.
Try out this recipe today: http://healthyhomecafe.com/.../sesame-and-nut-protein-bars/
Tanghulu from Chinese Cuisine
Have you ever tried Tanghulu? This traditional snack originated from Northern China and is typically made from hawthorns. Since hawthorns have a distinct taste, many people use fruits such as strawberries, grapes, and blueberries.
Tanghulu is typically coated in a syrup that contains a lot of added sugar. To reduce the sugar, you can try putting the fruits (hawthorns or berries) in the freezer and eating them like sorbet. If desired, you can add one teaspoon of brown sugar as a coating on top.
Lumpia or Steamed Cabbage Rolls from Filipino Cuisine
Lumpia is one of the most popular dishes in Filipino cuisine. If you're craving Lumpia, here's how to make a healthier version of it at home! Steamed cabbage rolls are packed with so much flavor, from the minced meat and mushrooms to the seasonings. The recipe below includes an easy and creative way to present your cabbage rolls using carrot ribbons, which will help keep your rolls intact. For a vegan or vegetarian version, you can substitute the meat mixture with ground tofu and replace the oyster sauce with soy sauce. These cabbage rolls can be made up to 24 hours ahead and only take about 12 minutes to cook. Recipe: https://redhousespice.com/chinese-steamed-cabbage-rolls/
Informative nutritional posts and videos that guide easy changes today for a healthier tomorrow:
Brown rice vs. White rice and their effects on blood glucose levels:
1 cup of cooked Jasmine rice, depending on the brand, has ~45g of carbohydrates with 1g of fiber. Since the fiber has been removed, the GI tract can quickly break down the white rice and raise blood glucose levels between 60 to 90minutes after eating. 1 cup of cooked brown rice, depending on the brand, also has close to ~45g of carbohydrates, but with 4g of fiber. This higher fiber content is why brown rice can be better at slowing down the absorption of blood glucose levels.
If you are looking to cut carbohydrates down further, oatmeal might be a good choice. One cup of cooked oatmeal (not instant oats) has 27g of carbohydrates with 4g of fiber.
If you are looking for a simple method, check out the CDC and American Diabetes Association's plate method. You can target to keep your plate at 50% veggies, 25% carbohydrates, and 25% protein to keep your blood glucose at a more stable level.
Sources: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
https://www.cdc.gov/.../carbohydrate-choice-lists.html
https://www.diabetes.org/.../recipes-nutrition/eating-well
Effect of bread on blood glucose level:
Bread can raise blood glucose quickly. This is because bread is made out of flour, where the wheat is grounded into a fine powder form. Because bread is made from a powdery form of flour, it is easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Food items still in their original forms, like brown rice or rolled oats, get absorbed slower because they contain fiber that your digestive system still needs time to process and remove. If you eat bread, select bread with a high fiber, grains, and nuts content. Ezekiel bread or Dave's Killer Bread are decent choices with 15g of carbohydrates with 3g of fiber per slice.
Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/.../carbohydrates-and.../...
*This will also depend on what you pair with your food. It will also vary from person to person.
Join Us Today:
Links to the Nourish Facebook Groups can be found below!
Japanese Cuisine
This resource provides dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Japanese dishes.
Indian Cuisine
These resources provide dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Indian dishes.
Filipino Cuisine
This resource provides dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Filipino dishes.
Taiwanese Cuisine
This resource provides dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Taiwanese dishes.
Vietnamese Cuisine
These resources provide dietary suggestions for weight loss and for the management of type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Vietnamese dishes.
Korean Cuisine
This resource provides dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Korean dishes.
Chinese Cuisine
This resource provides dietary suggestions for managing type-II diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions while enjoying traditional Chinese dishes.
Check out the CDC's BMI Calculator:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of fat levels in an individual’s body. For the general population this calculation is a good estimate. However, this calculation can be inaccurate for pregnant women and athletes.
While a BMI less than 26 kg/m2 is generally considered normal, for Asian populations the cutoff is 23 kg/m2. This is because Asians have a higher number of diabetes diagnoses at lower BMI levels.