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March 5, 2012

Meal Planning, Food and Diet

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Question from Plainfield, Connecticut, USA:

My 19-year-old daughter would like to take a four week class in Spain through her college. I am concerned about her counting carbohydrates in unfamiliar foods. Are the typical meals there much different than those in the U.S.? Do you know of any English language literature available on carbohydrate counting in Spain and do you have any advice?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

This is a good question. It certainly is important to plan for meals and foods that your daughter might come across in a foreign country. I would recommend that both of you meet with a registered dietitian who specializes in diabetes meal planning and come up with a game plan on types of food you might encounter in Spain and the accurate carbohydrate counts of these foods. It is better to pre-plan for this rather than waiting until she is over in Spain where the carbohydrate counts might not be readily accessible.

Your dietitian can also recommend some good reference guides for carbohydrate counting on various ethnic foods.

JMS

[Editor’s comment:

You might also want to speak to the Spanish language teachers at your local high school(s) and college(s) to get an idea of the foods available in Spain. You should tell them where your daughter would be living as the foods could differ from region to region.
BH]