How to Calculate a Diabetic Exchange List in a Recipe

Diabetic exchange lists can be as simple as counting carbohydrates or as complicated as counting all of the nutrients available to consume. However, most diabetic diets count carbohydrates, fats, and proteins (meats, eggs, and legumes). The easiest way to cook for a diabetic is to use a recipe that includes a diabetic exchange list. However, if you want to make a recipe that doesn't include that information, it is easy to figure it out for yourself with a little research and a little math.

Things You'll Need

• Reference book that breaks down the nutritional components of foods into fats, protein, carbohydrates, and calories.
• Package labels for each ingredient
• Paper
• Pen or pencil
• Calculator

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Instructions

Plan Your List

• 1

  Write a list of the ingredients in the recipe that have nutritional value, such as flour, sugar, eggs, milk, etc. Items such as spices, leavening agents and water do not need to be figured into the exchange list.

• 2

  Write the amount of each ingredient (i.e. 1/4 cup, 2 oz., 1 tsp., etc) used in the recipe to the right of the name of the ingredient.

• 3

  Write the headings Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat across the top of the paper to the right of the list of ingredients. This will create 3 vertical columns. Draw vertical lines to separate the columns if desired.

• 4

  Refer to the package nutrition label or the reference book to determine the amount of fat grams, carbohydrate grams, and protein ounces in each ingredient. Use your calculator to divide or multiply the amounts. For example, if the package says there are 25 carbohydrates per 1/2 cup, and you used 2 cups the total number of carbs is 25 x 4 = 100.

• 5

  Add the totals for each category and write those numbers at the bottom of the page. This will give you the total number of fat grams, carbohydrate grams, or protein ounces in the total recipe.

• 6

  Divide the totals by 15 for carbohydrates (15 grams per exchange), 3 for protein (3 ounces per exchange), and 1 tsp for fat. This will give you the total number of exchanges per recipe.