Course materials

1. Project on Adherence to a Diabetic Diet For this project you will design
and fol
Project on Adherence to a Diabetic DietFor this project you will design and follow the
Exchange Diet for persons with diabetes for three days. Here are the procedures you should
follow. Please read the entire assignment before you begin.1. Carefully read the information
on Exchange List for Meal Planning Strategies on page 745-749 and Appendix G in the
Appendix section of your text. Select a calorie level that is appropriate for you. There are
links to suggested meal plans at the end of this assignment. Remember that the meal plans
under each calorie level are just a suggestion that will help guide you in using the exchange
system at the calorie level you have chosen. Describe how you decided which calorie level
you would use for this project. The calorie level you choose is totally up to you.2. Go to the
following website for more information about how to plan this
diet.https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/eat/fd_exch.htm (Links to an
external site.)Links to an external site.https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/recipes-
nutrition/understanding-carbs/types-carbohydrates (Links to an external
site.)https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/recipes-nutrition/understanding-
carbs/carb-counting-and-diabetesCarbohydrate Counting and Meal Planning _
NovoMedLinkLinks to an external site.3. Design a diabetic diet meal plan/menu for three
days following the exchange system at the calorie level you chose. Do not follow the menus
as posted. MAKE YOUR OWN MEAL PLAN. Choose your own foods. Do NOT copy a menu
from the internet, previous students or ANY other source. Follow the diabetic meal plan that
you designed for three days. Include one weekend day. Do not just plan one day and repeat
it three times. However, you can use the same breakfast. Remember that a diabetic diet does
not have to be expensive and you can eat out. A person with diabetes does not need special
foods. It is not a requirement that you go out and buy expensive foods. People who have
limited means also have diabetes and must learn to eat healthfully even in those
circumstances. Even if you have a careful plan, things change. Remember that this is real life
and people who have diabetes go out with friends, go to the movies, and have fun, too.
Remember to first plan what you are going to eat and then implement the plan. Include the
menus you actually ate for the three days in your report. Your meal plan should not only be
an acceptable number of calories but also the proper percentage of carbohydrates, protein
and fat. Your meal plan should include grams of carbohydrate in each food item (you can
use the grams of carbohydrates listed in Appendix G).Note: If you are on a special diet or

2. have any special medical concerns please contact your professor about this project for
alternatives.4. *****Thoroughly describe your experiences and evaluate each day of the diet.
You must carefully describe EACH of the three days of the experience separately on each of
the following:AcceptabilityAdherence (ease or difficulty in following)PalatabilityProduct
availabilityTime involvedUse of currently available food itemsWhere food was
eatenInfluence on life styleYou should create a chart/table that shows the menus planned
and any changes to the menus you planned for each individual day. Then describe each
individual day.After evaluating each individual day, thoroughly evaluate the total project
experience including all the components. Summarize your experience.It is your thorough
description and evaluation of the diet and your experience that will determine much of your
grade. Remember there are a lot of points for this project. Make sure you earn them.5.
Evaluate a Processed Food: Buy a processed food that has a “low in sodium”, “reduced
sodium”, “less sodium” etc on the label. Also purchase a similar “regular” food item. You will
compare the 2 based on the criteria below. Remember this is a purchased food not a food
that you prepared. You may not use saltine crackers, seasonings, or Chicken Noodle Soup.
Choose a food. Fresh foods are not sold as “low sodium.” Include in your report a
comparison of this low-sodium food with its counterpart using the following: Be very
thorough.· Palatability – how do each of the products taste, smell and feel· Price of specialty
item vs. the regular item– compare them. Give specifics· Availability– how easy was it to
find the low sodium product? Were there a lot of foods labeled as “low sodium” in the
store?· Nutrient composition vs. the regular item– use a chart/table to compare and show
the differences. – not just sodium but all nutrients (even if they are the same) – please give
specific details about the nutrient composition.Describe how you would season it without
using salt to make it more delicious. What could you tell a person who has been placed on a
low-sodium diet to do to make their diet more tasty.Be very thorough – if you want to earn
full credit!You are required to submit the following: (** All in one document **)1. Describe
how you decided which calorie level to use for the project.2. Your menus as you planned
them for three days, including the exchange group/serving for each food, grams of
carbohydrate and any changes that you made after you planned (#3). Submit menus in a
chart or outline form. (See the example menus and Appendix G – an example of an exchange
group/serving is: 8oz skim milk = 1 milk serving= 12 gm CHO) Your menus should include
food, serving size, exchange group, and grams of carbohydrate.3. A complete and thorough
description of each day of your experience (addressing all components listed in #4 in the
assignment) and an overall diet evaluation as specified in #4 (this is the area with the most
points).4. A complete and thorough evaluation of your low-sodium food as specified in
#5.Your grade on this project will depend on how well you plan the meal plan that you will
follow and how thoroughly you evaluate the process of planning and eating the diet as well
as your comparison of the low-sodium food with its counterpart.(A note from the professor:
In the past, we have had many different responses to this project. Some students love it.
Others actually hate it and complain about having to eat healthfully for 3 days. Some
students say they were already eating this way and it was a “breeze” for them. Many
students actually say they lost a couple of pounds and felt better when they ate regularly.
The diabetic diet is a healthy diet that people without diabetes would do well to follow

3. regularly. You eat throughout the day. Choose low fat, low sodium and complex
carbohydrates to eat. That’s truly a healthy choice. Try to keep an open mind about this
project. As a nurse you will be working with many clients who have diabetes and you will
begin to understand the challenges of their nutritional management of the disease.)Please
submit all parts of the assignment as one continuous document. Do not separate and attach
them as several documents.