Diabetic Cookery circa 1917

(Ren) #1

I was on /r/keto and saw a cool picture about diabetic cookery in 1917. So I googled a little bit further and I found this site that had the 1917 diabetic cookery. I looked at a bunch of the recipes and there is very low carb count recipes, a table with carb % for veggies, fruits, and nuts and also food that is “forbidden”

From a quick glance through the pages, it looks like a majority of the recipes would be good for Keto also.

Also kind of neat that this cook book existed in 1917 where today’s “normal” diabetic recipes are high carb, low fat.

(Sophie) #2

It looks like this was published again in 2007. You can get a copy at Ebay. I went ahead and picked up one! Should be interesting…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Diabetic-Cookery-by-Rebecca-Oppenheimer-2007-Paperback-/262137952702?epid=64430852&hash=item3d08a3b9be:g:2-kAAOSwtnpXmUa1

(Cheryl Meyers) #3

Thanks for the link–I just downloaded the free epub from archive.org. And in a search, I found this old conversation about what Casoid flour might be: http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/6615-good-diabetic-cookbook.html

edit to add: the pdf is a better choice – the epub is full of typos :frowning:

(Sophie) #4

Ooooooh! Thank you for tracking that down. Now I’m really excited to get the book! And although I do appreciate digital media, I love the ritual of holding and thumbing through an “analog book”. :wink: It’s so much fun to read all the recipes and the amount of butter she recommends really jumps off the page! :smile: I wonder what a “moderate oven” would have been considered though. My best guess would be 350F as a starting point for experiments. It’s funny to see the use of almond flour too! Love it!

(Ren) #5

I was wondering whatg the Caoid and Aleuronat was. I think I might see if there is anywhere I can source it also to experiment with some of the recipes.

(Meeping up the Science!) #6

Low carb was the standard treatment for diabetes until the advent of drugs, insulin, and also Ancel Keys’ work, actually, as people really had no other choice if they wanted to live. Drugs made it possible for people to eat a “normal” diet. Prior to that, the only way to control blood sugar was, well, eating proper foods.

It’s interesting from a history of medicine perspective, but also from a psychology perspective, as these things coincided around a time when America was becoming increasingly more fascinated with convenience and highly processed foods. It’d be fascinating to see a sociology of medicine study around it - the change of behavior and health coinciding together.

(Meeping up the Science!) #7

Thanks, @camtosh!

@Fiorella, this looks like some of the stuff you make. :slight_smile:

Aleuronaut flour seems to be wheat gluten, maybe? Or similar to it. Interesting.

(Linda) #8

I found this re oven temperature conversions:
A cool oven has temperature set to 90°C (200°F), and a slow oven has a temperature range from 150–160°C (300–325°F). A moderate oven has a range of 180–190°C (350–375°F), and a hot oven has temperature set to 200–230°C (400–450°F)".

(Sophie) #9

Thanks for confirming my suspicions about the moderate temps. It’s nice to know that all those decades of baking finally paid off! lmao