More than 2 million Canadians live with diabetes.

Diabetes is rapidly becoming the largest health problem in the Western world. As our society becomes more overweight and the population ages, there are many more Canadians at risk for developing diabetes. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, careful meal planning is key to managing the disease.

The importance of proper and flexible meal planning was one of the key principles behind the revisions to the Canadian Diabetes Association Meal Planning System (also called the Good Health Eating Guide). The new system will be closely modeled on the U.S. system, which is based on 15g of carbohydrate per serving in each of the carbohydrate-containing groups (starch, fruit, vegetables, milk and sugars). The Complete Canadian Diabetes Cookbook is one of the first books on the market to reflect these changes.

This cookbook contains 250 diabetes-suitable recipes with complete nutritional information for each recipe. Healthy cooking becomes a breeze -- and that's a major step in taking control of diabetes. Managing diabetes doesn't have to mean eating uninteresting food for the rest of your life. You'll be amazed at the wonderful variety of flavors you can savor while following your meal plan.

Katherine E. Younker, MBA, RD, is a Certified Diabetes Educator who has worked with the Canadian Diabetes Association for several years.

Katherine Younker's profile page