Macronutrient content and food exchanges for 48 Greek Mediterranean dishes

The purpose of the present study was to facilitate the translation of traditional Greek Mediterranean recipes into food exchanges for diabetes. Moreover, it provides a useful food list for meal planning, which can be used by health professionals and nutritionists, as well as researchers and the public.

A total of 48 traditional Greek Mediterranean dishes were selected in order to include appetisers, sauces, salads, pies, dishes with vegetables and legumes as well as egg, pasta, rice, meat, fish and poultry-based dishes. The macronutrient content of each recipe (carbohydrate, fat, protein and dietary fibre) was estimated with the use of the USDA database and Greek food composition tables. Then, in order to calculate the food exchanges per serve, an approximation method was followed as suggested in the literature.

The Mediterranean Greek dishes contain a considerable amount of vegetables and dietary fibre, and their energy content mainly derives from olive oil. For each serve, carbohydrate, non-starchy vegetable, protein (lean, medium or high fat), milk and fat exchanges are provided. Moreover, the type of fat that each recipe contains is reported.

The presented data offer a chance for health professionals to efficiently plan Mediterranean-type meals, ensuring more sophisticated dietetic advice, higher standards of medical nutrition therapy and greater patient self-efficacy.