Using Diabetic Chocolate to help Increase Patient Satisfaction in Diabetic Patients

on July 12, 2013 at 12:55 pm

Customer satisfaction in the food service industry has always been one of the main focuses when it comes to the development of menus. In the world of healthcare food service, patient satisfaction falls into the same focus or priority with the appearance of patient centred care. Whether it be in a long term care home, restaurant or hotel chocolate has always been a staple ingredient in any kitchen that can be manipulated into almost any recipe to help improve overall satisfaction as well as provide health benefits to its consumption.

With nearly seven million Canadians today suffering from Diabetes, a diabetic chocolate could help with the development of diabetic menus in terms of desserts and even for an afternoon or evening snack. Diabetic chocolate is made by replacing the sugar content in chocolate with alternative sweeteners, such as maltitol or sorbitol which are sugar alcohols and make it friendly for diabetics within moderate consumption. The chocolate also contains mood enhancing phytochemicals as well as antioxidants. In a study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, they tested the antioxidant properties and quantities in red wine and green tea and found that chocolate had reasonably similar amounts when moderately consumed. Studies have also found that the polyphenols in chocolate help to inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol which helps to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease which is prominent in geriatric patients. Studies have also shown that people with mild hypertension who consume a small amount of chocolate a day can help reduce blood pressure. A fifteen day study from the University of L’Aquila in Italy found that consuming dark chocolate helped to accelerate metabolism of blood sugar or blood glucose in the body and also found it that blood pressure in the patients dropped.

Adding chocolate to a menu in a long term care home can help to improve patient satisfaction because of the variety of menu items will be much greater and seem more appealing to them. Chocolate is flavourful, it can be easily used, it has great colour and texture plus it is loved by all generations. Chocolate can be molded, melted down and used in mousses, cakes or even just used as decoration. Diabetic chocolate can be used to open up the door to a better patient satisfaction rate and provide greater variation in writing diabetic menus in healthcare food service operations.

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References

ASweetLife ( 2011). The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate. Retrieved From: http://asweetlife.org/feature/the-health-benefits-of-dark-chocolate/

Diabetes.co.uk (2013). Diabetes and Chocolate. Retrieved from: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-chocolate.html

ScienceNews (2005). Can Chocolate Fight Diabetes Too? Retrieved From: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/6462/description/Can_Chocolate_Fight_Dia betes_Too

Tracie Sindrey (2013). Diabetes Mellitus. Week 1 Slides.