What is an "Exchange Plan"?

  •   #1  
    fcuser10395743's Avatarfcuser10395743 , 01-04-2011 07:16 AM
    I've heard about this a lot, particularly as an old, old WW plan, but I can't find what it is. I've Googled but I get all kinds of funny stuff about international economics so I think it's one of those things that you need to know what it is in order to create the correct search to find out what it is!

    What do you exchange for what? Or is that just a name? My diabetic friend works with "exchanges" but he can't seem to explain it except in terms of what he has to put in his insulin pump so I'm not sure if it's even the same thing, but it is to a certain extent about carbs.

    Can someone either point me to a link or overview what an exchange plan is/does?

    thanks!
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  •   #2  
    Ruthxxx's AvatarRuthxxx , 01-04-2011 07:35 AM
    Found this posted just yesterday by Kaplods.
    Quote:
    Exchange plans group foods into groups based on similar nutritional information. You can also calculate exchanges yourself by estimation based on nutrition label.


    For example the exchanges are

    Protein/Milk
    Fruit
    Milk/Dairy/Calcium
    Bread/Starch
    Vegetable
    Fat

    Some of the exchanges have more than one name (for example some will call the protein exchange a meat exchange - doesn't matter they're still the same exchange).

    The calorie counts are similar for all foods within an exchange so

    Protein (60)
    Fat (45)
    Fruit (70)
    Dairy (90)
    Starch (80)
    Veggie (25)

    The calorie counts are estimates and are close but can vary by about 10 calories.

    There are resources online and in books that will tell you the exchange values for foods, but they're easy to learn and before long you know most of the foods you eat regularly without having to look them up.

    Exchange plans give you a specific number (or a range) of each exchange.
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  •   #3  
    fcuser10395743's Avatarfcuser10395743 , 01-04-2011 08:34 AM
    Thanks, that's a start... so what do you do with the information? If you know that protein is "an exchange" what do you do next? Does it mean you can have x number of "exchanges" per day and you could choose to have them all in protein if you like? Or must you pick "exchanges" from each category? What's the next bit that makes it into a nutrition plan? I'm still super-confused!
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  •   #4  
    Meg's AvatarMeg , 01-04-2011 08:41 AM
    We have an exchange plan support thread here that may be helpful to you.
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  •   #5  
    thekoz's Avatarthekoz , 01-04-2011 09:26 AM
    The Hillbilly Housewifewebsite has a lot of detailed information about Exchange Plan dieting. Check out the Introduction to the Exchange Plan and Diet Food Plans, and Lists of Food Exchanges links to get a good feel for what an Exchange Plan diet entails.

    healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/category/articles/dieting
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