• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 2 and takeaways.....

F

First.Officer

Well-Known Member
Messages
55
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
So, having refrained from eating any takeaway food since the end of December, if one was so inclined - what frequency would anyone enjoy the odd Chinese, Indian, pizza etc.? Have read the various websites regarding advice, and tbh - advice like you can enjoy the same food as anyone else as long as its healthy and balanced is fine, but words used like “occasionally” are meaningless in overall context regarding timescales and then they further go on to suggest that if having say, KFC - to only have original recipe chicken and remove the skin, and switch fries for salad. A McD’s? Remove the buns, remove the special sauce and just eat the burger....is it just me, or is advice like that kinda missing the point of having (and enjoying!) a takeaway? What do others do? Appreciate that we all differ of course in how we all cope with different foods, so general opinions and thoughts?
 
Depends entirely on what you want and the effect on your blood sugars.
I would tend to go for Crispy Duck for a Chinese take away but avoid the pancakes and sweet sauce or something stir fried as dry as possible, sauces tend to be either sweetened or thickened with flour.
For Indian something dry and grilled - chicken or lamb tikka or mixed grill with some non starchy veg dish mushrooms/spinach/ aubergine.
Maccy D's will happily do you a burger without bun as will Burger King (and may even provide a knife and fork to eat it with).
KFC 's more messy as peeling off the skin isn't so easy so I tend to avoid.
Thai a coconut milk based curry without rice.
At our local fish and chips I get a grilled version with no chips.
 
Once I got control over HbA1c, after a few months, I found I could tolerate certain foods from the local Chinese. No rice though. Eat to your meter.
 
Indian food doesn’t effect me at all. (Minus the rice n bread) I can eat every dish apart from korma and tikka masala. I know what goes in each dish and it shouldn’t effect anyone so far as I can tell.
 
Many thanks for the replies, and i guess really what i am asking - is how often members on here may (or may not) say "sod it" and throw caution to the wind and enjoy a full takeout on however many days each week/fortnight/month/ quarter etc.? Having refrained for nearly 3 months, just trying to figure if anyone does it at all without skimping on what i would see as having a full-on meal as you would with other (non-diabetic) friends. No offence to anyone, but for me personally having a takeaway and removing say the pancakes and hoisin sauce for me would ruin the chinese part of aromatic duck, removing the chips, bun and special sauce from the burger again defeats the point for me in having such a treat. Is T2 such a dire condition that we have to avoid such food forever if wishing to enjoy to the full? If so, then fair play - but another well-known diabetes website suggests that Diabetics can enjoy all the same foods as a non-diabetic person, as along as moderation and a healthy balance is maintained also. They then go on to suggest as i said previously about removing "this" and "that" from takeaway food, which is contrary to their original suggestion of being able to enjoy all foods that non-diabetics do. I could respect the advice far more if they took a stance of saying that T2's can either never enjoy such food (takeaway food), or suggest it is only eaten on say 'X' number of occasions per week/month/year etc.? I can't abide the 'PC' nature of such statements by organisations, as it makes them seem pointless to me personally in any advice they proffer on dietary advice. Same thought applies to how often people may or may not enjoy milk chocolate for example - sometimes? never? high cocoa content chocolate i know about being the better choice, but this isnt really what i'm talking about - i'm talking about enjoying food sometimes as opposed to the miserable existence of generally eating like a rabbit.
 
At the end of the day it's your body, your diabetes, your eyes, your feet.

Most of us follow LCHF because we have discovered that a normal healthy "diet" does not work for controlling our diabetes.

I don't consider myself deprived at all as far as food goes. If I were to go to a Chinese or Indian restaurant, I wouldn't have rice, naan or poppadoms.
 
"At the end of the day it's your body, your diabetes, your eyes, your feet."

Exactly! and this is where for me, the lines are somewhat blurred by the official resources. I'm trying to find out if any T2 actually occasionally enjoys a normal, unadulterated takeaway and with what frequency - and what (if any) debilitating effect may have been encountered as a result. The (IMHO) rubbish statements paraded in the press, and websites that suggest;

"What we do say is there’s no such thing as a diabetic diet – people with diabetes are advised to eat a healthy, balanced diet just like everyone else."

The above is PC bull-shine. There is a diabetic diet, or else no-one would bother to change what they used to eat, or how and when they ate it. Also, as part of a healthy, balanced diet these self-same non-diabetic people to the best of my knowledge, are not peeling the skin off their fried chicken when out at a fast-food outlet, they are not removing the buns and sauce from their burgers and throwing the fries in the bin for a side salad. They are enjoying a treat in moderation, in its full carb. and sugar glory!.

If the takeaways are a huge "red flag", a "no-go" - then official websites shouldn't faff about, just say it like it really is. For me, to de-construct a takeout to component parts as an occasional treat (whatever that frequency might be?!), that ain't fun and no point to enjoying a food as prepared. But if the advice really is that takeaways are a huge problem and to be avoided in entirety, i can accept that fact as being correct. But that's not what is purported in the press and on some websites.
 
The whole point is this. The "official" sites offering dietary advice to diabetics is just plain incorrect. Carbohydrates damage us. This is why we say LCHF. Most of us T2s who follow LCHF and use glucose meters can see what carbohydrates do to us. Eventually the tide will turn and NHS advice will be LCHF. In the meantime, we just have to do the best we can.

If you use a glucose meter, you will know what your food is doing to you. You will know which foods you can enjoy and what you can't eat. Go to your takeaway/restaurant, have a good time. BUT test after the meal. If you can live with the results then fair play to you.
 
First.Officer said:
Many thanks for the replies, and i guess really what i am asking - is how often members on here may (or may not) say "sod it" and throw caution to the wind and enjoy a full takeout on however many days each week/fortnight/month/ quarter etc.? Having refrained for nearly 3 months, just trying to figure if anyone does it at all without skimping on what i would see as having a full-on meal as you would with other (non-diabetic) friends. No offence to anyone, but for me personally having a takeaway and removing say the pancakes and hoisin sauce for me would ruin the chinese part of aromatic duck, removing the chips, bun and special sauce from the burger again defeats the point for me in having such a treat. Is T2 such a dire condition that we have to avoid such food forever if wishing to enjoy to the full? If so, then fair play - but another well-known diabetes website suggests that Diabetics can enjoy all the same foods as a non-diabetic person, as along as moderation and a healthy balance is maintained also. They then go on to suggest as i said previously about removing "this" and "that" from takeaway food, which is contrary to their original suggestion of being able to enjoy all foods that non-diabetics do. I could respect the advice far more if they took a stance of saying that T2's can either never enjoy such food (takeaway food), or suggest it is only eaten on say 'X' number of occasions per week/month/year etc.? I can't abide the 'PC' nature of such statements by organisations, as it makes them seem pointless to me personally in any advice they proffer on dietary advice. Same thought applies to how often people may or may not enjoy milk chocolate for example - sometimes? never? high cocoa content chocolate i know about being the better choice, but this isnt really what i'm talking about - i'm talking about enjoying food sometimes as opposed to the miserable existence of generally eating like a rabbit.
Click to expand...
I agree. It takes something away from our favourite takeaways. I recently had a Burger King without fries and a bun. It was a bit daft really but at the time I was a tourist and any port in a storm.

We have far less takeaways now. Almost none. If we do then I only eat what I ought. I aim to continue like this for a long time. It works which gives me the conviction.
 
But take aways and fast food play no part in a healthy balanced diet for anyone
 
Mr_Pot said:
Yes they do, just not a very big part
Click to expand...
Ok maybe I was a bit too strict there ;) have to confess to a visit to Chinese restaurant last night - crispy duck no sauce and lettuce instead of pancakes - special mix foo yung and fried bean sprouts as a side - stayed in the mid 6s - but if I hadn't adapted and had it "as it comes" would have been a whole different story
 
First.Officer said:
but another well-known diabetes website suggests that Diabetics can enjoy all the same foods as a non-diabetic person, as along as moderation and a healthy balance is maintained also.
Click to expand...
First.Officer said:
What we do say is there’s no such thing as a diabetic diet – people with diabetes are advised to eat a healthy, balanced diet just like everyone else."
Click to expand...

And there you have the reason we’re on this website not that one! It’s damaging advice that contributes to the idea that diabetes is inevitably progressive and managed (slowed) by drugs alone.

If you are type 2 you body fails to process carbs properly. Fact. So you have choices.
1. Do nothing, eat all the carbs modern life offers, get worse, possibly quickly and maybe take medications to slow it down a bit
2. Change (lessen) the carbs you eat. With or without medication depending on how much you are willing or able to change.

Sadly that means for many of us takeaways have to change to better options and if that change renders them pointless in our minds stop entirely. I for one would never eat a full on old style takeaway. I do have modified versions once every few weeks (as I did before) without damage to my blood sugar levels by making different choices.
 
How do you eat otherwise? Are you following the everything in moderation rubbish or low carb or something else?
 
I'd like to put my two pennorth in on this subject. Being a person who enjoys a KFC I looked up their nutrition tables.

https://www.kfc.co.uk/nutrition.pdf

The original recipe is not to be as feared as some people might think. OK, everything else in the shop should be avoided but the chicken thighs and drumsticks are acceptable. I find it a bit of an injustice when the good stuff is thrown out with the bad. Even the PHC just put a KFC bucket in the "to be avoided" graphic.

WARNING: Don't eat the fries ...........or maybe just half of one portion.
 
I value my health and most particularly my eyesight above any high carb food including takeaways, so I'm not likely to be tempted. My body no longer tolerates too many carbs, so I don't eat (or enjoy) high carb foods, the same as I've avoided certain "trigger" foods to prevent chronic migraines.

As already suggested, there are plenty of lower carb options that are available with a little thought, but if you feel the need choose otherwise, then it's your body, your health and your choice, so what I choose to do doesn't really matter. However I've eaten a very wide range of healthy and enjoyable low carb foods - including treats - for over five years and have never felt the need to eat anything approaching a rabbit food diet! :wacky::yuck::yuck:

Robbity
 
Squire Fulwood said:
I'd like to put my two pennorth in on this subject. Being a person who enjoys a KFC I looked up their nutrition tables.

https://www.kfc.co.uk/nutrition.pdf

The original recipe is not to be as feared as some people might think. OK, everything else in the shop should be avoided but the chicken thighs and drumsticks are acceptable. I find it a bit of an injustice when the good stuff is thrown out with the bad. Even the PHC just put a KFC bucket in the "to be avoided" graphic.

WARNING: Don't eat the fries ...........or maybe just half on one portion.
Click to expand...
I have eaten one piece of original without any noticeable or significant rise on occasion
 
Back
Top