Type 2 pulses and low carb diet?

[ruth2]

I went low carb and low calorie some two months ago and finally got my fasting blood sugar nearly back to normal, but have been craving lentils and mushy peas recently. The general advice was to avoid starchy vegetables, but how about pulses? Any advice on how to add extra fibre to my diet?

 

[Bex72]

I'm ok but in moderation. I find that I can have some pulses as long as I have other meat/ fish/ vegetables as well. I made the mistake of eat a bowl of dhal on its own and my BG went high (with cauli rice and other veg it would have been fine). It is still early days for me and I'm still learning what works for me. Good luck.

 

[MrsA2]

I use seeds for fibre. Milled flaxseed or chia seed are easy to mix with yoghurt or coconut cream and a few beries to make a breakfast or a pudding. I have had seeds almost daily for years even before diagnosis on the advice of an gastroenterologist.

As to pulses, best to test your bg before and after meals to see how they affect you

 

[Resurgam]

With colder evenings I have found mashed swede rather good - cut into slices and simmered a good while, then cubed and Bamixed to a smooth paste with the S blade.
I find that legumes tend to spike me more than would have been reasonable for their carb count. They punch above their weight.

 

[Antje77]

Pulses seem to be a bit strange when it comes to carb counting and diabetes.
They seem to affect different people differently.
@Resurgam above gets the effect of more carbs than the pulses contain, for me it's the other way around.
I'm on insulin, and if I were to inject according to their carb count I would go straight in a hypo, so I tend to count them as having about half the carbs they actually have.

So I agree with MrsA2:

As to pulses, best to test your bg before and after meals to see how they affect you

 

[TriciaWs]

I can eat small amounts of pulses, but need to measure carefully. I tested most foods in the first few weeks to see which were best for me as we all react a little differently. Pulses with other foods aren't so bad for me, especially with enough fat to slow digestion.

 

[Ryhia]

I have only tried them in soups, I found them ok--ish. Bloods went up about a point and a half but were still elevated a few hours later.

 

[Yellredder]

Generally pulses aren’t good for me - but for some reason, mushy peas don’t affect me.

 

[Mauriac]

I like to keep my fibre intake up too. I've only been low-carbing for a week but I've had lentils or some supermarket mixed bean salad every day in order to get some more fibre into my diet. I've found that 100g of either, along with some meat and other veg/salad hasn't given me a spike, I also eat small amounts of almonds, 90% dark chocolate, sun-dried tomatoes and pears, all of which are reasonably high in fibre. Pears have quite a lot of carbs too but they don't seem to give me a spike. Raspberries are high in fibre and not too bad on carbs, as are blackberries. Quorn 'ham' has quite a bit of fibre and is low carb and low calorie.

 

[ruth2]

Tanks to everyone for their advice, I'm getting better at noticing what is good for me and what isn't, turns out lentils are not, but just knowing that others are struggling as well really helps me accept my fate.