Veggie low-carb help, please?

[JenniferW]

With all sorts of medication (not just for T2), keeping my HbA1c below the level of needing it is a priority for me - and a low-carb diet has worked in the past. However, I struggle endlessly with it (carb cravings?) and at the same time, as a veggie, struggle to include high levels of protein foods. Because of another health condition (hyperuricemia), I'm also advised to only ever have restricted amounts of legumes, and not eat some of them at all. I eat eggs, cheese and milk (including yoghurt and kefir) every day, but these also give me high amounts of fats which I worry (a bit) about as I see this as a lifelong diet. Help? I'd like to know how other people cope long, long term

 

[Resurgam]

With all sorts of medication (not just for T2), keeping my HbA1c below the level of needing it is a priority for me - and a low-carb diet has worked in the past. However, I struggle endlessly with it (carb cravings?) and at the same time, as a veggie, struggle to include high levels of protein foods. Because of another health condition (hyperuricemia), I'm also advised to only ever have restricted amounts of legumes, and not eat some of them at all. I eat eggs, cheese and milk (including yoghurt and kefir) every day, but these also give me high amounts of fats which I worry (a bit) about as I see this as a lifelong diet. Help? I'd like to know how other people cope long, long term

I have yet to find any logical explanation of why foods we have eaten for a million years are to be avoided, but multicolour Cheerios are touted as a healthy option

 

[Melgar]

With all sorts of medication (not just for T2), keeping my HbA1c below the level of needing it is a priority for me - and a low-carb diet has worked in the past. However, I struggle endlessly with it (carb cravings?) and at the same time, as a veggie, struggle to include high levels of protein foods. Because of another health condition (hyperuricemia), I'm also advised to only ever have restricted amounts of legumes, and not eat some of them at all. I eat eggs, cheese and milk (including yoghurt and kefir) every day, but these also give me high amounts of fats which I worry (a bit) about as I see this as a lifelong diet. Help? I'd like to know how other people cope long, long term

I am certainly not a diet expert, I do however, have a restricted diet due to coeliac, lactose intolerance and at the moment I am unable to eat fats, so I get how frustrating it can be. Eggs will definitely give you proteins and fats. Nuts are also high in fats and proteins. I personally would not concern yourself too much over fats. Especially if you are restricting your carbohydrate intake. The body needs energy, and with reduced carbs it will utilize fats for energy. And as an aside diet seems to have little effect on cholesterol levels. I’ve been unable to eat fats or if I do they are very limited as they give me nausea and issues with metabolism, but my LDL cholesterol levels were always high, even without fats. Triglycerides however are very low.
I find Fats and proteins filling, when I can eat the fats, whilst carbs are short lived, in fact I’m hungry again soon after and crave more.

Cooking meals from scratch, as a veggie I’m sure you do, helps a lot. You are able to control what goes in your meals, experiment with different ingredients and flavours and not over process your meals. Obviously cooking is a process, but nothing like those manufactured meals, where chemicals abound, even in ‘healthy’ options.

 

[lovinglife]

Cottage cheese is all the rage at the moment, it’s high in protein and not over high in fat, there’s a lot of recipes online using cottage cheese

 

[Ledzeptt]

Hi @JenniferW

Personally, I do eat beans and lentils, so am low-ish rather than low carb (basically avoid the starch - spuds, pasta, rice, etc), but easier for me without hyperuricecemia, plus I don’t seem to be affected by fat (certainly hasn’t raised my blood cholesterol levels). In answer to your question about coping long term, it’s not something I think too much about. I can’t remember when I changed diet*, but over 5 years ago and it’s only difficult when eating out, especially at friends/relatives. At home, I can usually ignore what my wife’s eating (she’s having a bean stew with potatoes right now) simply because if I eat it, it will be tasty but I’ll feel dreadful in a hour or so when my BG spikes.

Perhaps the key is to focus on why you decided to change your diet? what are the benefits to you?

I do eat a lot of eggs (I’m told) - I’ll easily go through a box of 12 in a week, ignoring what my wife’s has.

Can you eat soy? If so, then that opens up tofu, tempeh, processed soy mince-type products, soya/edamame beans (plus the pasta made from edamame) - all lowish carb but high protein.

Have you seen some of the specific forums for ideas? I.e.

Vegetarian/Vegan Low Carb Recipe Index

This is a work in progress as it'll take ages to get all the suitable recipes indexed here, so please bear with me as I'll mainly be doing this during my lunch hour at work. Please feel free to suggest other recipes on the forum that should be added to this.. I've decided to create a post...

www.diabetes.co.uk

Vegetarians: What have you eaten today?

Tell us what you have eaten today .. This is a forum for vegetarians .. So please no meat references .. A Vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with, or without, the use of dairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat any meat...

www.diabetes.co.uk

*Changed to lowish carb, but became vegetarian around 1990.

 

[JenniferW]

I am certainly not a diet expert, I do however, have a restricted diet due to coeliac, lactose intolerance and at the moment I am unable to eat fats, so I get how frustrating it can be. Eggs will definitely give you proteins and fats. Nuts are also high in fats and proteins. I personally would not concern yourself too much over fats. Especially if you are restricting your carbohydrate intake. The body needs energy, and with reduced carbs it will utilize fats for energy. And as an aside diet seems to have little effect on cholesterol levels. I’ve been unable to eat fats or if I do they are very limited as they give me nausea and issues with metabolism, but my LDL cholesterol levels were always high, even without fats. Triglycerides however are very low.
I find Fats and proteins filling, when I can eat the fats, whilst carbs are short lived, in fact I’m hungry again soon after and crave more.

Cooking meals from scratch, as a veggie I’m sure you do, helps a lot. You are able to control what goes in your meals, experiment with different ingredients and flavours and not over process your meals. Obviously cooking is a process, but nothing like those manufactured meals, where chemicals abound, even in ‘healthy’ options.

Thank you - that all helps. I was diagnosed T2 coming up for 10 years ago. Early on I went on X-PERT course and I went on it again about a year ago when it was offered as my HbA1c levels were creeping upwards. But I find the standard diet advice for veggies is pretty limited, and they never seemed to talk about how this might all work alongside other medical conditions which also ask for diet restrictions. So this forum helpfully puts me in contact with valuable experiences of people coping with the same sort of thing.

Having put the 'problems' into words to post here, I'm trying obvious changes. Semi-skimmed milk for 100%: awful in drinks, in my opinion! Low fat cottage cheese: tried it once years ago and thought it was disgusting, tried it this week as a sort of 'sauce', stirred into cooked vegetables and was surprised how well it worked! Mozzarella in salads instead of always buying Cheddar. And I'm now planning on nuts as part of the daily diet whereas before it was sporadic, here and there. So - positive changes and I wait to see how the HbA1c comes out in 3 months time.

 

[JenniferW]

Cottage cheese is all the rage at the moment, it’s high in protein and not over high in fat, there’s a lot of recipes online using cottage cheese

I've always eaten cottage cheese but am picky about which brand, not liking some which to me seem horribly watery. I only once tried a low fat variety, and thought it so awful I never tried it again! However, this week I bought some and instead of eating it 'straight', I stirred it into a mixture of cooked vegetables, like a sauce, and liked it! My menus have gained a new dish!

 

[lovinglife]

I don’t buy the low fat ones, the normal fat aren’t that high in fat.

I’ve been on a no fibre diet for a few weeks and I’ve used it a lot, mixed in hard boiled eggs with a small blob of mayo, beaten into eggs for omelettes, I make my own low carb lemon curd which is amazing mixed in for a sweet treat, very easy to make if you’d like the link to the recipe. As you’ve discovered great mixed into veggies etc for a sauce.

 

[Ledzeptt]

I buy the Longley Farm (full fat) cottage cheese - very creamy and tasty. I know Asda sell it, but I think other supermarkets stock it. It’s in a small [emoji6][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]g tub so it works out more expensive than own brand versions, but I agree some are watery and tasteless.

I mainly mix it with chia seeds and nuts for breakfast. Occasionally, I’ll make pancakes with an egg and almond flour. See: https://diatribe.org/diabetes-recipes/cottage-cheese-pancakes

 

[JenniferW]

I buy the Longley Farm (full fat) cottage cheese - very creamy and tasty. I know Asda sell it, but I think other supermarkets stock it. It’s in a small [emoji6][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]g tub so it works out more expensive than own brand versions, but I agree some are watery and tasteless.

I mainly mix it with chia seeds and nuts for breakfast. Occasionally, I’ll make pancakes with an egg and almond flour. See: https://diatribe.org/diabetes-recipes/cottage-cheese-pancakes

Longley Farm's been my favourite for decades!

 

[Lupf]

Hi @JenniferW welcome.
I've banned anything low fat from my fridge. removing fat removes taste, which is replaced with sugar, but it still doesn't taste,
and it is often ultraprocessed. Increasing eggs, cheese, butter, nuts, olives, ... in my diet actually lowered my cholesterol.
There is increasing evidence that saturated fatty acids (SFA) are beneficial and not harmful, tagging @KennyA for a study.
In a low carb diet you need to replace carbs with fats and protein, otherwise you will do a starvation diet, which is not sustainable.
Foods which are high in fat also are more satiating and you not feel hungry (have carb craving).
Best wishes.

 

[JenniferW]

Hi @JenniferW welcome.
I've banned anything low fat from my fridge. removing fat removes taste, which is replaced with sugar, but it still doesn't taste,
and it is often ultraprocessed. Increasing eggs, cheese, butter, nuts, olives, ... in my diet actually lowered my cholesterol.
There is increasing evidence that saturated fatty acids (SFA) are beneficial and not harmful, tagging @KennyA for a study.
In a low carb diet you need to replace carbs with fats and protein, otherwise you will do a starvation diet, which is not sustainable.
Foods which are high in fat also are more satiating and you not feel hungry (have carb craving).
Best wishes.

Thank you - you encourage me not to fret about this!

 

[Resurgam]

We need fats to survive - and other things. Saturated fats are the raw materials for hormones and other important substances.

Just after Christmas I was waxing lyrical about how I eat at the folk club and one of the men was looking thoughtful. Just recently he has been looking a lot happier - I guessed why, grinned and raised an eyebrow 'OK?' I enquired and he blushed like a rose.

 

[Angela64]

With all sorts of medication (not just for T2), keeping my HbA1c below the level of needing it is a priority for me - and a low-carb diet has worked in the past. However, I struggle endlessly with it (carb cravings?) and at the same time, as a veggie, struggle to include high levels of protein foods. Because of another health condition (hyperuricemia), I'm also advised to only ever have restricted amounts of legumes, and not eat some of them at all. I eat eggs, cheese and milk (including yoghurt and kefir) every day, but these also give me high amounts of fats which I worry (a bit) about as I see this as a lifelong diet. Help? I'd like to know how other people cope long, long term

You would benefit from a good dietician/nutritionalist. I got an appointment with a nutritionalist from Megan Rossi website https://www.theguthealthdoctor.com/dr-megan-rossi
I went Low Carb High Protein, I’m not veggie so eat normal diet as such. I also bought some books
Carbs & Cals, Carb & Calorie Counter by Chris Cheyenne & Yellow Balolia - very useful and also
GI & GL Counter Dr Winnie Chan. I bought them from Amazon.

The lady I was assigned was very nice and informative, I’d provided her before hand what my current diet was, some stats on my Blood levels.
She asked me what I was looking for because I think she’d not met someone like me who’d researched and trying my best. So I’d said to see if I was doing the right things and was there more I could do. It for me was lovely to get confirmation that I was doing all I could and gave me some tips.
Appointments are very worth paying for.

 

[Angela64]

Hi @JenniferW welcome.
I've banned anything low fat from my fridge. removing fat removes taste, which is replaced with sugar, but it still doesn't taste,
and it is often ultraprocessed. Increasing eggs, cheese, butter, nuts, olives, ... in my diet actually lowered my cholesterol.
There is increasing evidence that saturated fatty acids (SFA) are beneficial and not harmful, tagging @KennyA for a study.
In a low carb diet you need to replace carbs with fats and protein, otherwise you will do a starvation diet, which is not sustainable.
Foods which are high in fat also are more satiating and you not feel hungry (have carb craving).
Best wishes.

Thank you - you encourage me not to fret about this!

I was told to forget counting calories and fat! You as a veggie really need fats for energy. I am Low Carb High Protein its enough to concerns about. The Greek yogurt I buy is 10% fat but if I could get a bit higher fat % I would. You have to have ‘flavour’ eating is meant to be enjoyable. Here’s me who yes suffers anxiety, stress about it all. I’ve other problems too which add to it all.

 

[JenniferW]

You would benefit from a good dietician/nutritionalist. I got an appointment with a nutritionalist from Megan Rossi website https://www.theguthealthdoctor.com/dr-megan-rossi
I went Low Carb High Protein, I’m not veggie so eat normal diet as such. I also bought some books
Carbs & Cals, Carb & Calorie Counter by Chris Cheyenne & Yellow Balolia - very useful and also
GI & GL Counter Dr Winnie Chan. I bought them from Amazon.

The lady I was assigned was very nice and informative, I’d provided her before hand what my current diet was, some stats on my Blood levels.
She asked me what I was looking for because I think she’d not met someone like me who’d researched and trying my best. So I’d said to see if I was doing the right things and was there more I could do. It for me was lovely to get confirmation that I was doing all I could and gave me some tips.
Appointments are very worth paying for.

I've wondered about this, juggling the needs of different diets for two different conditions.

 

[Angela64]

I've wondered about this, juggling the needs of different diets for two different conditions.

I have had Atrial Fibrillation mis-diagnosed as Supra Ventricular Tachicardia for years! I was properly diagnosed last yr by a Professor as he did an ablation and told the consultant who diagnosed me. More recently I‘ve found that I have Haemochromatosis a genetic blood disorder that effects the liver which might be involved with the other conditions (

So hope you can see a good dietician who can help you.

 

[JenniferW]

I have had Atrial Fibrillation mis-diagnosed as Supra Ventricular Tachicardia for years! I was properly diagnosed last yr by a Professor as he did an ablation and told the consultant who diagnosed me. More recently I‘ve found that I have Haemochromatosis a genetic blood disorder that effects the liver which might be involved with the other conditions (

So hope you can see a good dietician who can help you.

I thought before that I might be going a bit over the top in wondering about seeing a dietician. You encourage me to follow this up.

 

[JenniferW]

I've wondered about this, juggling the needs of different diets for two different conditions.

For keeping track of carbs, I use the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. It's helped.

 

[Angela64]

For keeping track of carbs, I use the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. It's helped.

Yes, I have that and think its not bad an ap