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Supermarkets and Diabetes

gfgeoff

gfgeoff

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
So go into most supermarkets and you will find an aisle dedicated to gluten free products for coeliacs etc etc now go and find the diabetic aisle?you won't and yet we are told diabetes has reached epidemic proportions?Go figure cos I can't !
Geoff T2
 
gfgeoff said:
So go into most supermarkets and you will find an aisle dedicated to gluten free products for coeliacs etc etc now go and find the diabetic aisle?you won't and yet we are told diabetes has reached epidemic proportions?Go figure cos I can't !
Geoff T2
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I totally agree with you, I have been saying this to my wife years. When I mentioned it to the manager or a local supermarket he agreed but when its mentioned at regional meetings its glossed over . This was a few years ago, but can't say I have seen any changes.
 
There are lots of foods suitable for diabetics in supermarkets, we just have to walk round and find them, the supermarkets are 'helping' us by giving us a bit more exercise and lowering our BG levels ;)

Interesting to see what will happen now the voices shouting for full fat products are starting to be heard. (Michael Mossely has been quite influencial in recent years on issues such as 5:2 diet, he wrote in Daily Mail yesterday about sugar and low fat being wrong advice)
 
You don't need 'special' foods! For years, there are ranges of 'diabetic' foods/sweets. Problem is ,eaten in quantity, the artificial sweetener gives you the runs. Basic fats and protein are fine - stick to ingredients when shopping. Anything where it's difficult to distinguish between the food and the packaging is best avoided.
 
dizaster said:
I totally agree with you, I have been saying this to my wife years. When I mentioned it to the manager or a local supermarket he agreed but when its mentioned at regional meetings its glossed over . This was a few years ago, but can't say I have seen any changes.
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Totally disagree with you. What 'foods' do you want???? Are you hoping for some nice expensive pre-made foods. Everything you need is already sold in a supermarket but it's not the 'foods' in the huge amounts of packaging!
 
Scimama said:
There are lots of foods suitable for diabetics in supermarkets, we just have to walk round and find them, the supermarkets are 'helping' us by giving us a bit more exercise and lowering our BG levels ;)

Interesting to see what will happen now the voices shouting for full fat products are starting to be heard. (Michael Mosely has been quite influencial in recent years on issues such as 5:2 diet, he wrote in Daily Mail yesterday about sugar and low fat being wrong advice)
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I love Mr Mosely but thought he had it so wrong with his ideas on fat. The programme where he looked at his blood sugars, he didn't actually state he was pre-diabetic . We had to work that out from a blurry close-up of his chart. Well done to him today in article in the Daily Mail.
 
Hello Geoff, and welcome :)
I can honestly say that I have never needed or wanted anything that was specifically for diabetics. Actually, most of my food shopping comes from Aldi :D

Some years back I was given a "Diabetic " Easter egg, and it was possibly the foulest thing I have ever tasted ! Oh yes, and I have been given a jar of "Diabetic Marmalade ", also disgusting and sweetened with sorbitol, a well known laxative . :confused:

Signy
 
Mushroom said:
Totally disagree with you. What 'foods' do you want???? Are you hoping for some nice expensive pre-made foods. Everything you need is already sold in a supermarket but it's not the 'foods' in the huge amounts of packaging!
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Heathenlass said:
Hello Geoff, and welcome :)
I can honestly say that I have never needed or wanted anything that was specifically for diabetics. Actually, most of my food shopping comes from Aldi :D

Some years back I was given a "Diabetic " Easter egg, and it was possibly the foulest thing I have ever tasted ! Oh yes, and I have been given a jar of "Diabetic Marmalade ", also disgusting and sweetened with sorbitol, a well known laxative . :confused:

Signy
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yes I agree with what you say I suppose the point I was trying to make was why are people requiring gluten free products made a special case with their own aisle of food how about an aisle for us specifically with low carb and low or no sugar?just an idea and would save spending time scrutinising every label
Yes existing diabetic products are pretty naf :)
 
gfgeoff said:
yes I agree with what you say I suppose the point I was trying to make was why are people requiring gluten free products made a special case with their own aisle of food how about an aisle for us specifically with low carb and low or no sugar?just an idea and would save spending time scrutinising every label
Yes existing diabetic products are pretty naf :)
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Ah, I get you :)

The "Low Carb Aisle" is a feature of my fantasy supermarket, lol ! It would make shopping that much quicker !

One reason I can think of as to why there is a specific section for Gluten Free is because gluten is mostly hidden on many information labels, and to get it wrong can have worse consequences than, say, having higher carbs in the short term.

The good thing about eating low carb is that you very soon have your own database of foods that do and don't spike you from experience. It gets easier. Except that supermarkets keep changing where things are, that drives me nuts ! (No pun intended :D )

Signy
 
The low carb aisle is in every supermarket. In fact there are at least 2 - the vegetable aisle and the meat counter. Is there anything else you want?
 
Hi, I did think if you thought about it, you may realise it really isn't a major problem going shopping.
With gluten-free, the usual gluten is hidden in foods which have multiple ingredients. Gluten can be removed from foods which would usually have it or the food can be made using a recipe to make it less sensitive to a ceoliac. It is incredibly easy to find foods with minimal carbs and if you want a manufactured food with low sugar, the ingredients state if it uses a sweetener.
As far as reading the ingredients, it's not much to have to do. I already have to do that with a nut allergic family member. That is far more of a potentially dangerous issue. Finding foods suitable for my diabetes is a doddle in comparison.
 
The trouble is, if there were diabetic aisles in supermarkets, I'll bet they would be full of heart-healthy-complex-carbs :sour:, and cholesterol-lowering-cart-axle-grease :***:(aka marge type spreads), or even that carbuncle on the face of reality diabetic chocolate :yuck:

The good stuff - butter, full fat cheese, meat, egg, fish, veg, berries and posh yummy 70% choccie are spread all over (very kindly fetched for me by an underpaid minion, and delivered to my door by another).

I was a minion once - a summer job in a supermarket, on the customer services desk o_O.
And some plonker came in and ranted mightily about how this was the third week we had failed in our duty to provide him with articially sweetened, low fat, pseudo dairy diabetic icecream.

Of course, I smiled sweetly, apologised, explaining about our delivery problems, yada yada. Probably nonsense. Then went home to snaffle a portion of Haagen Daas with extra double cream (yes, even then I low carbed, and looked for the highest fat content :wacky:)

Poor sod. I mean, what kind of a life did he have? Food is life! And love! And good icecream rivals mediocre hanky panky.

Imagine how miserable his existence must have been - reduced to near apoplexy at the un-availability of a mainly synthetic dessert.
 
I don't want special products for diabetics ,been bought some in the past and most taste .... well you know what they taste like. ;-)

What gets me is you look at a lot of low_fat foods, they have high quantities of sugar to make up for it.
Just like to see more low sugar products not reduced sugar.
 
Actually I think it might be helpful to have some low carb foods in a supermarket. Some of us can't, or don't have time to make low carb bread for instance and if you decide on a picnic at short notice it would be nice to be able to pick up some low carb rolls for instance. I haven't found those anywhere then again nor can I seem to get my hands on the Livlife bread as there are no Waitrose stores anywhere within 50 miles of me, so that isn't an option also.
By all means we should eat healthily and limit any fast food, junk food and pre-packed food, but now and again we all deserve a small treat!
I have a pot of 'super jam' in my fridge and it's nice now and again to have a treat of some jam on toast. ;)
 
Bluetit1802 said:
The low carb aisle is in every supermarket. In fact there are at least 2 - the vegetable aisle and the meat counter. Is there anything else you want?
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That's partially my issue - I only raid the veg one. So all the rest that I buy on a regular basis are scattered all over, not a problem if I have plenty of time to find where they decide to hide the almonds etc . In my fantasy supermarket, it's all laid out in one glorious aisle (next to the veg! )and stuff never gets moved :D

Signy
 
Wouldn't want to see a diabetic aisle, I'm sure in any given supermarket there's plenty of foods to choose from whatever your dietary preference is
 
We have had similar debates before or at least some with a similar tendency.

There was the one where a poster wanted to know if we would buy "Diabetic Food" from a market stall and most contributors said that they wouldn't.

There was a poster who wanted "Diabetic Food" to be sold in supermarkets because he/she didn't want to think about it and really wanted someone else to decide what he/she could eat.

My problem with a "Diabetic" department in supermarkets is that there is no guarantee that they would get it right when the NHS can't. Worse still they might take advice from the NHS and push the healthy plate. Even worse yet they may have staff who "know" about diabetes and provide mystery meals in cardboard boxes with messages on the box like DIABETIC FRIENDLY .....HONEST.

In reality the meat counter is diabetic friendly if the meat is still recognisable as coming from an animal. The veg department is diabetic friendly unless you eat large amounts of carrots and parsnips.

Just avoid the bread, cakes and ultra processed food and the whole supermarket is diabetic friendly.
 
I think the problem of it taking too long to read labels on packaging can be easily resolved. Don't buy foods with labels. Buy a cauliflower. Or a tomato. Or a fish etc.
 
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