T2 + takeaways = disaster???

[jocoll]

Hi,

I am newly diagnosed a couple of weeks ago T2 and am trying to have a better my diet and have more multigrains, veg, fruit etc and have stopped having choc, crisps etc, but.... hubby wants to have a McDonalds for dinner tonight and I really want to join him!!

Anyone know if any of the meals are better than others? Can I get away with having a burger meal if I have a good lunch or does it not work that way?!!

Any advice welcome, I don't want to feel I have to miss out on everything nice!

Thanks

 

[borofergie]

Well done for making the effort with your diet.

Once in a while, anything is OK, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. I doubt there is very much at MacDonalds that won't contain a heap of cabrohydrates (other than boring salads).

I satisfy my Take Away cravings with Shish Kebabs (I try not to eat the pita) or Nandos.

Do you have a blood testing kit? If you test after eating your BigMac and Fries, you can see how much it spikes your BG, and then you can decide if you want to eat it next time.

 

[jocoll]

Hi,

Thats what I thought, we very rarely have them and it would be a good exercise in seeing how it affects my readings tonight (that seems like a very good excuse to me!!!)

Thanks for your help, and I will remember the Shish kebabs for next time!

 

[RussG]

A few weeks ago when driving a sleeping child around on my own, I needed some food and MacDs was the only real option. I asked for their chicken selects (3 strips was still about 40g carb) and a salad instead of the fries. You'd think I had asked for the map to the lost city of el dorado. After telling me they didn't do it, and me pointing out that it was a) on national adverts and b) on their own menu, they did finally provide me with a small pot with two tomatoes, some strips of lettuce and some shredded carrot but only after a substantial wait in the parking bay. Their salad dressings are also a little sugary.

You can build a meal here and check out the nutritional content.

http://www1.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal/

As Borofergie says, all ok in moderation but kebabs made from real pieces of meat is generally your best take away bet.

 

[Patch]

McDonalds hits me hard. The bread they use for the buns tastes almost like a donut to me - it is SO sweet! That's how they get you hooked!

Take away wise, there are better options. A lamb or chicken shish w/no pitta is not gonna hit you hard - and you can have tons of greek salad with it. Certain indian curries are also not gonna hit you too hard, as long as you avoid the rice, nan and (my fav) onion bhajis. Go for a tomatoe based curry sauce (or, if you already are lo-carbing, one of teh cream based sauces).

But like anything - one cDonalds in a blue moon won't do much damage. You need to decide if it's easier to avoid 'em, or just have one VERY ocassionally...

 

[Pneu]

I would have thought the burger bun would be the worst part.. the actual burger (assuming its not coated) will be fine.. the chips will contain carbohydrates but not so bad in a medium portion.. assuming you have a diet drink and avoid the bun and have a small / medium fries it shouldn't be mega bad.. around 40 - 50g of carb..

useful link here: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/food/nutriti ... ounter.mcd

 

[Grazer]

If I have something like a McDonalds, (which is rare), I have a cheeseburger and chips and throw away the bun. The bun is the worst contributor to Blood Sugar levels in the whole meal. Only a small chips though!

 

[RussG]

Medium fries and cheeseburger 80g carb (medium fries are 48g on their own).

Quarterpounder with cheese, large fries and large double taste milkshake - 194g carb and 1510kcal

 

[borofergie]

The bun is the worst contributor to Blood Sugar levels in the whole meal. Only a small chips though!

Their salad dressings are also a little sugary.

In his "Sugar - The Bitter Truth" video, Robert Lustig lists the only three things on the American MacDonalds menu that don't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup (according to him, the most evil of all carbs):

• 1. Sausage

• 2. Diet Coke

• 3. Chicken Nuggests

I don't think that you can even get sausage in UK MacDonalds (and even if you could, I'm not sure that I would eat it). The Nuggets only count if you don't get a dip with them (and what the point in that?)

 

[pianoman]

All great advice above My personal take is that it is not what we eat "on occasion" that we should fret about, so much as what we eat day to day. It is up to you what you feel you can manage. We have to live as well and I have no intention of being slave to my BG

For the rest: I'd say that there are obvious things to watch for at McDs such as the fries, coke and bun, but as others have mentioned; there are also plenty of places to hide refined carbohydrates in sauces, dressings etc... I have gone into McDs when travelling for my job and generally get by with a bacon cheeseburger or two, minus the bun, dressing and fries. Add some green salad and iced water and I'm set and satisfied. If I must have dressing I get it "on the side" so I can control how much I use.

 

[jocoll]

Hi,

Thanks very much for all your replies, I will go on their website and try to work out a happy compromise I think, it still amuses me as a newbie that the bun is the worst part of it!

Thanks all x

 

[Grazer]

minus the bun

Like me, ditches the bun. But you might note that in lots of places, (not tried it in McDonalds yet), I tell them with a whiney simper that I'm diabetic and can't eat the bun, could they chuck a free topping (like cheese) on instead? I nearly always get a yes. I got a free side salad as a replacement in one place, and a pound knocked off in a golf club bar!

 

[borofergie]

Thanks very much for all your replies, I will go on their website and try to work out a happy compromise I think, it still amuses me as a newbie that the bun is the worst part of it!

I like the bad feeling I get from eating fried bread and knowing that it's the bread that's bad for me and not the lard.

 

[mehdave]

High Fructose Corn Syrup is banned in the uk and as such will not be found in anything in the uk.

A takaway of your choice should not have a big enough impact on your bloods to cause major problems (in the lorng term h1) depending on how many you have. I have my takeaway every week for example and still dont have issues (you may be diffrent). And I find if I try and limit what I fancy instead of just going for it. Then I end up resenting that I didnt have what I wanted. EG my donner calzone or a pizza etc.

Mcdonalds food is not that bad in my opinion

 

[Grazer]

A takaway of your choice should not have a big enough impact on your bloods

Surely that depends on the takeaway and the individual's level of diabetes? If I had a takeaway pizza I'd be in mid/high double figures. With respect, is your advice here a tad dangerous? Especially as Some might interpret "occasional" a little differently to others?

 

[pianoman]

High Fructose Corn Syrup is banned in the uk. ...

"a rose by any other name would [taste] as sweet" :mrgreen: In N. America the Corn Refiners Association are trying to get HFCS re-branded as "Corn Sugar" to underline how natural a product it is. Same difference sucrose, HFCS, etc... :wink:

I also agree that McDs are not such a bad place -- you can make healthy choices there. I don't point the finger of blame at any of the fast food chains... they are just responding to market forces and really don't care if they serve us burgers or salads... just so long as we keep buying it from them

I'm not sure if it has made much impact in the UK yet but there is a great Movie/Documentary by Tom Naughton called Fat Head; which started as a response to Super Size Me. In it Tom undertakes to show that he can eat (not just salads) for a month at McDs, while losing excess fat mass and improving other health markers such as cholesterol :shock: and he wasn't sponsored by McDs!

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/about/

 

[mehdave]

Surely that depends on the takeaway and the individual's level of diabetes? If I had a takeaway pizza I'd be in mid/high double figures. With respect, is your advice here a tad dangerous? Especially as Some might interpret "occasional" a little differently to others?

Have clarified my point for you. In long term such as h1 tests etc a occasional* takeaway will not cause a significant increase in MY opinion going from my own results.

And if you also note I was referring to my own choice eg pizza obviously what you may tolerate will be different but the OP in this case will not know until they have tried and monitored there BG to find out there own tolerance.

* occasional in this case means once every 3-4 weeks

Piano man cant say I have heard of that one I did see supersize me was shocking. Will take a look at that one thanks.

 

[borofergie]

High Fructose Corn Syrup is banned in the uk and as such will not be found in anything in the uk

Is it? I don't think so; there seems to be a lot of Glucose-Fructose syrup on the ingredients labels in my kitchen.

It's also listed as HFCS on lots of items here: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/food/nutriti ... dients.mcd

 

[mehdave]

You will find thats slightly different in the exact makeup. Hence the glucose comes first its the amount in the product that usually gives it Its name eg 55% fructose to less glucose. It was a sneaky way around the HFCS backlash that happened a few years ago. So sure while its very close to HFCS its not identical.

Personally all those cheap alternatives to cane sugar should be banned. No wonder Americans think our juice tastes better it has real sugar

 

[pianoman]

Here is a N. American "Sweet Surprise" TV advert from the Corn Refiner's Association in answer to all the bad press HFCS has been getting in recent years... (you have to click through the link to YouTube... sorry... but while there you might also enjoy the many parodies of this advert.)

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And here Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Paediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fibre (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. He agrees with the Corn Refiners that HFCS is just the same as Sucrose (Glucose + Fructose)... just as bad, especially in the quantities it is eaten these days. Chemically they might be equivalent but it is just so cheap and ubiquitous...it turns up in the most unlikely foods that aren't even usually thought of as being "sweet".

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and just in case you can't spare the hour and an half to watch Dr Lustig (although I highly recommend it) here is Sean Croxton at UndergroundWellness with an 11 minute summary...

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