Need Fruit/veg "cocktail" suggestions

[Doug66]

Hi,
I'm 26 and unfit/unhealthy, when it comes to eating your 5 a day I maybe have 1 portion a week. I'd imagine I'm in a fairly high risk situation at the moment of developing something like diabetes and already have proctitis which I doubt is helped by my poor diet.

I'm looking for suggestions for 4-5 fruit/veg that could quite literally be blended up once a day to deliver a reasonably rounded "dose of goodness".
It may not be the best way to consume nutritional foods but itd certainly be better than my current slim to none intake.

Thanks!

 

[bulkbiker]

What kind of things do you usually like eating.. the health halo of 5 a day, especially when applied to fruit, is a bit of an urban myth.
Ever had any blood tests done?... might be worth getting something called an HbA1c just to see if you have elevated blood sugar levels which can lead to all sorts of inflammation.

 

[Doug66]

What kind of things do you usually like eating.. the health halo of 5 a day, especially when applied to fruit, is a bit of an urban myth.
Ever had any blood tests done?... might be worth getting something called an HbA1c just to see if you have elevated blood sugar levels which can lead to all sorts of inflammation.

My daily intake is something along the lines of weetabix with chocolate milk for breakfast, some sort of pastry (steak slice/sausage roll) for lunch then something easy out the freezer for dinner, frozen cod/chicken burgers and chips... anything quick and easy, so basically I still eat like a child. So I probably just a need complete diet overhaul.

Not had any blood tests in a couple years so I'll get on that next week (in process of changing Drs).

I think my only saving grace is that I dont drink alcohol/smoke or eat cheese, otherwise I'd be twice my current size.

 

[bulkbiker]

Cheese would probably be beneficial but see if you can get the blood test first then maybe look at reducing some of the carbohydrate in your diet especially if you want to lose a few pounds fairly effortlessly.
Bacon and eggs for breakfast over cereals.. cold meats, cheese and pork scratchings for lunch and ditch the chips for dinner... meat and non starchy veg should help.

 

[xfieldok]

or eat cheese

Oh my goodness, without cheese I don't know where I would be!

Your education is about to start. Read around the forum, ask lots of questions. Look at the subforums on Low Carb High Fat diet. Research keto or ketogenic diets. Most of us T2s use low carb to control our blood glucose. Many of us have used these diets to lose a shedload of weight (without pain). Some like @bulkbiker are carnivor, you find what works for you.

Do your research. Yes, you do need a bit of an overhaul, but you have recognised this and good for you wanting to do something about it. You don't have to have diabetes to be here. If we can stop another person becoming diabetic, we would move mountains.

Welcome to the forum, I hope you will stick around.

 

[EllieM]

I'm going to put in a brief contrasting view. It's not clear to me that low carb high fat is necessarily a recommendation to give to someone who is not prediabetic or at least at some sort of risk for diabetes.... (Prepares to be flamed ).

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi,
I'm 26 and unfit/unhealthy, when it comes to eating your 5 a day I maybe have 1 portion a week. I'd imagine I'm in a fairly high risk situation at the moment of developing something like diabetes and already have proctitis which I doubt is helped by my poor diet.

I'm looking for suggestions for 4-5 fruit/veg that could quite literally be blended up once a day to deliver a reasonably rounded "dose of goodness".
It may not be the best way to consume nutritional foods but itd certainly be better than my current slim to none intake.

Thanks!

Hi @Doug66,

Since you're not diagnosed (pre-) diabetic or anything right now, you don't actually have to implement the changes we've had/chosen to. Though carbs are inflammatory by nature, and it might help your proctitis to cut down on those, right now I don't see a reason for you to take the drastic measures a lot of people here did. So... Get thee to the doctor, ask for a HbA1c test if you're concerned about your bloodsugars levels (no need to fast for that one), and let us know how you get on.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ is what works for a lot of folks here (not exactly this, but this is the general direction... Some go vegan, some go carnivore, some go Newcastle Diet, Atkins, Scandinavian etc.... But it gives a basic idea.)..

So... Get tested, and get back to us if you do need help with the diabetes thing eh. Otherwise we'd just be suggesting things that are not even close to relevant for your situation.
Jo
PS: Cheese is good.

 

[xfieldok]

No flames from me, but plenty of non diabetics follow lchf or keto. Hubby saw the effect that keto had on me and whilst he is non diabetic he made up his own version and lost a couple of stone.

 

[Member496333]

No one even knows where five-a-day came from. It's certainly not based in any rigorous scientific evidence. Zoë Harcombe opines that it was made up in the back of a taxi

On a more positive note, I recommend getting one's 'five-a-day' from overground vegetables, not fruit. And definitely not pulverised fruit smoothies, which are basically fructose/glucose concentrate.

 

[HSSS]

I'm going to put in a brief contrasting view. It's not clear to me that low carb high fat is necessarily a recommendation to give to someone who is not prediabetic or at least at some sort of risk for diabetes.... (Prepares to be flamed ).

Again no flames but a lot of people uses low carb or even keto for reasons other than diabetes. Weight loss being the biggest one. Many inflammatory conditions, ibs, migraine, pcos, breathing issues, fibromyalgia, etc have all been reported as benefitting from this way of eating. Also, especially if family history is strong in any of these things prevention is better than cure.

A lower carb (not necessarily drastically low) lifestyle would probably prevent an awful lot of people becoming sick in the first place. Ie to maintain their health and not stress the hell out of it and then have to try and fix it afterwards. Pretty much the basis of the Public Health Collaboration’s attempt to get the eatwell plate overhauled and for the gov to recommend something like their healthy eating plate suggestions. https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Real-Food-Lifestyle-Patient-Booklet.pdf or a similar one for weight loss https://phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...Lifestyle-For-Weight-Loss-Patient-Booklet.pdf

edit for typos as usual

 

[Resurgam]

At about your age - mid 20s I was very fit - weighed about 140 lb and had a lot of muscle, and a large black Labrador dog - we used to run to the next village and back every evening. I ate low carb - so did the dog, he was very fit too - I grew veges in the garden, went to the market twice a week and there was a good butcher close to home and a fish stall on the market.
If only I could go back and leave myself a message to avoid all advice to alter my diet from that one as it would benefit me greatly - even though it would mean a lot of angry doctors and nurses. Maybe add 'learn to lie' to the advice.

 

[TriciaWs]

Having got my diabetes into remission via low carb, I wish I'd done it years ago and avoided becoming diabetic in the first place.
With that in mind my old style 5, or 6, a day was nearly all fruit some days - and even the government advice is backing away from that and saying only 1 or 2 portions of fruit a day and the rest as salad or veg.
I now restrict my fruit to a small portion of fresh raspberries, stirred into full fat Greek yogurt - or a few blueberries or some rhubarb.
No bananas - a staple smoothie base - not ever, not even one mouthful!

So green smoothies, with or without greek yogurt, are one option. Try them with extras such as soy sauce, mint or lemon juice to make them more palatable if you aren't used to eating green veg.
If you have the gene that makes brussel sprouts and spinach taste bitter then try other veg - eg cauliflower, courgettes, mushrooms, cucumbers, lettuce? And don't forget avocados or coconut milk/cream make a good smoothie base.

How about a batch of mushroom and chicken soup or stew? - invest in a slow cooker, throw in some chicken thighs and a pack of mushrooms with some garlic puree and black pepper - leave to cook for a few hours. Or use stewing beef, a pack already cut into cubes and just cook for an extra hour or two. These can be frozen in portions and defrosted in a microwave. Add a pack of ready prepared green beans or cauliflower and broccoli florets - either of these can be zapped in the microwave.