I need chocolate

[Bigmattlav_]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

 

[Lauraduff92]

Small doses of Thorntons diabetic range is good I quite like it and the do so much. Not just dark they do milk chocolate too

 

[Bigmattlav_]

Is diabetic chocolate nice lol?

 

[Lauraduff92]

I mean it doesn't taste the same but I don't think it's far off .

 

[Robbity]

Try real 70% cocoa or greater dark chocolate in small quantities, rather than diabetic versions - these contain sweeteners that can have nasty side effects and give you the runs if you eat any quantity.

Robbity

 

[13lizanne]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

Hello Bigmattlav and welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of support and encouragement here. I'm tagging @daisy1 who'll be along soon with lots of great information for you. I personally can't eat chocolate any more as it spikes my blood glucose levels too much but, on the plus side, since I changed my way of eating I find I my "sweet tooth" has lessened. Hope that you find the information on here helpful in controlling your diabetes.

 

[zand]

I worked my way up from 70% to 99% dark chocolate. It's wonderful and guilt free as you don't need much

 

[13lizanne]

I worked my way up from 70% to 99% dark chocolate. It's wonderful and guilt free as you don't need much

Where can you buy 99% chocolate @zand ?

 

[poohtiggy]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

Diabetic chocolate and other items with the words 'diabetic' or sugar free are best avoided as they contain sugar under other guises,, it would be better to have just a little of the real stuff. Aldi sell some little finger bars ten in a packet about the size of one kitkat finger, they are I think about 7g carbs but really do the trick. I stick to peanut M n Ms as there is only a smidgeon of chocolate (but enough to taste ) on them and the nuts are good food. Please, do not waste your money on so called diabetic labelled stuff also what pleases one doesn't please everyone and personally I disliked Thorntons diabetic chocolate and all the sugars in it

 

[zand]

Where can you buy 99% chocolate @zand ?

I buy it directly from a Lindt shop. I buy it in bulk, 20 bars at a time because I get discount that way.

 

[Lauraduff92]

Each to their own. Dark chocolate you get used to and the odd piece from thorntons is nice and fine for me as it doesn't raise my blood sugars. Just have to find out what you like and what suits your diabetes.

 

[13lizanne]

I buy it directly from a Lindt shop. I buy it in bulk, 20 bars at a time because I get discount that way.

Thank you, we have a lovely sweet shop locally which sells Lindt, perhaps I'll graduate on to bulk buying later.

 

[daisy1]

Hello Bigmattlav and welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of support and encouragement here. I'm tagging @daisy1 who'll be along soon with lots of great information for you. I personally can't eat chocolate any more as it spikes my blood glucose levels too much but, on the plus side, since I changed my way of eating I find I my "sweet tooth" has lessened. Hope that you find the information on here helpful in controlling your diabetes.

@Bigmattlav_

Hello Matt and welcome to the forum. As mentioned above, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find lots of things you can eat without getting your carb count too high. I do love chocolate but only treat myself to a little very occasionally. Ask more questions if you need to and you will get help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[noblehead]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

There was a thread started last week discussing suitable chocolate for people with diabetes, some of the dark chocolates are really nice, if you go for the 70% Cocoa content the taste isn't as intense as those that are in the 80-90% range, here's the thread anyway:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...ic-friendly-chocolate-suggestions-here.85718/

 

[Sarah Ann Hodges]

Is diabetic chocolate nice lol?

I think it's awful stuff. Gives you the most awful wind and the squits....not a good combo just have small amount of 70% dark chocki.....

 

[wd6ecc]

make your own with coconut oil and un sweetend cocoa use stevia for sweetener

 

[Totto]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

If you have diabetes it's wise to get used to stay off any sweet stuff. It makes it much more manageable. That said, I have no experience of secondary diabetes and presumably you are on insulin?

Dark chocolate is something different to milk chocolate, agreed, but I've gotten used to it. On the few occasions I've tried milk chocolate in the last year it's tasted far too sweet, sickeningly sweet actually.

Dark chocolate comes in many varieties. My favourites the South American, mainly Peruvian. Not as bitter as the chocolate from Africa you get in Lindt's and most others but also more expensive.

 

[Celeriac]

ASDA Extra Special Fairtrade Dominican Republic organic 70% cocoa dark chocolate with cocoa nibs 100g 1.50 35g carbs per 100g (ouch) but 2 squares only 7g carbs. It's sweeter than 90% cocoa chocolate and has a different texture to other chocolate, because of the nibs, also cheap for Fairtrade and organic, plus it's vegetarian.

But it doesn't strike me as sensible to be eating carby n sweet chocolate with pancreatitis.

 

[soconfused]

I recently been diagnosed with secondary diabetes due to pancreatitis and I'm really struggling with lack of chocolate as I have a big sweet tooth and do t like dark chocolate. Any suggestions of what I can have.

Remember there are Good Carbs and Bad Carbs. You can eat chocolate in moderation. Click on this link or copy and paste it into your address bar and I hope it is of some help http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-chocolate.html

 

[teacher123]

Diabetic chocolate gives you the scoots... stick to 80-90% dark chocolate in small quantities of course