Are special Low carb foods ok on the lchf diet?

[bootyful0]

Hi everyone,
I am on the LCHF diet but I want to try some different things. I have heard about some low carb tortillas which have 7 grams of carbs in each one, I also want to try some low carb bars which are similar to Atkins and have 4 grams per bar. I will probably eat these in the evening as snacks. Is it ok to eat this sort of thing on the diet or must I stick to home made recipes . I eat about 40 carbs per day but I'm going to try to eat 35 from next week. Thanks for your help .

 

[Brunneria]

Hi, are you using a meter and testing blood glucose?

I ask because lchf is highly customisable, and we all vary tremendously with our carb tolerances.

Personally i feel that lchf works best when it doesn't contain any processed foods. And i avoid those pretend choc synthetic Atkins bars like the plague. But then, we live in the real world, and sometimes life just doesnt let us have the time to make everything from scratch.

In your place i would buy carefully, looking at all the ingredients, and test blood glucose when eating them. You may find they are fine, or you may find they raise bg and halt weightloss. Either result will help you decide whether to try them again.

 

[bulkbiker]

When I snack its usually on cheese,nuts or pork scratchings (my own personal vice). Maybe some cold meat.. usually cook extra so there's some in the fridge. As @Brunneria says I try to avoid anything that has been "made".

 

[Jasperville]

I think everyone is different. I miss certain foods too much, so do use some bought items (frankenfoods as some people describe them). These help me stay at 50-60 grams of carbs per day.............find it difficult to get lower.

I use a lot of Joseph's tortillas or pitas, hilo bread, livlife bread and Lidl's protein rolls. Giving up gluten would be good for me I'm sure, and low carb breads are high gluten by definition, but I just need a vehicle for all the fat. So breakfast is often a Josephs large pita (5 grams carbs) with humous + cheese/chive dip+egg mayo+pate...............yum, and very LCHF

I also order some bars (coconut and brazil) from natural low carb store. None of these products spike me too much, and none of them have any polyols/sugar alcohols, which are always bad news for me.

 

[chalup]

There are a ton of recipes for cloud bread or oopsie bread on the internet. It is easy to make and sturdy enough for sandwiches or burger buns. Gluten and grain free and almost no carb. I find it to have a much better flavor and texture than breads made of nut flours when using it for a bread replacement. I usually leave the sweetener out if it calls for it. Some recipes use a bit of splenda, others do not.

 

[Robbity]

You can eat whatever low carb food you choose to eat - it's your diet and your health - but low carb is intended to include a healthy balance of green veggies and berries for most of your carbohydrate requirements, meat, fish, poultry and eggs for protein, and dairy produce, nuts, olives, avocados, oils etc, for your fat content. There's a huge variety of normal, delicious and nutritious food that you can buy to eat without having to resort to highly processed "specialist" low carb food, so whatever you choose to do just make sure that you don't end up eating a complete junk food version of LCHF.

Robbity

 

[bootyful0]

Hi, are you using a meter and testing blood glucose?

I ask because lchf is highly customisable, and we all vary tremendously with our carb tolerances.

Personally i feel that lchf works best when it doesn't contain any processed foods. And i avoid those pretend choc synthetic Atkins bars like the plague. But then, we live in the real world, and sometimes life just doesnt let us have the time to make everything from scratch.

In your place i would buy carefully, looking at all the ingredients, and test blood glucose when eating them. You may find they are fine, or you may find they raise bg and halt weightloss. Either result will help you decide whether to try them again.

Thanks Brunneria. Thats a good idea. I will buy and test after eating one. I know its best to eat real foods but lately I just really want something carby and sweet. I think Im starting to struggle. Thanks for your advice. x

 

[bootyful0]

When I snack its usually on cheese,nuts or pork scratchings (my own personal vice). Maybe some cold meat.. usually cook extra so there's some in the fridge. As @Brunneria says I try to avoid anything that has been "made".

Thanks for your reply and advice Bulkbiker. I know that the snacks you mentioned are best but I think I,m in danger of going awol. I just want something sweet/carby all the time. Im hoping it will pass. Thanks again.

 

[bootyful0]

I think everyone is different. I miss certain foods too much, so do use some bought items (frankenfoods as some people describe them). These help me stay at 50-60 grams of carbs per day.............find it difficult to get lower.

I use a lot of Joseph's tortillas or pitas, hilo bread, livlife bread and Lidl's protein rolls. Giving up gluten would be good for me I'm sure, and low carb breads are high gluten by definition, but I just need a vehicle for all the fat. So breakfast is often a Josephs large pita (5 grams carbs) with humous + cheese/chive dip+egg mayo+pate...............yum, and very LCHF

I also order some bars (coconut and brazil) from natural low carb store. None of these products spike me too much, and none of them have any polyols/sugar alcohols, which are always bad news for me.

Hi Jasperville . Thank you so much. This is exactly how I feel. I am missing certain foods and I think I need something to help me stay on track as apposed to just blowing the whole thing with mars bars. I will take all of the lovely advice ive been given by everyone, ie try some "frankenfoods" and then test my b/sugar levels, but i wont forget that real foods are best. Also thank you for mentioning the low carb store and giving me some breakfast ideas. x

 

[bootyful0]

There are a ton of recipes for cloud bread or oopsie bread on the internet. It is easy to make and sturdy enough for sandwiches or burger buns. Gluten and grain free and almost no carb. I find it to have a much better flavor and texture than breads made of nut flours when using it for a bread replacement. I usually leave the sweetener out if it calls for it. Some recipes use a bit of splenda, others do not.

Thanks Chalup. I have heard of these, never tried them. I have found a recipe and I'm going to try them tonight with burgers.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[bootyful0]

You can eat whatever low carb food you choose to eat - it's your diet and your health - but low carb is intended to include a healthy balance of green veggies and berries for most of your carbohydrate requirements, meat, fish, poultry and eggs for protein, and dairy produce, nuts, olives, avocados, oils etc, for your fat content. There's a huge variety of normal, delicious and nutritious food that you can buy to eat without having to resort to highly processed "specialist" low carb food, so whatever you choose to do just make sure that you don't end up eating a complete junk food version of LCHF.

Robbity

Wise words Robbity. Thank you

 

[Pinkorchid]

I am sure we all feel like that at times and want something quick and easy for a snack that we can just grab and eat and don't always fancy cheese, nuts or a hard boiled egg etc We know it is not always possible to eat only fresh foods and no processed stuff a lot depends on our lifestyle and the time we have busy mums and work all impede on our lives so a ready made snack is not always a bad thing. If you want a sweet snack then 9Bars are good

 

[bootyful0]

I am sure we all feel like that at times and want something quick and easy for a snack that we can just grab and eat and don't always fancy cheese, nuts or a hard boiled egg etc We know it is not always possible to eat only fresh foods and no processed stuff a lot depends on our lifestyle and the time we have busy mums and work all impede on our lives so a ready made snack is not always a bad thing. If you want a sweet snack then 9Bars are good

Thanks for that Pinkorchid. I looked up those bars. They look good and cost less too. Thanks

 

[Brunneria]

Thanks for that Pinkorchid. I looked up those bars. They look good and cost less too. Thanks

Just check out each type of 9bar before buying. They vary quite a bit in their carb content. The ones with fruit spike me, while the ones without don't.

 

[SunnyExpat]

I agree, 9bars are around 25% pure cane sugar.
Processed junk food in a trendy package really.

 

[bootyful0]

Just check out each type of 9bar before buying. They vary quite a bit in their carb content. The ones with fruit spike me, while the ones without don't.

Yes I have been looking at the nutritional info next to each one. I am going to try some of the lower carb ones
Thanks again
x

 

[Jasperville]

The natural lowcarb store bars are between 3 and 5 grams of carbs, lots of coconut and seeds, only sweetened with inulin/fructo-oligo-saccharide, which suits me fine. Highly recommended as a treat 3 or 4 times a week.

I've nothing but admiration for people on the forum who seem to stay at 20-30g carbs, and also eat healthily. However, for me, having never eaten fruit/veg/salad, my version of lowcarb has to incorporate some lowcarb versions of the foods I have always eaten. So, i have the occasional box of microchips with my lump of meat for my evening meal, chicken kiev covered in cheese and bacon, despite knowing the breadcrumbs will spike me a bit etc. I aim for less than 7.7 post-prandial readings, but go over this 2 or 3 times a week. about once a fortnight on average my BG goes up to 11 or 12, if I join in with a family roast dinner or take away, have friends over etc, but reduced portions of the carbs.

My treat most days is 6 or 7 strawberries, loads of splenda and erythritol to sweeten, + double cream, extra thick double cream and clotted cream - about 600-700 calories, but perfect LCHF food.

Everyone has to do it their way. I think the higher my cholesterol is the better (from reading malcolm kendrick + others), and don't believe fruit and veg are an essential part of anyone's diet. I eat loads of nuts now. i couldn't survive without my low carb bready things (+ gives me fibre) and artificial sweeteners (which I know a lot of people feel are unhealthy). However, I'd rather stick to what I'm doing and keep my Hba1c down near 6. If I try to restrict myself more, I know that I will have a major pig-out, which i have so far avoided (apart from a 120g bar of cadburys + daim 2 months ago, which set me back for a day or two!!)

hope this is helpful.

 

[ChrisSamsDad]

Giving up gluten would be good for me I'm sure, and low carb breads are high gluten by definition,

Not unless you've got Coeliac disease, and you'd probably know about that. Gluten is a very healthy, useful protein and eating gluten-free as if it's bad for the health of people without coeliac is just a fad (and big marketing campaign).

There's no evidence that there's such a thing as 'gluten sensitivity': http://www.sciencealert.com/scienti...n-sensitivity-have-now-shown-it-doesn-t-exist

 

[bootyful0]

The natural lowcarb store bars are between 3 and 5 grams of carbs, lots of coconut and seeds, only sweetened with inulin/fructo-oligo-saccharide, which suits me fine. Highly recommended as a treat 3 or 4 times a week.

I've nothing but admiration for people on the forum who seem to stay at 20-30g carbs, and also eat healthily. However, for me, having never eaten fruit/veg/salad, my version of lowcarb has to incorporate some lowcarb versions of the foods I have always eaten. So, i have the occasional box of microchips with my lump of meat for my evening meal, chicken kiev covered in cheese and bacon, despite knowing the breadcrumbs will spike me a bit etc. I aim for less than 7.7 post-prandial readings, but go over this 2 or 3 times a week. about once a fortnight on average my BG goes up to 11 or 12, if I join in with a family roast dinner or take away, have friends over etc, but reduced portions of the carbs.

My treat most days is 6 or 7 strawberries, loads of splenda and erythritol to sweeten, + double cream, extra thick double cream and clotted cream - about 600-700 calories, but perfect LCHF food.

Everyone has to do it their way. I think the higher my cholesterol is the better (from reading malcolm kendrick + others), and don't believe fruit and veg are an essential part of anyone's diet. I eat loads of nuts now. i couldn't survive without my low carb bready things (+ gives me fibre) and artificial sweeteners (which I know a lot of people feel are unhealthy). However, I'd rather stick to what I'm doing and keep my Hba1c down near 6. If I try to restrict myself more, I know that I will have a major pig-out, which i have so far avoided (apart from a 120g bar of cadburys + daim 2 months ago, which set me back for a day or two!!)

hope this is helpful.

Jasper , Yes it helps me. I was going well on 50g of carbs. I dont have much weight to lose, perhaps 7 pounds but nothing to write home about. However for some reason I tried to reduce to 25-30g carbs per day and that's when it all went belly up. So now I'm back to average of 50g. I don't want to go off plan again so that's why I have decided to try some lower carb versions of the foods I like. I realise there is a danger of eating /relying on too many of these but at the moment if I can keep my readings in the 7s and under then I will be satisfied (for now) I eat well. I love veg ,fish and salads. But I also love, bread & sweet things. Only been diabetic T2 for two years so I've got loads to learn and this forum is where I will do it. A massive thank you to you and everyone.

 

[Brunneria]

Jasper , Yes it helps me. I was going well on 50g of carbs. I dont have much weight to lose, perhaps 7 pounds but nothing to write home about. However for some reason I tried to reduce to 25-30g carbs per day and that's when it all went belly up. So now I'm back to average of 50g. I don't want to go off plan again so that's why I have decided to try some lower carb versions of the foods I like. I realise there is a danger of eating /relying on too many of these but at the moment if I can keep my readings in the 7s and under then I will be satisfied (for now) I eat well. I love veg ,fish and salads. But I also love, bread & sweet things. Only been diabetic T2 for two years so I've got loads to learn and this forum is where I will do it. A massive thank you to you and everyone.

Have you had a look at this thread?
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/vegetarian-vegan-low-carb-recipe-index.61859/
The awesome cake recipes have saved my sanity many times. Particularly the Stracciatella cake.
And if you Google 'Low Carb Mug Cake' you will be overjoyed - they are made in about 2 mins in a microwave, so the phaff is minimal.

I think that with ANY diet, but perhaps especially low carb, we HAVE to make it suit ourselves.
Ordinary 'diets' usually have an end date in mind.
LC is a lifestyle way of eating that many of us intend to follow for life.
- so it takes a different perspective, and sustainability and long term appeal has to be up there in the priorities.