chickpea (gram) flour

[elmacri]

Hi can anyone help.
My partner is diabetic type 1 and has been for some years. He told me he controls it well, i too thought this was the case until i went with him for one of his appointments and was told otherwise. ( he wasn´t lying to me just doesn´t know how to handle it)
To cut a long story short i am now reading everything i can and have changed his diet totally.
My question though is on flours.
What is the best type of flour to use? Wholemeal, wheat, granary etc etc.
I have just today bought some chickpea gram flour at a local organic farmers market and want to know if this too is ok.
I am finding it all very confusing. He is Spanish and loves his bread, its been the hardest thing ever for him cutting right down to one little roll a day. This has to be done though, he has a diabetic brother who over the last year has had both his legs removed and also two fingers. I am really determined not to let my partner go down this road.
Thanks in advance.

 

[WhitbyJet]

Hi, chick pea flour is fairly low carb so is soy flour, you can bake bread with both of them, but personally I never like their taste, maybe I am just too faddy and difficult to please?! The stars of flours in the low carb kitchen are almond flour and coconut flour.

Have a look in the low carb recipe section of this forum,, there are some bread recipes to try out and none of them will cause high bg levels, they are filling and super healthy as well and very acceptable alternatives to the breads that make us diabetics ill by causing high bgs.
Also have a look in the German/Swedish Low Carb Cancer thread, its also in this forum, there are more bread recipes in there.
Let me know if you need any more information.
Wishing you and hubby all the best, above all, good health x

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi can anyone help.
My partner is diabetic type 1 and has been for some years. He told me he controls it well, i too thought this was the case until i went with him for one of his appointments and was told otherwise. ( he wasn´t lying to me just doesn´t know how to handle it)
To cut a long story short i am now reading everything i can and have changed his diet totally.
My question though is on flours.
What is the best type of flour to use? Wholemeal, wheat, granary etc etc.
I have just today bought some chickpea gram flour at a local organic farmers market and want to know if this too is ok.
I am finding it all very confusing. He is Spanish and loves his bread, its been the hardest thing ever for him cutting right down to one little roll a day. This has to be done though, he has a diabetic brother who over the last year has had both his legs removed and also two fingers. I am really determined not to let my partner go down this road.
Thanks in advance.

Hi and welcome,
Sounds like you both find it confusing.
Has your partner ever been given any information on carb counting?
There is an online course here that may help you.

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

Hopefully a Type1 will be along soon to explain some of the principles of good management for Type1's. It is usually quieter here at weekends.

 

[elmacri]

Thanks both of you for answering.
I am looking forward to looking through this site. Being so new it is a bit daunting but i´m sure it doesn´t take too long to get to grips with it. I´ve never used a forum before but i think its the way forward for me. Also the online course sounds fantastic. Thankyou.
My partner said he was offered some help in the very begining with the carbs but it sounds to me like it wasn´t really the best. They suggest eating everything in moderation , sugar too as long as he has 6 meals a day. (???)I have to remember that we are in the deep country of Andalucia and i know from experience with my son and Doctors they don´t always see things like us English.
I´m going to see if we can get another appointment via our normal GP and see if times have moved on since he last went.
Thanks again.

 

[IanD]

I'm not type 1, but hope my answer will help.

I use a combination of almond flour, coconut flour & milled flax seed, with baking powder, mixed with eggs & olive oil. That gives an acceptable cake texture bread. You could include gram flour.

I use as a breakfast cereal almond flour, coconut flour & milled flax seed cooked with soya milk.

The recipes are on the forum & I can look them up if you want.

 

[noblehead]

The link Catherine provided is a good starting point in learning to match his insulin to the carbs he eats, provided your partner starts to control his blood glucose more effectively then there's no reason why he still can't enjoy his bread, opt for breads with a low glycemic value such as wholegrain bread which breaks down much slower than higher gi breads and has less impact on blood glucose levels.

The advice 'everything in moderation' that your partner has been given is fine but he doesn't want to be eating sugar and should look for an alternative if he can't go without.

 

[elmacri]

I'm not type 1, but hope my answer will help.

I use a combination of almond flour, coconut flour & milled flax seed, with baking powder, mixed with eggs & olive oil. That gives an acceptable cake texture bread. You could include gram flour.

I use as a breakfast cereal almond flour, coconut flour & milled flax seed cooked with soya milk.

The recipes are on the forum & I can look them up if you want.

Thanks for the recipe,

I cannot get coconut flour here ( in Spain) but i am guessing i could use a little more of the others or maybe some gram flour. I make my own almond flour by grounding up our own home grown almonds and flax seed is easy to get here and i use it a lot.
I have looked for the recipe and can´t seem to find it. If you do have it or a link to it i would be very grateful.

is the bread like a flat bread?

Thanks again. :thumbup:

 

[phoenix]

I live 'next door' in France. When in the UK I use specific low GI bread but here that isn't available. When here, I get better results, than even with the low GI bread in the UK by using nut breads , rye breads and mixed cereale breads(this often contains flax/linseed so has similar ingredients to the UK lower GI bread but has been made by traditional methods ... I choose these because they are better nutritionally. I also get good results with the local country bread which is white but made with sourdough rather than yeast. The equivalent in Spain is apparently pan de masa madre.
At home, I weigh every slice I eat and assume that 50% of the weight is carbohydrate. (no labels on 'artisan' breads). The bread is often dense so portion sizes aren't huge.

 

[IanD]

Any combination of low carb flours should do OK - mine are different every time. It's a spongy cake texture about 25 mm thick. You could leave out the sweetener & sultanas for a bread. I do. I normally slice & spread with butter or Flora pro-active. A slice replaces potato to soak up gravy. After the first day it's best kept in the fridge.

Just made a low carb birthday cake for Sunday:
very roughly:
100 g ground almonds
50 g coconut flour
50 g soya flour
25 g oat bran
25 g milled flax seed
2 teasp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
2 tabsp non-sugar sweetener
all sieved together
90 ml olive oil
4 eggs
beaten together
1 handful sultanas
thoroughly mix
check for dropping consistence - I added the 4th egg
put in square silicone baking dish - 9", 220 mm
Bake for 20 minutes at 175 °C

Nice spongy texture
cut in half & stick together with cheese spread
I might "ice" it with cheese spread or cream

 

[elmacri]

Any combination of low carb flours should do OK - mine are different every time. It's a spongy cake texture about 25 mm thick. You could leave out the sweetener & sultanas for a bread. I do. I normally slice & spread with butter or Flora pro-active. A slice replaces potato to soak up gravy. After the first day it's best kept in the fridge.

Just made a low carb birthday cake for Sunday:
very roughly:
100 g ground almonds
50 g coconut flour
50 g soya flour
25 g oat bran
25 g milled flax seed
2 teasp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
2 tabsp non-sugar sweetener
all sieved together
90 ml olive oil
4 eggs
beaten together
1 handful sultanas
thoroughly mix
check for dropping consistence - I added the 4th egg
put in square silicone baking dish - 9", 220 mm
Bake for 20 minutes at 175 °C

Nice spongy texture
cut in half & stick together with cheese spread
I might "ice" it with cheese spread or cream[/quote

Thank you for this recipe. I am going to give it a try tomorrow.
This might seem a bit of a silly question but how do you ice with Cheese spread? do you add any thing else to it or just use the cheese spread??
Thanks

 

[elmacri]

@ phoenix , bonjour......
Very interesting in what you are saying and what a good idea assuming that 50% of the weight is carbohydrate. I have been a bit scared to guess at things. There is some lovley bread sold at an organic market here, i wonder if they would be any good.
They do a brown Spelt with sunflower seeds that always looks so good. Think i might try it next week. Also i would really like to make my own bread. Finding it very hard to find a good recipe where i will be able to work out the carbs.
Thanks

 

[IanD]

This might seem a bit of a silly question but how do you ice with Cheese spread? do you add any thing else to it or just use the cheese spread??

Just spread it - It will look OK with candles ...

 

[SweetHeart]

This recipe looks good - I haven't tried it, but I'll get some gram flour and give it a go - my husband really misses breads too. This one looks like it might be really nice.

Rosemary Socca Bread

http://www.slimtone.com.au/pdf/print_%2 ... _bread.pdf

An Indian Recipe

http://www.khanapakana.com/recipe/f6ede ... lour-bread

If you google 'gram flour bread' it comes up with a lot of flatbread style recipes.

I make bread with brown spelt flour and I add loads of seeds to lower the GI. MH can handle two slices without a spike - but he's T2.

Ju