chinese takeaway

Andy12345

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hi, its my wifes 40th birthday and she wants a Chinese meal, I never cheat with anything close to chinese but cannot avoid this, can anyone give me any ideas as to what I should order to limit the damage? I don't like fish.... many thanks if you can
 

mo1905

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Chinese is a difficult one. You're gonna go high Andy so it's just gonna have to be damage limitation. I've checked on the Carbs & Cals app and there's no GOOD food I can find. The lowest are ribs or spring rolls, the highest was rice and sweet and sour things.


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Andy12345

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oh dear :( thankyou very much for looking
 

Lenny3

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I have just checked the Collins gem carb counter and it says;

Low carb options,
clear soups
stir fried meat dishes without sauces
chinese greens, beansprouts, mange tout, soy sauce.

From that I would prob go with something like chicken and mushroom, as I don't remember that sauce being too sweet. And maybe some kind of chop suey which I believe is bean sprouts. I'd prob indulge in a few duck pancakes cos I love em!! :lol: just maybe go easy on the plum sauce!

Not sure though as I too have avoided chinese since I started testing.
 

WhitbyJet

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Go for chop suey, its just beansprouts with meat and some sauce, but no noodles in (unlike chow mein)
Or chicken/meat with mushrooms/veggies, keep the rice or chips at absolute minimum and you should be fine.

Happy Birthday Mrs Andy12345 :clap: :clap:
 

pickledpepper2

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I would've thought chicken satay would be lowish carb?

Actually I was planning to make some for a dinner I have to host......hmmm.... good time to look into it.
 

bedshaped2000

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What about sqlt and pepper spare ribs and egg fu yung which is basically a turned over omlette witb meat in it . Duck is also good without the pancakes of course.
 

Geocacher

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I never have any problems finding low carb dishes at my local Chinese. They offer salads, meat and veg dishes in oyster sauce or black bean sauce that are not sweet, egg foo young which is a scrambled egg with veggies in it. You should also be able to get steamed fish or chicken in a light wine and ginger marinade, hot & sour soup is always a good choice, roasted smoked chicken, szechuan squid if you like something hot. Avoid the prawn crackers, rice, and noodles but fried seaweed is fine, it's just deep fried cabbage but really tasty and low carb and a nice starter.

Check the menu beforehand, you may find you are spoilt for choice, if you aren't then it might be worth trying a more traditional Chinese restaurant. Traditional Chinese foods are much healthier than the typical high street takeaway offerings and you'll usually find the typical takeaway dishes are also on the menu if that's what you wife prefers.

Buffets can also be a good choice because you get a wider variety of dishes and can see what you are taking and limit the amount of sauce if you want. My local buffet offers sushi and grilled meats that they make fresh for you, and you can ask for sushi with veg rather than rice or grilled meat without sauce. Alongside the breaded and sweet sauce options they offer braised and stirfried meat and veg that are in savory sauces or dry fried with just a bit of soy, ginger and garlic. Broccoli and beef with just soy and garlic is amazing and about as low carb as you can get.
 
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Andy12345

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ah :) this is sounding much better :) thankyou I bet I can get a menu online which I shall do now thanks :) and thankyou Whitby :)
 

Geocacher

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I just realised you're in Surrey -- if you're anywhere near Richmond you could try to see if the Richmond Restaruant on Sheen Road is still open. It's been years since I lived there, so it's a real long shot, but they made dry fried fish and prawns with szechuan pepper salt, which is the most amazing thing ever. I had to learn how to make it myself when I moved away. It's a very plain family run restuarant but the food is traditional and excellent.
 

Embabe25

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Chicken and mushroom is what I get when I'm being good. It's yummy and filling.


When I'm being bad(which is quite a lot) it's chicken balls and curry sauce! I pay for it the next day though.


Em x
 

Andy12345

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Well....I just got home from the Chinese .....I had bean sprouts, seaweed, lots of spicy ribs, pok choy, fried vegetables and chicken with mushrooms, before eating I was 3.7 two hours after 4.2 ???? Why was I so low? I expected to be in the teens, then we had chocolate birth day cake at her mums....15 minutes after I was 9.6 half hour after 6.5 hour later (now) 5.1, isn't this normal bgs for anyone diabetic or non diabetic? How can I have escaped this with such good bloods? I haven't cheated at all in the 3 months since diag, now I'm starting to wonder if its all either a mistake or I am cured, am I being Nieve do you think? And now does this mean I can cheat more regularly?
 

Geocacher

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What you've proven is that you can go out for a meal and get food that is suitable for you. Nothing you've listed is high carb -- except the cake.

One piece of cake probably wouldn't make a normal person go quite that high but, yes, that is a fairly normal response. It's good that your BG didn't stay high for long. We all cheat from time to time, anyone who says they don't is probably lying. I think the good an occasional cheat does for our spirits outweighs the risk.

You'll learn, mostly by trial and error, that there are things you can eat that cause no problems and things that are best avoided. The nice thing is that the more of that you know, the more normal you feel because you can relax when you go out simply because you know that there'll be something on the menu you can have and what will happen if you do decide to cheat.
 

Yorksman

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Andy12345 said:
I'm starting to wonder if its all either a mistake or I am cured, am I being Nieve do you think? And now does this mean I can cheat more regularly?

No, don't cheat. I get lows and I am getting more and more lows. But I still get some highs too. If you only ever ate one thing, you'd get a reasonably steady up and down pattern. If you only ever ate two things, you'd get a different pattern, but still predictable. When you mix and match, it becomes unpredictable. The reason is because foods interact with each other. One common trick is to add a little protein or fat to a carby meal, another is to drink a shot of cider vinegar. These things affect what happens in the body. There are several hormones and enzymes released when eating. These are the triggers which set the other metabolic processes in progress. They have a 'pecking order' which is not fully understood.

Completely different from eating but as an example of pecking order, oxygen in the blood binds to the haemoglobin which transports it around the body. Alcohol in the blood doesn't. It stays in the plasma. Glucose is initially in the plasma but evetually binds to the haemoglobin. Carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin as does oxygen but carbon monoxide binds more readily than oxygen so, if you breath in oxygen and carbon monoxide, it takes precedent and you die from suffocation. Fascinating stuff blood chemistry.

You have three categories of enzymes involved when you eat. One group are food enzymes, another metabolic enzymes and the third are digestive enzymes. Here is a list of some of the digestive enzymes:

Protease—breaks down protein into amino acids; acts on pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells; works best in the high acidity of the stomach; also found in pancreatic and intestinal juices.
Amylase—breaks down carbohydrates (starches) into simpler sugars such as dextrin and maltose; found in the saliva, pancreas, and intestines; secreted by the salivary glands and the pancreas.
Lipase—along with bile from the gallbladder, breaks down fats into glycerol and fatty acids and the oil-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and F; helpful in losing weight and for cardiovascular conditions.
Cellulase—breaks down fiber and cellulose found in fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and plant material; increases the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
Pectinase—breaks down pectin-rich foods such as citrus fruits, apples, carrots, potatoes, beets, and tomatoes.
Lactase—breaks down lactose, the complex sugar in milk products; ideal for lactose-intolerant individuals; production usually decreases with age.
Cathepsin—breaks down meat from animals.
Antioxidant enzyme—protects us from the negative effects of free radicals (highly reactive compounds that can damage the body).
Bromelain—breaks down food protein into smaller peptones by hydrolysis; helps the body to fight cancer, improves circulation, and treats inflammation; assists in the absorption of nutrients from foods and supplements; increases tissue permeability; prevents the narrowing of arteries that contribute to heart attacks.
Papain—breaks down food protein into smaller peptones by hydrolysis; aids body in digestion.
Glucoamylase—breaks down maltose (the sugar in all grains) into two glucose molecules, allowing greater absorption of this energy-giving sugar.
Invertase—Helps to assimilate and utilize sucrose (a sugar that contributes to digestive stress if not properly digested).
Catalase -breaks down hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. Plays an important role in immune function. It destroys hydrogen peroxide that forms in the cell during energy production. If the body is deficient in catalase, hydrogen peroxide builds up and is very toxic.

Everyone is different. Some adults don't even produce lactase. Whilst most do in northern europe, most people in the world don't. And, those people who do, the reds and oranges, do so for different genetic reasons depending on where they live geographically. 4 different genes are responsible, one for each of the hotspots on this map. In europe it is 13910C/T.

fig1
 

Andy12345

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Thank you for your replies just got back from my 2 mile dog march, I'm going to run till it hurts in the morning as penance :) I am still a bit shocked by tonight but am too tired to think anymore tonight hehe so now planning to fall asleep watching tv :)
 

Finzi

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Andy, probably even your 9.6 just after the cake is pretty ok - my husband, who is definitely not diabetic, had a 9.7 about half an hour after eating four chocolates when he tested for fun one time. But I don't think it means your diagnosis was a mistake. IIRC you had some pretty horrendous figures at the beginning. But I think what has probably happened is that by low carbing and losing weight you have improved your insulin resistance and allowed your pancreas to recover, but if you started going back to eating as you were, your problems would start again.

I have very similar experiences - I can eat Chinese quite well *if I'm careful what I have*. And I also had very little reaction to a piece of chocolate cake on my husbands birthday (I didn't test after 30 minutes like you, but it was fine after an hour and two hours). My figures aren't quite as low as yours but I think that's probably because I can't exercise as much. But I'm usually early fives before a meal, and late fives after a meal, and I'm happy with that. I probably am a bit less strict than I was in the beginning, and that has made day to day life a bit easier. But I still would never eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sweets or chocolate. Except chocolate profiteroles. I seem to be able to get away with them amazingly well, and I think it's probably because they have got lots of cream in them.


Type 2 on Metformin, diagnosed Jan 2013, ultra low carber, Hba1C at diagnosis 8% (11mmol), now between 5 and 6 mmol. 20kg lost so far :)
 

Andy12345

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thank you , I was just shocked it didn't kill me, I have been sooo strict, in the light of day I know this is still real, it was a positive experience because I know I can experiment a bit now, I've almost lost 3 stone and definitely don't want to go backwards so back on track today, I hit the gym this morning so I can forgive myself for the slice of cake hehe, yup head down and keep going :) ......I'm going to get a mug that says "keep calm and avoid cake" thanks as always for your kind responses I'd be floating in space if it wasn't for you guys.
 

phoenix

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sean51 said:
I thought if one was not diabetic then their bs would never go above 6 as their pancreas is producing proper insulin to keep the levels right

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They will go higher than that but they will return quickly to more normal levels.. Heres a graph from a study of young non diabetics. They were eating their normal meals at home and were wearing a continuous glucose monitor.
The first column shoes the average glucose level at the time of eating, the second the average highest level reached, the third the average rise in glucose after each meal and the fourth the time (in minutes) that it was reached.
The blue line shows the average (mean) levels, the brown line the limits within which most peoples levels fell. (2 sd)
The figures are in mg/dl so you need to divide by 18.
so the after breakfast the average highest level was 132= 7.33 (but note that's the average some people had much higher and some people lower levels)

http://www.diabetes-symposium.org/index ... iew&id=322
 

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