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Cookbook

JanWoo

Newbie
Messages
2
Can anyone suggest a good cookbook. I spent £20 on Worral-Thompsons "Essential diabetic cookbook" but it is far too fussy, ingredients I have never heard of. I just want something that tells me simple meals that will fit in with diabetes.

Any suggestions on how I can find out what a carbohydrate unit is. ~The diet course I attended said aim for 10 units a day, but other than being told a digestive biscuit or an apple are one unit I am lost.
Help

Jan
 
Hi JanWoo

I see you are Type 2 - are you on insulin or any other meds, that you're looking at carb 'units'? That's something I know nothing about, so someone else will have to help.

If you are wanting to control your carb intake and eat less carbs, you don't really need to worry about special menus - in my opinion at any rate. Just eat what you would normally eat, but reduce your intake of bread/potatoes/pasta/rice, and increase your intake of lower-carb veg to compensate. There are some very sweet fruits, also bananas, that you should be wary of (smaller portions), and if you like baking, cakes etc and puddings - well, you're going to have to learn what you can and can't eat.

The best way is to get a meter and some test strips (preferably from your doctor on prescription) and test immediately before and 2 hours after every meal, to see what effect different foods have on your blood glucose. You'll soon learn what you can safely eat, and what has to be reserved for an occasional treat. A carb counter book, eg Collins Gem (not the very best, but portable) is really useful. You can use that to work out how many carbs you're eating now, and see where you can cut back.

There's lots of useful info on the Low-Carb Forum here; also read the 'Information for Newbies' on 'Greetings and Introductions'.

Hope that helps! Don't be afraid to come back with any questions.

Viv 8)
 
viviennem said:
Hi JanWoo
There's lots of useful info on the Low-Carb Forum here; also read the 'Information for Newbies' on 'Greetings and Introductions'.
Viv 8)

Hi Janwoo and welcome to the forum
I'm afraid I don't know anything about carb units - only the grams of carb found in foods which is what I count. But here is a link to the low carb recipes thread which you might find useful:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4871

and the link to the Diabetes Food Forum:
viewforum.php?f=3

and here is the information for newbies (written by the former Monitors) which Viv referred to so you don't have to go looking for it:

 
Hi JanWoo and welcome to the forum, good advice as always from Viv and daisy, no one can tell you what you should or shouldnt eat nor what you can or can not eat, you can only find out by testing before and after eating your meals and reducing the carb content till your bg levels are staying within the safe zone laid down by NICE or lower if possible.

The collins gem carb counter or the collins gem GI book are both excellent for telling you what carbs are in which foods and are about a fiver each from amazon or most book shops. I favour the GI book as it not only gives you the carbs of most of the foods you will come across but also the Glycemic Index (GI) of each food as well. The GI is a way of telling us which carbohydrates are better for diabetics in as much as they dont raise the blood glucose (bg) as much as some other carby foods

Link to the The Official Website of the Glycemic Index and GI Database. http://www.glycemicindex.com/
 
JanWoo said:
Can anyone suggest a good cookbook. I spent £20 on Worral-Thompsons "Essential diabetic cookbook" but it is far too fussy, ingredients I have never heard of. I just want something that tells me simple meals that will fit in with diabetes.

I don't have a cook book, looked at a few but couldn't find one that was not diabetic unfriendly in one way or another. Most included sugar and very high cabs in their recepies and still called it "diabetic" food. AFter diagnoses what I did was to eat whatever I wanted and tested my BG levels and by adjusting ther portion sizes I found out what and how much of it I could safely eat without going above the recommended levels. Reducing the portions has not only helped me keep my BG levels in "normal" levels but it also helped me lose 2 stones in weight. Biggest help as far as I am concerned though, was the psychological side of it. I believe it helped me from getting into deep depression because it meant I can still eat anything I want without having to watch others eat what I would otherwise crave for. The onlything I don't eat any longer are sweet thing that have sugar in them ie: chocolates (exept for snickers that seem to agree with me), cakes (except yesterday ) and sugar in my tea. Everything else I eat in moderation. It might not agree with other diabetics but it helped me to keep controll.

Any suggestions on how I can find out what a carbohydrate unit is. ~The diet course I attended said aim for 10 units a day, but other than being told a digestive biscuit or an apple are one unit I am lost.
Help

Jan

Don't exactly know what you mean here but if you mean insulin to carbs ratio (units), I am not on insulin and don't know much about it but I have read somewhere that it's 1 unit of insulin per 10 gramms of carbs, if I remember it correctly. But please, if you are on insulin, make sure you speak with your Doctor before you change your dosage, do not take my word for it.
 
Hi Jan,

Your profile says oral medicines only .
If you have been told to aim for 10 units a day and a digestive biscuit is 1 then I would understand by this that you are aiming for 100 carbs per day as a digestive biscuit is 10 carbs. Hope this makes sense to you.

You may find that this is too many carbs or it may be it is ideal for you and the only way you can work this out is by testing your response to foods. Some members here can eat more than that amount. The newbie's guide that Daisy has kindly posted and the information others have given here should help you with food choices.



There is a book called Carbs and Cals, A Visual Guide to Carb counting, £12. 99. which may be useful for you as it shows pictures of everyday foods with their carb content.

Anything you need help with then ask away, somebody will be able to help you.
 
You can get pretty well any recipe that you can find in a book somewhere on line. I often put in an ingredient and then look for one I fancy. BBC Good Food are a favourite of mine.

I then print the recipe off and put it in a folder where I can find it again - and copy into a file of my own called - recipes (not an adventurous title I admit :roll: ).

Cheers
Ailz.
 
Thanks to all for your replies. Yes my profile does say oral meds only but Diabetes UK does not offer me the option to put an injection other than Insulin. I am on Liraglutide (Victoza).
 
Off course i can suggest you, because i am also using cook book for making food at my home. Some of the famous cook book are:
* Hungry girl
* Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Machine
* Make spicy food at your home.
* The Great Scandinavian Baking Book
 
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