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Flight meals?

T

trand

Well-Known Member
Messages
98
Hi, do anybody know who sets the criteria for in flight meals regarding diabetics, I'm off soon and the in-flight meal for diabetic is ''complex carbs'' this seems to be the norm, and it seems reading on here that this is quite normal advice from d/n's also,just seems abit odd to me considering that carbs turn to sugar,are we the only ones aware of this
 
You'll see loads on this forum about low carb/high carb debates. Most of us, like me, accept that particularly if you're on a diet only regime, you can only lower blood sugars by eating less carbs. I flew to Antigua recently, and certainly didn't order a "diabetic" meal - lord knows what I might have got. What I did was speak to the cabin staff as soon as I got on board, explained that I was a diabetic, and asked if I could have first choice at the menu (regardless of where I sat) so I could choose a suitable meal before the options started to run out. They went out of their way to accommodate me, and found other snacky bits off other menus (probably club class!) which they thought would be O.k once they got the hang of my lower-carb requirements. Trick is to be nice and smile a lot!
Malc
 
I presume that you are flying Long Haul, otherwise we'll be discussing the diabetic friendliness of a small packet of "nut type things".

On Long Haul flights you can usually request a diabetic meal. If this is really important to you, I'd do it in advance, because they need to load the meals onto the plane. If you leave it until you get to the airport it would be too late.

It's also worth noting that (on BA) if you order a special meal then you have zero chance of being upgraded to a better cabin. Depending on how much you fly, this may or may not be a concern for you.

I don't really trust anyone elses defintion of a diabetic meal. I fly alot, and I generally just pick at the inevitable "chicken or beef" and eat the salad, I'm not sure that there is any nutritional value to any of it anyway. Unless you pay for business class the food is usually terrible (and even in business class it isn't great).

If you are flying from Heathrow T5, then you can buy a lunch box from Ramsey's Plane Food, that would be both diabetic friendly and the envy of all the other passengers.
 
Trand,

Speak with the airline concerned and request a meal of your choosing and your reasons for doing so, provided you leave enough time for them to arrange this then I can't see no problems.

Enjoy the flight!

Nigel
 
On our world tour I started out ordering the diabetic meal.
It didn't seem any different from any other meal, except that Quantas labelled it up with the carbs, sugars etc. so a T1 could calculate how much insulin to use.
I changed my preference to 'vegetarian' for the last few legs not because I am vegetarian but because I have found the vegetarian choice to generally be a better meal than the meat dishes.
Everything seems to be 'high carb'.
A shame they don't offer an 'Atkins' option which I think would suit most travelling diabetics.
 
Thanks for the replies, I think I can suffer 12hrs of what ever food they dish up I'm t2, and lucky enough to be going bussiness, so as most say maybe have a better choice, but I would like to find out who advises airlines regarding diabetic meals, as it seems the norm is to offer high carb stuff.
 
Which airline are you flying with?

The only advice BA seem to have taken is from "What you need to know about Diabetes - 1975 edition"
"Diabetic: For those who need to manage blood sugar levels. Foods excluded are sugars, syrups, jams, cakes and chocolate, unless specifically for diabetics."
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/me ... blic/en_gb

Virgin on the other hand seem to be stuck with the "F plan diet":
"Diabetic - low in sugar and fat, but high in fibre"
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/pa ... h/diet.jsp

Apparently there are as many Diabetics as there are Muslims in the UK, but it seems much easier to get a Halal airline meal than a low-carb one.
 
Always go Tyronair or Scweasy Jet and take a Packed lunch :lol:

I just eat whats on offer and Bin the bad bits I have ordered the odd diabetic meal
and would have been better off with the meal that my wife had and would not swop :evil:
with me, saying told you so :?

[youtube]Y74BAJ_gwMQ[/youtube]
 
hmmmm.....
I can't eat wheat so have ordered a Gluten Free meal on Virgin Atlantic, just a bit worried about what I'm going to get and whether it is going to be suitable for a T2...
 
I think about the most useful one is Quantus since, as has been mentioned, they actually give the nutritional breakdown.

I have actually written to a number of airlines asking that instead fo trying to guess what a diabetic will need, since we are all different and treat the condition slightly differently, they would do better simply putting the nutritional information into the menu.

Seems a bit of a no brainer to me but then I tend to go for the simple and obvious answer.

/A
 
Plane food is god awful. I always take my own food if I'm going long haul.
 

It will be interesting what their replies will be Andy, keep us posted.

Nigel
 
I'm booked on some KLM flights soon and checked their website for special diet meals....guess what... Diabetic meals contain low sugar and high carbs!! Won't bother with those somehow!!

Angie
 
I flew long haul with BA and it didnt seem any different to my hubbys. i had to laugh when they loaded the food on in kenya (for next leg of journey) their idea of a diabetic meal was rump steak, salad and sugar free jelly which was better than the meal i had when we left London!!!1
 

Rump steak :shock: ..........is this why BA are always so expensive?

Nigel
 
It was funn y cuz my meal was better than hubbys - he had some chicken thing and he kept eyeing mine up............When you fly long haul and have a stopover and have ordered diabetic meals you are given what that country thinks is a diabetic meal!!!!!!!!!

I was a shocked as you nigel but one of my best flight meals :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Thought you might like to see the KLM diabetic food you can order. The following is a clip from their website.

Medical diets
•Diabetic meal: rich in carbohydrates, high fibre, low fat, no sugar added.
 
You would think airlines would cater properly for an ever increasing diabetes or pre diabetes population!
It would make commercial sense!
 
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