Food in France

pamvivuk said:

Hi. We are going to southern France for 2 weeks in the summer. Any ideas of things to eat that do not involve baguettes, croissants and other tempting high carbon food?

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The answer to the High carbon food is don't let your husband near the barbecue

Seriously though, to try and cut down the carbohydrates, I usually plan my diet to take large portions of the lovely meat, fish, cheese & vegetables available in France.
Personally, I find that provided i do not pig out on the bread, I come back from my 3 weeks in France with a lower HbA1c and more stable BG than back in the UK. i think it may be the better standard of bread over there!

Strangely enough, despite the huge distance the food in France isn't hugely different to the food in this country.

Ask @phoenix as this lady lives in France

I live in France.
What you already eat in UK: beef, some Vegetable, salad without dressing (ask for vinegar or other condiments ), unsweetened Soja Milk (BJORG).
For sugar substitute: canderel stevia is available in any supermarket

For bread, you may find Energus10 a low carb bread (7g for 100g) in a supermarket or baker in your town if it is listed there: http://www.energus10.com/où-trouver-energus10/en-magasin/

Frogs legs have 0 g carbs and cooked snails are the same (although the snails aren't good for cholesterol). I've tried both when I went to Cannes last year.

@pamvivuk No the bread is not a substitute. It looks like and tastes like whole bread. I have bought one last week.

We go to a French territory fairly regularly, which although 4000 miles from mainland France is very French". I always look forward to the food there.

We routinely stock up on the charcuterie, frommage and vin rouge. There is the most spectacular patisserie as soon as we step foot on French soil, but that has been easier to side-step since they confirmed all their choux pastries (I can manage those in modest portions) are filled with creme patissiere, rather than fresh cream (probably due to the heat).

I usually manage the odd petit pain, provided my doses of butter and pate are sufficiently thickly applied.

You'll be fine.



(Now you have me thinking of their fabulous garlic rotisserie chicken!)

It depends where you are going as to whether you will be able to get the bread mentioned. There isn't a single shop that sells it in the whole of the departement I live in .
If you are eating out a lot; as you tend to be on holiday, then the large main course salads are often a good option Personally,(and am T1) I don't find any particular problem with the dressings . .
I find that main courses in many every day restaurants often come with far too few veg , often very overcooked haricots vert. It's often better to get a menu of at least starter and main course since you may get more veg/salad with the starter. You are also less likely to get the chips with everything which can sometimes be the case at some brasseries (Steak frites etc)
I find that portion sizes are often much smaller than in the UK (though I think that they are bigger than they used to be).

The markets are definitely the place to shop for veg and fruits; meat, fish, charcuterie and cheese can also be bought (but can be more expensive than similar products in the local supermarket) And as the previous poster noticed, delicious rotisserie chicken I really notice the seasons in the market here, this time of year fairly bare since not much grows but then from the first asparagus onwards you notice the changes as each thing comes into season

On the vexed question of bread ( remember I'm a T1 not a T2) I don't normally eat croissants or the typical semi industrial baguettes but there is often little else on offer in some hotels, particularly the ones you might use when travelling; solution don't take breakfast in the hotel.
I do eat 'in moderation' some breads ; I get on fine with many 'nut' breads, multi cereal and with the local sour dough bread These have a far lower GI than what we think of as 'French Bread'.

Do remember that on holiday you may well be doing more exercise than usual, I have been known to plan a day on holiday to involve a long bike ride or a lot of walking with a stop halfway for the sort of 'treat' I wouldn't normally eat. Actually some of the patisseries from the specialist shops,though definitely not low carb aren't nearly as high in carbs as you might think. ( often small anyway and if you choose carefully, not too sweet )

Lucky you in the area of the delicious Mediterranean Diet so follow a low carb diet & look at the Low Carb Program for yummy suggestions......

While we are on the subject of French food is anyone familiar with the patisseries made from marzipan, the potatoe/ pommes de terre, or the little pigs/petits cochons. Would like to know how many carbs in one...They are full of sugar..certainly not for a low carber but thought as a hypo treat they certainly would do the job.

Hi everybody! Not sure if that subject is still open, but if you're interested about delicious French food and diabetes, there's this project called Sweet Trip, Travels and Diabetes. They specialised in food from the word with Diabetes and Travel guides specially designed by and for people with diabetes (including destinations like Paris and French Riviera). You can find it all on their website.
Hope it's useful!