• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Foods with hidden sugar and carbs? What caught you out?

Dusty911

Well-Known Member
Had a bit of a spike last night.Couldn't figure out why until this morning. As part of evening meal and snack munched my way through about 500g of raw cabbage ( greedy I know and quite windy) . Nice and healthy I thought , only it was red cabbage which I now discover has about 3.5 g of sugar per 100g! B****r ,I could of had a couple of slices of marmalade toast for that! At least my trusty metre found me out and I won't be doing that again. You live and learn eh! I have also been caught out by sugar in one of my favourite processed smoked cheeses ( I mean why put sugar in cheese) and was saddened by my total intolerance of even a spoonful of mash. I am indeed that evolutionary dead end an Irish man who can't eat spuds. Anyway it got me thinking what other foods might other people have been caught out by?

Edited by moderator for language.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dusty911 said:
Had a bit of a spike last night.Couldn't figure out why until this morning. As part of evening meal and snack munched my way through about 500g of raw cabbage ( greedy I know and quite windy) . Nice and healthy I thought , only it was red cabbage which I now discover has about 3.5 g of sugar per 100g! B****r ,I could of had a couple of slices of marmalade toast for that! At least my trusty metre found me out and I won't be doing that again. You live and learn eh! I have also been caught out by sugar in one of my favourite processed smoked cheeses ( I mean why put sugar in cheese) and was saddened by my total intolerance of even a spoonful of mash. I am indeed that evolutionary dead end an Irish man who can't eat spuds. Anyway it got me thinking what other foods might other people have been caught out by?
"...an Irishman who can't eat spuds" Thank you, that made me chuckle.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I was caught out recently by a Cappuccino. If I stop for a coffee when I’m out I usually frequent Caffè Nero as my go to coffee stop, one of their skinny one shot regular cappuccinos is 3.8g carbs. I was having lunch with my husband in Pret A Manger the other day and without thinking I asked him to get me a cappuccino! Pret A Manger is brilliant for lunches, loads of low carb food choices, however their cappuccinos are 8.8g carbs! Not a huge difference but my tolerance of carbs isn’t as good at lunchtime as later in the day resulting in a higher than normal reading post lunch :banghead:
From a resident of the home of Frank Cooper’s marmalade!
 
Also got caught yesterday by a capuccino (at a TV chef's cafe). Though I was 6.7 after an hour, I dropped later, so no harm, no foul!


"Manners maketh Meerkat" - Sergei. ;)
 
I just found out a restaurant we frequent puts gluten in their guacamole!
Now I’m convinced NOTHING is safe if it’s not made at home.
 
I just found out a restaurant we frequent puts gluten in their guacamole!
Now I’m convinced NOTHING is safe if it’s not made at home.
Phew @Kristin251 ! When I saw you'd posted here I was convinced you were reporting that you'd found some bootleg avocados made out of high fructose corn syrup......!
:nailbiting::wideyed::woot:;):joyful:

Bad luck re the guacamole, though.....
:(
 
Turkish coffee. At the local cafe, it’s apparently part of the process to sweeten it before serving up. It was very nice and strong though. X
 
Phew @Kristin251 ! When I saw you'd posted here I was convinced you were reporting that you'd found some bootleg avocados made out of high fructose corn syrup......!
:nailbiting::wideyed::woot:;):joyful:

Bad luck re the guacamole, though.....
:(
Haha. Luckily they gave me a plate of beautifully sliced avos!!

Some of my hubbys bacon egg burger and my plate of avos and I’m a happy camper
 
Had a bit of a spike last night.Couldn't figure out why until this morning. As part of evening meal and snack munched my way through about 500g of raw cabbage ( greedy I know and quite windy) . Nice and healthy I thought , only it was red cabbage which I now discover has about 3.5 g of sugar per 100g! ****** ,I could of had a couple of slices of marmalade toast for that! At least my trusty metre found me out and I won't be doing that again. You live and learn eh! I have also been caught out by sugar in one of my favourite processed smoked cheeses ( I mean why put sugar in cheese) and was saddened by my total intolerance of even a spoonful of mash. I am indeed that evolutionary dead end an Irish man who can't eat spuds. Anyway it got me thinking what other foods might other people have been caught out by?
Faggots in gravy. Scotch Egg. Most chinese dishes and sauces. any foods with Maltose or Malitol in it (but this may be my meter playing up since many meters are sensitive to these sugar alcohols. I do get large difference between my 2 meters on occasions, so one is easily fooled it seems But its the cheapest to run.
 
I forgot to say "No Salad dressing, please." with my excellently lovely meal out today. Alas, it's taken all day to come back down again. Ah well, it's rare I forget that one these days.
 
I forgot to say "No Salad dressing, please."

Nowadays I just ask for "oil and vinegar" and they bring the two bottles for me to mix at the table (this is in America). Does that work in the UK?

Concerning the thread question, I can't even begin to list the foods that caught me out, to start with. At the time, it felt like Almost All Foods!
 
I so rarely have that kind of salad when I eat out that I have no idea if the "oil and vinegar" request would work. But, I guess it would.

My default at home is no salad dressing!
 
Going out for an Indian and having Mango chutney - turns out to be 60% sugar.

The sweeteners on offer at the breakfast table in Lenny Henry's favourite hotel and some motorway sevice stations - made of dextrose!
 
I so rarely have that kind of salad when I eat out that I have no idea if the "oil and vinegar" request would work. But, I guess it would.

My default at home is no salad dressing!

I read somewhere, in the early days after my diagnosis, that "vinegar is good for treating diabetes." Actually, it was a friend (who does not have diabetes) who in her New Age California Manner earnestly urged me to consume vast quantities of "apple cider vinegar." I did the usual Google search and there was some mild evidence that it was a good nutrient, but ... also that any vinegar would do, regardless of type of vinegar. Added to which, I like vinegar!

At home, I now add olive oil and vinegar dressing to all sorts of things: salads, avocados, whatever. The oil is a good source of fat, and I love olives!
 
I so rarely have that kind of salad when I eat out that I have no idea if the "oil and vinegar" request would work. But, I guess it would.

My default at home is no salad dressing!
Lots of restaurants use the cheapest oil possible. If I don’t bring my own oil I sprinkle it with my drink to moisten it and a squeeze of lemon.
Or I order a creamy one in the side and just use as little as possible.

Though none of this helps if you forgot haha. I hate it when I do that. Almost as much as getting a well done burger when i order it rare!
 
soy sauce, gherkins and taramasalata .. i was really unimpressed when i discovered that sainsbury's own brands have sugar in them. kikkonen make soy sauce without sugar (but beware their low-salt version, as that does have sugar in it). i really struggle to find any gherkins without sugar, as the branded ones (mrs elswood) that don't have them seem to have disappeared from all my local supermarkets. haven't found another taramasalata yet either.
 
soy sauce, gherkins and taramasalata .. i was really unimpressed when i discovered that sainsbury's own brands have sugar in them. kikkonen make soy sauce without sugar (but beware their low-salt version, as that does have sugar in it). i really struggle to find any gherkins without sugar, as the branded ones (mrs elswood) that don't have them seem to have disappeared from all my local supermarkets. haven't found another taramasalata yet either.

KathyCP, I buy my pickled gerkins from the local polish shop. They have the the “kwasznowe” ones and as long as they don’t have “cukier” on the ingredients they should be good to go. X
 
Back
Top