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Getting confused

katy24

katy24

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all, I'm getting really confused with recipes....some for diabetics say you can eat potatoes and give recipes with a lot in and others say avoid?? Please help
 
There are two schools of thought for recipes for type 2s. First is to follow the Eatwell plate which is the older recommendations. But the more enlightened realise that potatoes are high carb and carbs turn into sugar. I personally keep my diabetes under control by eating a low carb diet of under 40 grams of carbs per day. A baked potato would use up all those grams of carbohydrate in one sitting!
 
katy24 said:
Hi all, I'm getting really confused with recipes....some for diabetics say you can eat potatoes and give recipes with a lot in and others say avoid?? Please help
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There are things labeled "for diabetics" that would spike me well into the 20's. So that term means basically nothing, especially online. You're asking the right questions, always be skeptical! Look for specific kinds of low carb diets, those won't spike you. That means LCHF (Low carb, high fat), Keto, some versions of the Mediterranean and Paleo diets (the tweaked for low carb ones), and Carnivore. www.dietdoctor.com is a good place to start. No need to buy into anything, lots of their information is free.

When in doubt, and you really want to try something, test around the meal and see whether it truly was suitable. (Before the meal and 2 hours after the first bite. A rise of no more and preferable less than 2.0 mmol/l is the aim.)

Good luck!
Jo
 
katy24 said:
Hi all, I'm getting really confused with recipes....some for diabetics say you can eat potatoes and give recipes with a lot in and others say avoid?? Please help
Click to expand...
Hi katy

If you're aiming for keto or even low carb eating they would be hard to fit in as a regular food item.

I completely avoid potatoes. They are high in carb - you can reckon about 19 or 20 g carb per 100g weight, and probably one of the most carb-heavy veg going.

I've found swede to be a reasonable substitute and it's lower in carbs at about 9g/100g. Lidl do a "ready prepared" pack.

This site has lots of similar info:

www.dietdoctor.com

Keto Vegetables – The Visual Guide to the Best and Worst – Diet Doctor

What vegetables should you eat on a keto diet? Above ground vegetables are lower in carbs and a great option. Below ground vegetables (root vegetables) aren't as good. Avocado, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and olives are good for a keto diet.
www.dietdoctor.com www.dietdoctor.com


Best of luck
 
If you have a meter and you're testing, you can find out how potatoes affect you and then make an informed decision about including them in your diet.
Good luck x
 
@katie24, it would help us give you correct advice, if you add which type of diabetes you or your family member has to your post(s) , because what we can eat may depend on the type of diabetic the recipe or advice is intended for. So in general T1s will be able to eat more carbs as they are injecting insulin to control their glucose levels. But while T2s like me normally make our own insulin our bodies don't manage it too well, which means we have to be much more careful with higher carb foods such as potatoes. As suggested, using a meter to test can help us make the right decisions on the foods we can safely eat to help manage our diabetes.
 
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The amount of carbs a T2 can eat before spiking out blood sugar too high varies - some of us can only have 20g or so but I was lucky and got into remission on 85g a day.
The only way to know is by testing. I tested before and after every meal or snack at first, until my numbers were dropping and I knew what I can safely eat. Then I'd still test any new food or food combination.
I mostly eat a homemade mix of milled flaxseed with some chia seeds and other seeds of nuts for breakfast, usually miss lunch, and have fish or chicken with green veg and cauliflower rice for dinner followed by full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries.
Then a couple of squares of 85% chocolate.
Quite a lot of my carb allowance goes on milky coffee made with full fat milk! Others prefer only black or with some double cream instead.

Official diet advice is often aimed at T1s, or T2s on insulin.
 
Hi Tricia

Thanks for your helps. Other than eating low carb is there anything that is off limits completely for a type 2? It's my dad that has been diagnosed and we really haven't been given any information other than don't eat bread, pasta, rice or potato but the conversation felt very generic. He's only just a diabetic at a level of 48. Any help greatly appreciated
 
Avoid anything flour based and seed oils, especially avoid breakfast cereals, have bacon and eggs with fried mushrooms. Cook with proper old fashioned lard, dripping, butter and proper olive oil. Eat eggs, cream, hard cheeses, butter, oily fish and above ground vegetables. Slather salads in FULL FAT mayo.
cream is better that full fat milk, which is better than skimmed.
DO NOT have anything low fat, just the proper full fat stuff, it tastes better anyway.
 
katy24 said:
Hi Tricia

Thanks for your helps. Other than eating low carb is there anything that is off limits completely for a type 2? It's my dad that has been diagnosed and we really haven't been given any information other than don't eat bread, pasta, rice or potato but the conversation felt very generic. He's only just a diabetic at a level of 48. Any help greatly appreciated
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Hi @katy24 I'd just like to add that as well as getting a good Type 2 breakfast completely wrong (people think of whole oat porridge instead of thinking eggs), people also forget that tropical fruit (including bananas) are high sugar foods - berries are best. But the worst mistake is thinking that fruit juice is good for Type2s when it contains lots of sugars - even more than standard sugary sodas!
 
My understanding is fruit juice is actually not good for anyone, masses of sugar, lots of vitamin C, but due to a cell receptor conflict, the sugar gets into the system, but it blocks the absorption of the vitamin C. Then the acid eats your teeth.
 
katy24 said:
Hi Tricia

Thanks for your helps. Other than eating low carb is there anything that is off limits completely for a type 2? It's my dad that has been diagnosed and we really haven't been given any information other than don't eat bread, pasta, rice or potato but the conversation felt very generic. He's only just a diabetic at a level of 48. Any help greatly appreciated
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https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html, maybe this'll help. He's just barely diabetic, so a slight change in carbs could go a long way to normalising blood sugars. Is anything off limits? Well, no-one's going to stand by his plate to slap his fingers with a ruler. But cut out or reduce the carby stuff, that'd be wise... But it is his choice.
 
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