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High carb content in diabetic recipes?

Hampshire_Lad

Well-Known Member
Messages
49
Hi,
For Christmas I was given The complete Book of Diabetic Cooking as a gift.
Today I've had my first look and am shocked at some of the very high carb content in the recipes.

I'm type 2 and aim for a total carb intake of around 80g per day, yet some of the recipes claiming to help diabetes sufferers have that total and above in just their ingredients alone.

For example, a breakfast on P62 is called luxury smoothie. It contains sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, rolled oats, wheat flakes, raisins, hazelnuts, dried apricots and dried apple slices. This has 100g carbs of which 33.4g is sugar.

Another example on P83 is Cannellini Bean Brushetta on Ciabatta bread. This contains Cannellini Beans, tomatoes, ciabatta bread, and garlic. It has 74.8g cards of which 10.3g is sugar

I'm very confused as to why these recipes are being touted as good for us when their carb/sugar count is so high? Or am i missing something here?

Happy new year to you all for Tuesday by the way...thought I'd get that in early

Hampshire Lad
 
Some people with Type 1 Diabetes would find those amounts quite acceptable. If you are looking for lower carb best to get a lchf or keto recipe book.
 
Guzzler said:
Some people with Type 1 Diabetes would find those amounts quite acceptable. If you are looking for lower carb best to get a lchf or keto recipe book.
Click to expand...

Hi,
Really? I didnt realise this. I've been concentrating my research on my type 2 so much I neglected to think of type 1 sufferers.

The book is advertised on it's cover as having all low sugar recipes though, but if 33g sugar for a type 1 sufferer to have for breakfast is an acceptable amount then my question now looks a tad foolish, sorry.

Thanks for such a quick reply though
 
Not at all foolish - the title is diabetic cooking - and type two is by far the most common form - plus eating lower carb means lower use of insulin for those who use it, both type one and two, and low carb means less weight gain, which a huge percentage of the general population are struggling to prevent, and yet it is denigrated by so many.......
 
Most diabetic cookbooks are aimed at type 2s and most of them are based on the orthodoxy that low fat and wholegrain with plenty of fruit and veg. If you look at recipes on the Diabetes UK website you will see similar plus a calorie count because the DuKs believe in calories and their restriction as a way of losing weight.
Many type 1s are more liberal with their carbs because we are told that as long as we match our carbs with out insulin then all will be well. And after all we can't reverse our condition via diet.
Some type 1s think that reducing carbs reduces dosing errors (the law of small numbers).
 
Who the heck knows what type of 'diabetes' this is aimed at and to me it matters not. Those recipes appear to be run of the mill, 'normal' recipes for the general population. What makes them 'diabetic friendly' exactly?, it smacks of an assumption that a 'diabetic' must have been eating 100% rubbish (such as cream cakes and smartie filled pies) and therefore you are better off eating 'this'. Well I'm sure you would be in comparison but these recipes may be just as difficult for your body to process whether type 1 or type 2, on insulin or not. I am not saying that any of us have to or needs to go very low carb (it's a choice) but how can an informed choice be made if you are reading this 'diabetic friendly' book with its misleading recipes! Hampshire Lad, please don't apologise, we love an opportunity to have a rant at an 'inappropriate present'. (A very thoughtful choice from the present giver though who would, like the rest of the general public have thought they were helping you to stay healthy). x
 

Not for this type 1, Hampshire lad! That type of diet used to be my normal (ish) diet but it doesn't suit my body now and you do not look foolish at all. There are of course, many type 1s and 2's who have a 100 carbs or more a day so they might well find the recipes useful....but why do they claim it is specifically for diabetes sufferers though and how can they call it 'low sugar'!
 
I'm T1 - i don't think my insulin is up to dealing with that "luxury smoothie" without one **** of a spike!

I'd rather take the sugar hit with a luxury chocolate bar tbh
 
Have been thinking the same about many so-called diabetic recipes. Perhaps the only thing that is useful about them is that the carbs etc are measured. Still finding working out even roughly the carb content of home cooking really difficult.
 
I remember being served “no sugar flapjacks” by a type 2 relative. They can were made with oats, dry fruit and bananas.... the recipe came from a “diabetic” cookbook
 
SlimLizzy said:
Have been thinking the same about many so-called diabetic recipes. Perhaps the only thing that is useful about them is that the carbs etc are measured. Still finding working out even roughly the carb content of home cooking really difficult.
Click to expand...
An experienced UK low carb cook on another site recommended an app called "cook and count" to me a while back. Details are:
iPads/iPhones http://www.healthapps.uk.com/cook-and-count.html
and here for Android devices https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.healthapps.cccarbsapp
 
Diakat said:
I remember being served “no sugar flapjacks” by a type 2 relative. They can were made with oats, dry fruit and bananas.... the recipe came from a “diabetic” cookbook
Click to expand...
I believe some people take "sugar" literally: If there's none of that sweet powdery stuff lurking in one of its various guises, then things are obviously "sugar free".... Simples.

Us diabetics are just too d**ned fussy!

Robbity
 
Sadly, in books as in food the term "Diabetic" is nearly always just a marketing tag to sell to a niche market.

However authors can't really be blamed when Diabetes UK and the NHS recommend "healthy carbohydrates".
 
Hampshire_Lad said:
Hi,
For Christmas I was given The complete Book of Diabetic Cooking as a gift.
Today I've had my first look and am shocked at some of the very high carb content in the recipes.
Hampshire Lad
Click to expand...

Same here! The luxury smoothie stood out, as well as the use of pureed dates as a sugar substitute. Good grief. I rather doubt there are even a handful of suitable recipes. The info at the beginning is fine, and I must say the exercises to get those unused to exercising are good, but the rest is a bit of a disaster! I did read a sentence along the lines of 'carbohydrates turn to sugar in the body', so why on earth produce a recipe book full of them? I'm not quite sure how to tell the person who gave me the gift because it was very thoughtful, but considering that she has three teaspoons of sugar in her tea, I'm stuck!

Happy New Year, and a successful, joyous and peaceful 2019 to all.
 
I used to be a huge fan of Tarla Dalal, and I probably have most of her books including "Delicious Diabetic Recipes, Low Calorie Cooking". When I was diagnosed I took a look at the recipes and couldn't believe my eyes, so I never actually tried out any of the recipes. This was way before I became aware of the necessity of avoiding carbs like the plague, mind you.
So just now, inspired by this thread, I took it out, blew away the dust and had another look. The first thing I realised was that it has all sorts of nutritional info for each dish - except the carb content!
Also, let me quote from the intro: "My team of nutritionists has carefully analysed each recipe to ensure that it is absolutely safe for diabetics and that all the required nutrients are present in the correct amounts".
She doesn't distinguish between the various types of diabetes, but from the context its obvious she means T2.

Ladies and gentlemen, I warn you against ... Drum roll .... Diabetic Cheesecake.
 

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