Holiday to Cambodia - Type 2 Diet Controlled

[Ronni.p]

At the end of May we are heading to Cambodia for almost a month on our first holiday since diagnosis. In the past our holidays have always had a massive focus on food and we tend to drink alcohol every day. I've been researching and a lot of dishes are rice or noodle based. There's also a lot of bread and all the beautiful tropical fruit.

Would really love to hear from anyone who has travelled through a similar country and managed to keep their diabetes in check. I can't help but think how much damage a month of eating and drinking could do when I've come so far.

 

[Goonergal]

I haven't travelled there since being diagnosed, but have been to Cambodia a few times and to a number of other countries in the region. While rice and noodles are prevalent, it is perfectly possible to order meals without them. You might just need to be a bit more picky about where you eat, but you should be fine. In recent years there has been a lot of westernisation in Cambodia and you'll find it easier to find European style breakfasts with eggs and other protein, as well as main meals that are not so rice based. Check out Digby's in Phnom Penh. There's also a Brazilian style all you can eat meat/salad place, but I can't remember the name. Have a great trip.

 

[Ronni.p]

Thanks Goonergal. Must say I'm very excited. I think I'll take some small protein bars too for those times when we're out and about to keep me going. I know if I get to the point where I'm starving, I'll just eat anything.

 

[Prem51]

@Ronni.p I was in Thailand for 4 weeks recently which has similar food. I like tropical fruit especially mango and pappaya and did eat these for the first two weeks. When I stopped eating them my fbgs fell by about 0.5 so it's best to avoid them.
Yes there are a lot of noodle and rice dishes. But there are plenty of veg dishes too to go with tasty meat and fish mains. I like 'Morning Glory' which was greens like spinach cooked in soy and oyster sauce.

I used my time there to reduce my weight and bs levels by eating just one meal a day in the evening, usually just soup. In SE Asia soup is a popular dish and filling. I usually had pork noodle soup or pork bone soup (without noodles). I didn't feel that hungry in the hot weather.
I lost 9 lbs over 4 weeks, though I seem to be putting it on again, and my fbgs fell from an average of 6.3 to around 5.5. And I got a few readings in the 4s which I had never had before.
I understand that you will probably want to try the different food available though.

 

[Scott-C]

Ramen soups are good and widely available, with or without noodles, I'm T1 so can just bolus for the noodles, have always found ramen stabilises me for ages, I've got this vague theory based on no scientific evidence at all that ginger and chillis seem to damp down spikes, although it's maybe just the fact that the dish is pretty much just water.

If you see anything involving Kampot pepper, try that: had a simple dish once in Phnom Penh, just some mashed potato and barbecued chicken, with an initially unpromising looking side dip sauce which turned out to be ground Kampot pepper marinated in lemon juice - as simple as you can get but the sauce wouldn't be out of place in a Michelin restaurant, real depth and complexity to it.

Dragonfruit are brilliant. Tesco did imported versions for a short while which were about the size of a tennis ball and cost 3 quid but over there, you can get rugby ball size ones for next to nothing, and the good news is they're 9gm carb per 100gm, which is on a par with most berries. They look like something from a strange planet in Star Trek. Nice melon style flesh with black seeds. In fact they're so weird, am gonna have to post a photo:

The Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh is good for a "days of the raj" style escape from the hecticness of Asia: terrace bar overlooking the river.

Don't know if it's still there but there used to be a place called Happy Pizza just round the corner from FCC: you could order a pizza and then for an extra dollar, they'd make it into a happy pizza by throwing a handful of cannabis on to it. I'm not into drugs at all, but, you know, when in Rome... Made the trip back to the hostel on the back of a motorcycle taxi more memorable.

It's a fascinating country, although I think my interest in it is due to how easily a country can succumb to the excesses of lunatics like Pol Pot. There was times when it seemed like the whole country, or at least the older people, were suffering from a collective PTSD, but then you see the young kids playing with their home made kites in the park.

 

[sally and james]

We have recently returned from Cambodia and can report that our food experiences were mixed. We were travelling on a small group tour, so didn't have the full control, which you might, if going independently.
We began in Siem Reap (where the amazing Angkor Wat temples are) and stayed in an up-market hotel, the Lotus Blanc. Food here was excellent. They responded perfectly to the request for low carb and there was no sense of getting second best. Excellent bacon and egg etc for breakfast.
We then went on a seven night cruise, on a small boat, down the Mekong. We had been told that all food was prepared on ship, by a chef, and would be adapted to my husband's needs. It was also French owned, so I had high hopes. I'm afraid they hadn't a clue. Everything in thick, sugary sauces, which they denied contained sugar, because, they argued, it was palm sugar, or had come straight from a bottle and they hadn't added any sugar themselves or that the large quantities of pineapple in the mix was a vegetable. However, they did do a reasonable cooked breakfast.
We managed to get away and order our own meal at a large restaurant in Phnom Pen, on the quayside, called "Titanic" (I kid you not). This was excellent and enjoyable.
So, to summarise, if you are in a good hotel and can choose your own food in a reasonable restaurant, you will be fine. We were glad that we had taken bags of nuts and pork scratchings and would definitely recommend that you take an emergency back-up, just in case.
Sally

 

[Ronni.p]

We have recently returned from Cambodia and can report that our food experiences were mixed. We were travelling on a small group tour, so didn't have the full control, which you might, if going independently.
We began in Siem Reap (where the amazing Angkor Wat temples are) and stayed in an up-market hotel, the Lotus Blanc. Food here was excellent. They responded perfectly to the request for low carb and there was no sense of getting second best. Excellent bacon and egg etc for breakfast.
We then went on a seven night cruise, on a small boat, down the Mekong. We had been told that all food was prepared on ship, by a chef, and would be adapted to my husband's needs. It was also French owned, so I had high hopes. I'm afraid they hadn't a clue. Everything in thick, sugary sauces, which they denied contained sugar, because, they argued, it was palm sugar, or had come straight from a bottle and they hadn't added any sugar themselves or that the large quantities of pineapple in the mix was a vegetable. However, they did do a reasonable cooked breakfast.
We managed to get away and order our own meal at a large restaurant in Phnom Pen, on the quayside, called "Titanic" (I kid you not). This was excellent and enjoyable.
So, to summarise, if you are in a good hotel and can choose your own food in a reasonable restaurant, you will be fine. We were glad that we had taken bags of nuts and pork scratchings and would definitely recommend that you take an emergency back-up, just in case.
Sally

That would have been really tough on the cruise, I can imagine how easily things could get lost in translation and just with a lack of understanding about diabetes. I definitely plan to carry snacks. I know we will eat at a lot of different types of places as we love trying different food. Hopefully I can just make wise choices.

 

[Ronni.p]

Ramen soups are good and widely available, with or without noodles, I'm T1 so can just bolus for the noodles, have always found ramen stabilises me for ages, I've got this vague theory based on no scientific evidence at all that ginger and chillis seem to damp down spikes, although it's maybe just the fact that the dish is pretty much just water.

If you see anything involving Kampot pepper, try that: had a simple dish once in Phnom Penh, just some mashed potato and barbecued chicken, with an initially unpromising looking side dip sauce which turned out to be ground Kampot pepper marinated in lemon juice - as simple as you can get but the sauce wouldn't be out of place in a Michelin restaurant, real depth and complexity to it.

Dragonfruit are brilliant. Tesco did imported versions for a short while which were about the size of a tennis ball and cost 3 quid but over there, you can get rugby ball size ones for next to nothing, and the good news is they're 9gm carb per 100gm, which is on a par with most berries. They look like something from a strange planet in Star Trek. Nice melon style flesh with black seeds. In fact they're so weird, am gonna have to post a photo:

The Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh is good for a "days of the raj" style escape from the hecticness of Asia: terrace bar overlooking the river.

Don't know if it's still there but there used to be a place called Happy Pizza just round the corner from FCC: you could order a pizza and then for an extra dollar, they'd make it into a happy pizza by throwing a handful of cannabis on to it. I'm not into drugs at all, but, you know, when in Rome... Made the trip back to the hostel on the back of a motorcycle taxi more memorable.

It's a fascinating country, although I think my interest in it is due to how easily a country can succumb to the excesses of lunatics like Pol Pot. There was times when it seemed like the whole country, or at least the older people, were suffering from a collective PTSD, but then you see the young kids playing with their home made kites in the park.

That's great to know about the dragon fruit being on par with berries as I have berries in my smoothie every morning and I do love dragon fruit.

The Kampot Chicken dish sounds delicious so will definitely look out for it.

 

[Ronni.p]

@Ronni.p I was in Thailand for 4 weeks recently which has similar food. I like tropical fruit especially mango and pappaya and did eat these for the first two weeks. When I stopped eating them my fbgs fell by about 0.5 so it's best to avoid them.
Yes there are a lot of noodle and rice dishes. But there are plenty of veg dishes too to go with tasty meat and fish mains. I like 'Morning Glory' which was greens like spinach cooked in soy and oyster sauce.

I used my time there to reduce my weight and bs levels by eating just one meal a day in the evening, usually just soup. In SE Asia soup is a popular dish and filling. I usually had pork noodle soup or pork bone soup (without noodles). I didn't feel that hungry in the hot weather.
I lost 9 lbs over 4 weeks, though I seem to be putting it on again, and my fbgs fell from an average of 6.3 to around 5.5. And I got a few readings in the 4s which I had never had before.
I understand that you will probably want to try the different food available though.

That is an awesome effort losing all that weight while on holidays. I love my food too much to only have one meal a day though.

I think I would definitely enjoy the soup and could just ask them to leave the noodles out. Love mangos but by the sound of it they might not be a good idea. Would be very happy to eat dragon fruit though as mentioned above.