how many carbs is acceptable in a recipe......confused

Hi killerkaz
When out shopping and looking at foods that I have not tried before I tend to aim for items which have 5g of carbs per 100g. If it is much above that it stays on the shelf. I am probably at the more extreme of the spectrum where I aim to have around 20g of carbs per day. This however is an 'aim' and on the odd day I miss and hit maybe 70g worst case, the earth does not stop spinning because of it. The 5g rule seems to keep me on track. You mention chicken tandoori, I tend towards a chicken jalfrezi as this normally has a much lower carbohydrate content. There are soups out there which have lower carbohydrate contents I have found a few 'fresh' soups such as convent garden broccoli and stilton soup which is 1.9g per 100ml.

I think on a per meal front I tend to use most of my 'aim limit' in steamed vegetables during my evening meal. One of the causes for coming in above my aim on the odd day is when I roll into a Costa and have a large Latte, which funnily enough is my plan this morning

This is like being in a swimming pool when you can't swim but everyone else is really good at it and you can't figure out why (speaking from personal experience ). Don't worry, if you really want to get to grips with your diabetes you can. If LCHF didn't work, we must ALL be lying. Is that likely?
Perhaps it will help you to approach the carb-counting from another angle and get a Carbs & Cals book (Amazon) which explains basic carbs in loads of different types of food, individually and together as a whole meal.

killerkaz said:

Hi everyone
I have been trolling through the recipes on this site and have printed quite a few off, then when reading through them I have noticed that a lot of them are massivley high in carbs!!! So far I have seen chicken tandoori at a whopping 168.3g per serving down to macaroons at 2g per serving.Even such things as asparagas and ham soup is 38.9g. A salmon and brocooli bake is 14g. I could go on and on.....Just how many carbs is acceptable in a meal? I would have thought salmon and broccoli would have been very low. I'm beginning to feel this lchf is just to much bother and to just carry on eating a healthy diet with no sugar, I'm just getting more and more confused with what I can and cant eat, and the cant list is getting bigger and bigger! Fed up now

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I don't think there's any golden rules KK. You have to decide what's right for you and match your insulin (are you T1?) to your intake. I know 2 people who just carry on eating as though non diabetic and inject a lot of insulin to compensate.
I don't know where it comes from but there is a 'reference' figure of 260g per day for normal carb intake. This means an average person is probably eating about 70g 3 times a day with a bit left over for snacks. I have no idea where I was before diagnosis but since I started counting I'm down to about 180g and feel I got there with relative ease. According to this website that puts me in the 'moderate' intake category at the moment.
For me, simply cutting sugar out of tea and coffee made a massive difference to the stability of my bg readings. I continue to look for opportunities to make reductions without going dow the whole LCHF route.
So there's no reason to get upset, just start by looking at your intake now and then begin with small changes and see if it works for YOU.

Each persons carb tolerance. Is different, and it's trial and error at first to find that your own is. I suspect that the difference in the recipes is due to what the ingredients are, and are open to adaptation. I do this all the time , for example, replacing onion with shallots, omitting carrot and root veg or substituting something else , ground almonds for flour and thickenener, etc etc.

I think it helps not to think of a list of things you can 't, but rather as a list of things you can. Finding out new things and ways of cooking them is always a joy I use " Cook and .Count " app to know the carb content of my own recipes, and also those that I find elsewhere . It has an extensive database and also allows you to input your own custom ingredients..

If you are new to all of this, I do recommend Trudi Deakin's book, and I started a thread on it in the low carb forum with a list of chapter headings so you can get an idea if it is helpful to you personally

Signy

My husband love s kale but I find it quite bitter but it is great in soup Also if you dry it in a low oven until it is crisp it can be crumbled and used like dried seaweed in Chinese dishes or a little on scrambled eggs
CAROL

There's a huige amount of info on here that I've found such a help in the 2 weeks I've been on LCHF, you just need to read as much as you can and ask questions. I've discovered new foods too, the latest one being roasted celeriac which you cook just like roast potatoes, and tastes just as good, but with far fewer carbs. Can be used other ways too (good in soups) but I've been looking for things to replace my favourites with so that I don't miss them
It can seem very daunting to begin with but approach it as a challenge, " I WILL beat this thing" and you will get the hang of it, I'm really enjoying it now and hope you can too

Kale to me is medicine -- good for me but yuk. I have some in the fridge for tonight. @carty, thanks for the toasted seaweed idea!

Kale crisps are fab.
(Google for recipes - there are thousands)

They are totally unrecognisable as the green slightly weird cabbagy kale experience.

Kale is yummy as 'greens', steamed with roast dinners!

Kale apart, ive been quietly in tears trying to get my head around what i should and shouldnt be eating. Ive cut my coca cola (full fat consumption) down to one can a week, and cut out sweets, but that apart i havent made much in the way of changes.

Its reassuring to hear that im not alone in being confused. My understanding is Im supposed to be eating plenty of slow release carbs (wholewheat rices, pastas etc), & cutting down on sugars, but to be honest, tbe only way im going to have any idea if its the right way or not is by testing. Im waiting to see if GP will prescribe on the grounds of anxiety if nothing else. In the meantime, i will carry on feeling as though im drowning!

sallybee said:

Its reassuring to hear that im not alone in being confused. My understanding is Im supposed to be eating plenty of slow release carbs (wholewheat rices, pastas etc), & cutting down on sugars, but to be honest, tbe only way im going to have any idea if its the right way or not is by testing. Im waiting to see if GP will prescribe on the grounds of anxiety if nothing else. In the meantime, i will carry on feeling as though im drowning!

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Lifebelt coming .... now
Reading through your posts, I wonder if it will help if you forget about the diet for a minute and tell us about your life in general? Diabetes doesn't exist in isolation and affects us in different ways.
I suppose in the swimming/drowning allegory that means climb out and sit on the side for a bit and have a breather.

I'll give you a few of my favourite low carb foods to give you an idea of where to look.
Most cheese is fantastic. Cheddar is great because it's not too expensive. The only one to possibly avoid is cottage cheese, which tends to be higher in carbs.
Smoked salmon is one of the best things on this planet in my opinion. You can get 'offcuts' for £1.49 in Sainsbury's and Morrisons. Exactly the same as normal smoked salmon, just much cheaper!
Cauliflower and broccoli are my heroes too. I put them into my blender, and it makes them like rice. Add some herbs and spices, fry in a pan and boom, just as good as real rice.
Eggs. I don't know what I would do without eggs. I get through loads and loads each week (free range of course ).
Celeriac. This was a new one for me, and it looks really, really wierd. But it's absolutely brilliant. You can use celeriac for pretty much anything you use potatoes for.
Bell peppers. Red are best in my opinion.
Almonds. I use ground almonds to make all sorts of things (muffins, pie crusts, bread etc). You can buy almonds ready ground in most supermarkets. For some reason they are about the same price of non ground almonds.
Linseed (also known as flax seed). This is a great source of fibre. Ground linseed can be used to make low carb bread. It's super expensive to buy ready ground, but if you have a coffee grinder, buy the seeds and grind them yourself. Much, much cheaper.

If you're not great at cooking, no time like the present to learn! I started low carbing this time last year. At the time, I had to look up how to boil an egg. Through trial, and plenty of error, I have learned to make omelettes, frittatas, low carb bread, low carb pizzas, low carb muffins and more. You can do it if you put your mind to it. Search the Internet for low carb recipes, there is so, so much out there. Best of luck, and keep posting on your progress.

I may be stating the obvious but when you say you have been looking at recipes on this forum - are you sure you're looking in the low carb lot?

killerkaz said:

Thanks everyone I think I am trying to run before I can walk. I will certainly have a look at that book and download the app you mentioned. I kept thinking I couldn't enjoy anything with carbs again but I see now that isn't so, I'm going to try the slowly slowly catches monkey way which cor me might be better and see which carbs affect my bs most. I am T2 by the way on metformin. By the way I've bought kale for the first time do you cook it like cabbage?

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Try popping the kale in the oven on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and olive oil and bake for about 8 minutes. Alternatively, pop it in a frying pan with some coconut oil and cook until just crispy, really nice as an alternative to rice with oriental dishes..good luck

killerkaz said:

Hi everyone
I have been trolling through the recipes on this site and have printed quite a few off, then when reading through them I have noticed that a lot of them are massivley high in carbs!!! So far I have seen chicken tandoori at a whopping 168.3g per serving down to macaroons at 2g per serving.Even such things as asparagas and ham soup is 38.9g. A salmon and brocooli bake is 14g. I could go on and on.....Just how many carbs is acceptable in a meal? I would have thought salmon and broccoli would have been very low. I'm beginning to feel this lchf is just to much bother and to just carry on eating a healthy diet with no sugar, I'm just getting more and more confused with what I can and cant eat, and the cant list is getting bigger and bigger! Fed up now

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Not every one here is following the LCHF diet .. So did you find their resipies ?
Carbs are diffrent for everyone ... I can have around 30 a day and I am fine