How to eat enough

[T-A]

My husband has diabetes but he is extremely thin - to the point of almost being anorexic. He eats what he thinks is an adequate diet but it is less than 1000 calories a day and he is over 6 feet tall and losing weight. I am looking for creative ways to add fibre and calories to his diet without sugar. Suggestions? His typical diet is cereal plus milk for breakfast, 2 home made cakes without sugar mid morning, low cal chicken noodle soup for lunch, maybe a chop and possibly one potato or vegetables for dinner. All ideas welcome.

 

[Mileana]

Replace the milk with a higher fat content one. Or half yoghurt/half greek yoghurt. Add roast, chopped almonds to the cereal.

Replace the cakes with cheeses, salamis, almonds.

Have him have a supplement shake with the noodles. Skip the noodles and make him a sandwich on burgen bread, with mayo, full fat cheese, ham, bit of cucumber, green pepper, tomato.

Add some gravy to the pork chop. Fry it in plenty butter/olive oil. Make dishes with cream in them. Make omelettes with bacon/sausage, bit of cream, fried - add shrooms, spinach, brocolli florets... Make stews with cream in them, serve with cauliflower rice. Make a mousakka on courgettes instead of potatos - plenty cheese etc.

Nudge him to have a bit of food before bed if you can - a bite of cheese, a couple thin slices of ham, some almonds.

Do you know if his sugars are generally okay? Excessive weight loss can be a sign that things aren't quite as they should be in which case he should look at other treatment options - the body needs energy from somewhere and if it cannot use the food properly, it will deplete muscle and fat stores and that is not healthy at all and can be dangerous. It all depends if his sugars are okay, really.

Good luck.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Does your husband have a meter and hence measure his blood sugar to see what foods affect him and what his typical levels are? How old is he? If he is young and as he isn't overweight late onset T1 diabetes is always a background possibility and this needs a different approach from just diet. Also, is your husband on any meds?

 

[IanD]

I'm still waiting for an email answer from the dietitians who spoke to our Hounslow Support Group:

My question:

The diet favoured by dietitians (apart from DUK) seems to be controlled carbohydrate/low fat - 150 g carbs per day with minimal fat/oil. How can this provide adequate calories? 150 g carbohydrate provides about 600 cals. 150 g each chicken breast & lean beef provide 350 g cals. That leaves 600-1,000 cals to be derived from fruit & veg, & any fats that creep into our food. 1 Kg of carrots would provide 200 cals, & a further 40 g of carbohydrate. 5 apples would provide 400 cals, & a further 100 g of carbohydrate – double the 150 g carb you are suggesting. However 700 cals would be provided by naturally fatty foods.

The dilemma is - reduce the carbs & the fats, & the diet is calorie deficient. We dare not increase the carbs & there are possible dangers in excessive protein - particularly kidney problems.

The answer many on this forum is that fat does not affect blood sugar, therefore increase the fat to provide the needed calories. There appears to be very little (if any) evidence that fats are harmful. I eat fats in the form of meat, cheese, nuts, oils, & have all the calories I need for an active lifestyle.

 

[carty]

I can sympathise here I am a skinny type 2 I eat 2 slices of Burgen toast for breakfast with loads of cheese on Then for a mid morning snack I may have walnuts in double cream with cinnamon sprinkled on it Lunch may be home made soup with cream or scrambled egg with cheese and tomato or bacon and egg or salad with lots of cooked meat afternoon snack of nuts Brazil are good and then an evening meal of stir fry chicken or pork or prawn or roast meat with roast celeriac and swede lots of green veg or casserole with veg and red wine gravy There are loads of permutations of this but I find it better to eat little and often and try to make the food as tasty as possible so I may want more.I also enjoy some high cocoa chocolate and a glass of red wine in the evening Hope this helps
CAROL

 

[Catsymoo]

Hello. Is your husband type 1 or type 2?

If he is type 1 and can have more sugar than a type 2 due to insulin, I recommend Nutella. I know it's full of sugar and that might sound insane, but it's SO fattening that it makes it low GI. I personally can scoff the stuff without any spikes. It's a good way to get more calories in. Peanut butter also works. Plain cream ice cream, nuts, 80% cocoa chocolate, popcorn are high calorie/fat but lower GI choices as well.

However, I am unsure about Nutella itself as a brand. Here in the Netherlands, hazelnut/chocolate spreads are very popular and you get every flavour you could imagine. I personally have the dark chocolate spread - not sure if you can get that in the UK.

Another breakfast option would be cheese on toast. And don't let up on the cheese either. Make it toast on cheese, not cheese on toast. Chilli Con Carne is also full of fat and calories but not much carbs.


Reading all these posts in this thread makes me wonder why I'm a little overweight. I literally eat porridge for breakfast, then homemade soups for lunch and dinner (literally 100 calories a bowl). I may have nutella on bread as a snack. I don't eat nearly enough. Then I have my boyfriend who is skinny as anything and he lives off of pizza and ice cream. I hate my life sometimes lol.

 

[Defren]

My husband has diabetes but he is extremely thin - to the point of almost being anorexic. He eats what he thinks is an adequate diet but it is less than 1000 calories a day and he is over 6 feet tall and losing weight. I am looking for creative ways to add fibre and calories to his diet without sugar. Suggestions? His typical diet is cereal plus milk for breakfast, 2 home made cakes without sugar mid morning, low cal chicken noodle soup for lunch, maybe a chop and possibly one potato or vegetables for dinner. All ideas welcome.

Sneak calorie dense foods in if you can. If you make anything with mince add cream and cheese, they are very low carb but higher calorie. I would avoid the cereal and have bacon and eggs, or omelette with cheese and cream. Are the lunch time cakes low carb? Mine are that I make and a muffin is around 200 calories, so that would be an easy way to get calories in. Marbled meat, dairy, oils will all boost his calorific intake without adding to his carbs. Add those to his regular food and he will be none the wiser, but it should help 'fill him out' a little.

 

[paragliderpete]

Hi, At 6ft tall he should be eating at least 80 to 90 grammes of protein oer day to ensure that he does not loose lean body (muscle) mass.
You could try coconut flour muffins for mid morning snack spread with almond butter and whipped cream, very much like scones and cream. If you add cheese and bacon when making the muffins you can spread them with butter and pate, both are good ways of increasing the calories without the carbs.
Make sure he eats at regular times. I find that with a very low carb intake i don't feel hungry, and have to plan and eat at set times to make sure I eat enough calories. It can be difficult as I'm often eating when i'm not hungry.