Lack of Diabetic Drinks in Eating Establishments

I visit Pubs and Restaurants around various parts of the UK and have not had much of a problem really.

As a Diabetic I know what I need to eat and what not to. Unless they specifically say....'suitable for Diabetic's' (not a good idea most times !) I know that it is always my reponsibility to work out what I can tolerate in my diet. Even if anything is labelled in such a way I know that I need to do my homework and find out what exactly it contains to check if it is suitable for me. I think TBH there are too many dietary regimes for establishments to have to cater for all......we have to be flexible in most cases. As do Vegetarians, Coeliac's etc.

I find a good selection of diet drinks and bottled water available in most places. Obviously there have been some where there have been a lack of suitable drinks, however tap water is always provided when asked. That to me is more than adequate. Everything has to be bottled or canned if diet type drinks.....never take anything from a pump !

As for food, most of the larger chains provide nutritional info online you can check out or, as when I was in a Weatherspoons recently, they provided me with two small booklets about nutritional info which includes carbs etc. I did have to ask for this but found it was clearly displayed at the bar. All good.

I suppose it all depends again on where you plan to eat. I usually know if I need to avoid specific foods, breads, potato, rice, pasta atc and when ordering always ask for them to be deleted and a suitable (for me) substitute provide. Again, never had any problem doing this.

If you don't ask........you don't get.

I am probably what they term an akward customer, (no comments please.... :twisted: ) however, I am paying for the meal etc and I get what I want.

Ken

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I do not have problems eating out as most places are happy to adapt their menu dishes to suit you. No thankyou to the chips/baked potato but extra veggies please always works for me.
I usually have have a diet tonic water with ice and lemon but always insist on the bottled variety. If that is not available then I have a glass of tap water with ice and lemon.
If someone else is doing the driving then it's a glass of red wine or a gin and tonic.
I don't think it will be any time soon for a list of special food and drink for diabetics but we can adapt to what there is.

I think the point being made was lack of choice re soft drinks and I so heartily agree.Yesterday we ate out at a very popular venue,had choice of tonic or diet coke so brought it to the attention of bar manager pointing out a large percentage of peeps are on diets and a really large percentage are diabetic ,what can we get said the man looking perplexed diet apple diet orange diet ginger beer etc I told him and asked tongue in cheek if the behind bar area would be wall to wall with diet drinks soon,barman said to my hubby was that diet lager sir LOl

Personally I think everyone in this thread got the point !! Food purveyors cater to the highest common denominator, they are a business and cannot factor in every single diet under the sun.

Yes, I would agree with that Silver Fox. I know several Publicans/Restaurant owners and they are continually being asked by all sorts of groups to modify menu's, provide different drinks, cater for special interest groups and all sorts of rules and regulations.

They just cannot do it with the budget's that they have to work on. Many of them are not the owners but are Manager's or lease the business. They are on tight budget's like the rest of us and have to cater for the majority most of the time.

One Publican friend who is a Diabetic tried out a themed evening where all the food was Diabetic friendly and there were plenty of diet drinks of all kinds. He sent out the invites to all the local Diabetic groups........result........6 people turned up !

Result for him.....much wasted food and drinks, big hole in his pocket as he paid for everything. Not much profit that month ! So, with the best will in the World....it has to be just one of those things we have to contend with and put up with. Like an awful lot of things we put up with.

Ken

i've never had a problem finding somethinfg suitable for a drink. ASoda water with a splash of lime cordial isn't carb free, but it's pretty low.
One tip I read somewhere is to take along some gluco stix[ urine dipping sticks,] to detect sugar Trouble is I'm not sure they detect sucrose.
Hana

I have to agree with the majority here.

Once you know what you can eat and what to avoid, eating out should pose no major problems to anyone.

As for drinks; if you don't want alcohol (red wine, whisky or vodka) there is always water......still or sparkling.

My glass is always half full

Ardbeg said:

My glass is always half full

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You must be a cheap date then!! :lol:

Ardbeg said:

My glass is always half full

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Jim.

I've heard that's because you spill most of it........ :wink:

Ken

So much alcohol and so little time................

diet lemonade is hard to get in pubs but my wife when she worked at a golf club manager used to get 2 lt boltled lemonade in for the diabetics
when ever i go for a meal i always ask for it evern if i know they dont do it in the hope they will get it in for diabetic if they see no demand they will never get it i only dring water and diet lemonade

I suspect that until people like me who want an alternative drink keep asking for them, they will not magically appear as an option. When we eat out we order low carb beers or a jug of soda water with a few slices of lemon. We recently have started a campaign of asking what low alcohol dry white wine they carry as there are now several options on the market that are delightful. Once the venues hear that there is a demand they will likely cater to it and make their profit. I also make a point of telling the bottleshops that I have selected the low alcohol or low carb option because it is better for me as a diabetic or one who wants to watch her weight. Diabetics and weight watchers are no longer a minority group.

Last week my wife and I went out for a meal, she wanted to go to an American burger type restaurant that we used to eat at but haven't since my diabetes.

I had a 6 ounce bacon and cheese burger and left the bun top and only ate 10 thin cut chips it was very nice too, no one says you have to clear your plate when eating out. Oh, and I had two bottles of Bud as a treat

I'm sure that if I was on a low carb diet and asked for just the burger with cheese and bacon topping and just a salad they would have accommodated me.

IMHO restaurants tend to serve huge platefuls of food and as a diabetic I just have to decide how much of it I want to eat, I would be surprised to find a restaurant that catered for diabetics, especially as no two of us seem to be on the same diet to start with :lol:

Sid Bonkers said:

I would be surprised to find a restaurant that catered for diabetics, especially as no two of us seem to be on the same diet to start with :lol:

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Most decent restaurants are happy to tweak what they serve if you are specific about what you want. Glad you enjoyed your meal out! 8)