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Lack of Diabetic Drinks in Eating Establishments

7

7 Lives Left

Member
Hi All.
First of all I would like to say that I do not spend any great amount of time in pubs or eating eatblishments but when I do go out I have found that there is never more than one or two soft drinks on sale!
Even at one of the larger 'Plastic Pubs' as I call them have only one brand and that comes from the same pump system as all the others. (With sugar)
Having had time recently to sit and read my Diabetic book, whilst sitting in the local General Hospital, I found out the number (out of date) of people living in the U.K. with Diabetes. (Est'd) With so many people I would have thought that the licensed trade would do a little more than they do to help out including the limited food choces.
The trade I read has gone through one hell of a battering these lase few years (Price rises and the Smoking ban) but do very little to convince us to return and eat again. Sorry! I forgot the bottled water....
Anyway! It's worth taking time before going out to the pub or popping into your local food establishment to stop think about what your going to eat and drink/whats available on the menue and it's contents because I found there is no mention of sugar levels on the menues or warning like there are for vegetarians?

Happy eating and drinking....

Best regards

Paul

7 Lives Left
 
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. :D

Ken

post edited.....
 
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 agree totally Cugila - knowing what we can eat and tolerate is everyone's own responsibility- there is a mountain of food stuff and drinks that people can't have for whatever reason besides diabetes- allergies to seafood, dairy, eggs, wheat - I could go on - far too many for any eating establishment to cater for individually

I have to say though if a menu item was marked "suitable for diabetics" it would be the last thing I would choose anyway- It is my guess it would be based on the "eat plenty of carbs" advice from the NHS - it would be against regulations for them to do otherwise.

If I am unsure I ask what the ingredients are or if I can have it without - as to the major chains I have made myself a little credit card sized booklet with info taken from their internet sites of some of the dishes that are suitable for me according to their nutritional info - I have found it very useful times

I agree about nothing from a pump only a bottle - yesterday I had a very enjoyable gin & diet tonic and than a glass of red wine - non alcoholic on offer for me was bottled diet coke, diet Pepsi, diet tonic, diet bitter lemon, sparkling and still water and even a can of sugar free red bull - not my choice of drink but I was surprised that there was such a thing!
 
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 :P
 
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 have just got back from a lovely meal with my hubby- goats cheese crostini with watercress and pesto - gave the bread bit to hubby - fell and sea (steak and prawns - not called surf n turf in these parts as we live in the lake district :lol: ) with green salad and a handful of chips - lemon cheesecake - only ate half of the top with fresh raspberries and didn't eat the base - couple of glasses of red wine - my BS stayed below 7 the whole evening 8)

Wonderful evening topped off by a walk round the lake to watch the sunset and then another drink in a pub - this time a soft drink - only had pump drinks so the barman went to the next door pub and got me a bottled diet coke - can't beat that for service!
 
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 :D

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:
Click to expand...

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) :D
 
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