Lack of low carb food in Hospital

honda 123 said:

Hi everyone,I had the Jab just before my 72birthday,ending up in Hospital,was asked what i would like for breakfast,i replied bacon and eggs,,she just laughed at me and said we don't do that,you can have Porrage,Toast,all meals high carb,no understanding of Low Carb high fat diet,
Type 2 diabetic been on low carb high fat for several years now finding it hard to get back on the diet

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I would have laughed back and said, I don’t do carbs. Then I would order delivery.

sorry to hear that though.

honda 123 said:

Hi everyone,I had the Jab just before my 72birthday,ending up in Hospital,was asked what i would like for breakfast,i replied bacon and eggs,,she just laughed at me and said we don't do that,you can have Porrage,Toast,all meals high carb,no understanding of Low Carb high fat diet,
Type 2 diabetic been on low carb high fat for several years now finding it hard to get back on the diet

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Think that is the norm for hospitals, sadly.

Have seen so many similar reports.
Some where it's more planned and not an emergency, make up a survival pack for family to bring up on visits

Really shouldn't be this way, in this decade.

Sorry you had that, does make getting back to good practice harder

Best wishes

Hi. It's not just cost saving but the NHS actually believes Fat is bad and Carbs are good - ignorance reigns I'm afraid. Yes, try to organise your own food if you can.

LaoDan said:

I would have laughed back and said, I don’t do carbs. Then I would order delivery.

sorry to hear that though.

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Can you order delivery in hospital? I am asking because during my previous stays at the hospital the food was so atrocious I found it difficult to down it. It was also difficult to work out the carb content. When I said I would simply prefer a sandwich they said I had to pick from the ‘menu’!

Daibell said:

Hi. It's not just cost saving but the NHS actually believes Fat is bad and Carbs are good - ignorance reigns I'm afraid. Yes, try to organise your own food if you can.

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Also trying to serve hot fried food to a ward full of patients would be a challenge.

Mr_Pot said:

Also trying to serve hot fried food to a ward full of patients would be a challenge.

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I’d settle for cold crispy bacon and boiled eggs. Or any cold meats/cheese etc., but it can’t be any more complex than serving bacon, eggs etc to an airliner full of people.

Goonergal said:

I’d settle for cold crispy bacon and boiled eggs. Or any cold meats/cheese etc., but it can’t be any more complex than serving bacon, eggs etc to an airliner full of people.

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Then again looking at the quality of most airline breakfasts....

@honda 123
What were you hospitalised for?

Glucobabu said:

Can you order delivery in hospital? I am asking because during my previous stays at the hospital the food was so atrocious I found it difficult to down it. It was also difficult to work out the carb content. When I said I would simply prefer a sandwich they said I had to pick from the ‘menu’!

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I suppose it would depend on the circumstances, country, but yes, I’ve done it in the states. I’ve also had family members bring food

It does seem daft that there is not an alternative to high carbs meals in hospital. I'm sure they would make exceptions for people with allergies so if a person said 'I'm allergic to carbs, they make me ill' (which in a way is correct), why shouldn't they offer an alternative? Scrambled egg in a microwave for example can hardly be any more trouble than toast or porridge.

I have spent time in hospital and have encountered no choice but high carbs on the wards. Being intolerant to carbs is similar to an allergy, the treatment is avoidance.
After a week of having a fasting test, they offered weetabix or toast! This happened despite my efforts of educating the sister and nurses who were looking after me.
I had to do it all over again with my eOGTTs, the first, I had a bad hypo and they gave me lucozade and a sandwich, despite being intolerant to dairy. Which they knew about.
Only a few weeks ago, I was taken into hospital over Easter weekend and due to tests, it was too late to get low carb, and the nurses did try, the hospital shop was closed because of covid. In the end the sister on the ward ordered a salad for me, which was crisp and fresh along with gratitude from me, and no they didn't charge me.
I have stayed on a diabetic ward and some of the choices the food is unbelievably high carb such as creamed mashed potato and concentrate
orange juice, if you are vegan, the limitations are worse.
I have had discussions with my endocrinologist about the whole dietary issues of a stay in hospital with those who have an intolerance to carbs.

As others have previously said, order in or get someone to drop at reception, you will get it.

Keep safe

I can normally pick and mix a meal in hospital from the regular menu.

Breakfast was hit and miss though eggs and beanz were cold



**** on a shingle here, I went on strike that day.



I found the midday meal was the best choice as there was some great salads on offer.



Dinners were ok most of thetime.

Some sort of frittata here.

I spent the weekend before last in hospital and found the food generally fairly edible and balanced. Lunch and Dinner tended to contain some protein, two different types of veg and a source of carbohydrate (potato, rice, etc); along with some options for sandwiches. However Breakfast was pretty shocking, the most diabetic friendly option was porridge, which isn't ideal, the other options were Weetabix, Rice Crispies (seriously?) and toast. These options are appalling: not only are they dereft of any real nutrition, they're just carbs. I know Weetabix and porridge are often pushed as 'healthy' breakfast options but I don't see how anyone dealing with raised blood glucose could be given something that will massively spike their sugars.

Like someone mentioned previously, if it's possible for airliners to servce eggs and bacon, I can't see how the NHS can't offer a low-carb option at breakfast. It should be standard practice to offer one low-carb option at every meal for those with specific dietary requirements. But the NHS seems to be highly sceptical of the low-carb approach: when I visited the nutritionist for the first time last week she seemed slightly annoyed that I'd made adaptations to my diet (specifically using 'keto-friendly' recipies for things like pancakes) to avoid my BG spiking after meals.

If you are carb intolerant, porridge is bad for you.
I hope that you are not following the NHS recommendations for dietary intake @AlexD14 , because if you are T2, it won't do you any good.

Stay safe.

I know there have been talk of changing the advice, but as usual, most doctors don't understand diabetes. Some of them still misdiagnosed patients.

Lamont D said:

If you are carb intolerant, porridge is bad for you.
I hope that you are not following the NHS recommendations for dietary intake @AlexD14 , because if you are T2, it won't do you any good.

Stay safe.

I know there have been talk of changing the advice, but as usual, most doctors don't understand diabetes. Some of them still misdiagnosed patients.

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Sure, as I said it isn't ideal but it was probably the most diabetic friendly option, and even then, it isn't really an option for those trying to minimise their carb intake. What's worse is they actually ran out of porridge so the only options were Weetabix or Rice Crispies.

The nurse offered me rice crispies, and according to the carb total is higher than any other cereal. The jaw dropper is special K. It also comes near the top.

We learn, we watch, we seek, we act.

I believe it depends on the hospital, recently having the pleasure of staying at different hospitals, Royal Brompton... wow! Serving heroin would have been healthier. Epsom, much better, they actually check notes and only offer silly high carb menu but at least you don’t get offered apple pie and custard everyday like the first. But that was the tip of the iceberg re. My diabetes “care”

I have recently had another overnight stay in hospital for observation after a procedure and this was served up for breakfast. I did not order this, but it is standard issue in this particular private hospital.

Mr_Pot said:

Also trying to serve hot fried food to a ward full of patients would be a challenge.

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It was the norm until a few years ago, then cost cutting and out sourcing ruined hospital food.
Last time I was in overnight the fridge supposed to be restocked with protein rich liquid food contained a couple of fake strawberry flavoured yogurts and a single pack of 'high protein' soup for the entire ward of dental/ent patients. For those who could eat the private company failed to produce more than half of the preordered meals correctly and failed to provide enough meals - nursing staff spent ages trying to sort it out - and told me this happened nearly every day. The waste of trained staff time in order to save a few hundred on the food contract!