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Type 2 Leeks

wiseowl_123

Well-Known Member
Messages
896
Location
North Kent
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Bullies & Cauliflower cheese
Good afternoon I have some leeks for lunch but haven't tried them before as they are a below ground vegetable,are they alright as I couldn't get any broccoli
 
@wiseowl_123 I have just looked up the values for leeks and they are 14g of Carbs per 100g, so probably a little high for a Type 2 but the only way to tell if they are ok for you is by testing later and seeing how they have affected your BS levels. Also checked broccoli and it is 7g of Carbs per 100g.
Hope this helps.
Del
 
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Good afternoon @delmcp my friend many thanks for your most friendly and informative reply,very much appreciated I have tested before my meal and I shall test 1 hour and two hours after and will post the results here

Before lu 1.30pm/ 6.0m/mmol(cabbage and leek +one spoonful of mash +one medium piece of steak).
One hour after 2.30pm 6.6mmol
Two hour after 3.30pm ?
 
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wiseowl_123 said:
Before lunch 1.30pm/ 6.0m/mmol(cabbage and leek +one spoonful of mash +one medium piece of steak).
One hour after 2.30pm 6.6mmol
Two hour after 3.30pm ?
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Looks good so far wise owl.

I never eat leek by itself, but I often use it in soups and stir fries and have never found it to be a problem.

In theory the carbs look a bit high, but there's also lots of soluble fibre, and in my experience carbs from non starchy vegetables seem to have very little effect compared with carbs from things like grains.
 
Your profile is of excellent control, so it is likely leeks will work with you. They are a staple for me when I do my roasted vegetables.
 
I don't know where you are getting these numbers, the Carbs and Cals book says 2.5g per 100g for Leeks and 1g per 100g for Broccoli. Even if you include the fibre in carbs they don't get anywhere near your figures.
 
The net carbs in leeks is about 12, and broccoli about 4 or 5 - that is from memory so only approximately.
The higher figures, 14 and 7 are the carbs including the fibre, and the lower ones are wrong.
There are very few vegetables which are so low in carbs and using that information could be very dangerous.
The edible parts of leeks are the leaves - usually the blanched lower parts, so they are not really below ground plants, as the blanching could be done with anything which excludes light.
Although a bit high for me I have used them sparingly for flavour, or to replace pasta sheets.
 
Squire Fulwood said:
I Googled "carbs in leeks" and I got 14gms per hundred so there is a disagreement.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&q=carbs+in+leeks&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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According to the Tesco website there are 2.9g per hundred in Leeks, so as long you buy them from Tesco you should be ok
There have been similar "controversies" before, I seem to remember walnuts being discussed. Small variations are understandable but when it is a factor of 5, someone is making big errors somewhere.
 
Good afternoon all my friends and thank you all for your informative posts they are very much appreciated

Before lunch 1.30pm/ 6.0m/mmol(cabbage and leek +one spoonful of mash +one medium piece of steak).
One hour after 2.30pm 6.6mmol
Two hour after 3.30pm 5.3mmols
 
Good result.
 

Sorry but Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsburys all have 2.8 or 2.9g per 100g which if you think about it sounds much more likely than 14g per 100g... which is more than a parsnip! Maybe the US leeks from google are more sugar packed..
 
The best info I can find online for leeks is about 14g carb per 100g, however the best info I can find on the amount of starch puts it at less than 1 gram (and less than 3 grams of sugars). So that poses the question of where are the other 10+ grams hiding?

While I'm not totally certain, I suspect that the "hidden carb" content of some in these non starchy vegetables is some type of soluble fibre. While normal (insoluble) fibre is non nutritive, as in not absorbed by the body and contributing no calories, soluble fibre is absorbed and provides dietary calories. For this reason I suspect that the soluble fibre is sometimes getting counted in the carb content of vegetables like this.

Soluble fibres however are not converted to sugars as soon as we eat them (like starches are), they can only be absorbed after being broken down in the large intestine (mostly into short chain fatty acids). Soluble fibre is indisputably good for us.

So my best guess on this is that leek actually contains less than 4g per 100g in actual sugars and starches, and that the higher 14g per 100g figure being reported by some sites is probably mostly comprised of soluble fibre.
 
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Mr_Pot said:
I don't know where you are getting these numbers, the Carbs and Cals book says 2.5g per 100g for Leeks and 1g per 100g for Broccoli. Even if you include the fibre in carbs they don't get anywhere near your figures.
Click to expand...

I think they are the US figures which include fibre - unfortunately Google defaults to all things US, so you need to search for UK sites to get figures consistent with UK carb counting.
 
Great result Leeks don't spike me at all. I love them raw and finely sliced in salad
 
Good morning all my friend and many thanks for answering my question on leeks,what a great bunch of people you all are
 
Maybe it is variety and method of growing. I grow blu de solaise as a heritage variety. They set seed in the second year which I put directly into the seed tray. Pot on jan/feb before the books tell people to sow seed indoors and pop into the ground as I clear the brassicas. In supermarkets I often see giant chive offerings calling themselves leeks and they may have never seen soil. I have no idea what goes into the nutrient enriched liquid a lot of supermarket veg is raised with but presumably that could affect the chemical analysis for carbs. The earlier I pull leeks the sweeter they are. If I pulled any of last years now they will be so fibrous as to be unpalatable. Relieved to know leeks are on the ok list as I love them and use them instead of onions a lot of the time.
 
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