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Low carb diets restrictive? Myth!

I buy my ingredients for my homemade muesli from a local health food shop. Goji berries can be expensive - I buy them when I am in the far East and Coco nibs I buy on special offer . Cooperative organic supermarkets are the best place for these sort of ingredients if you have one near you.

BTW I bought today from Holland and Barratt that Eat Water "Pasta" which appears to be made in China from a seaweed and contains nothing but fibre. I only bought it as it a Buy One Get One half price. I hate to think what it is like but will try it with a bolognaise sauce sometime. I often use shredded cabbage or spaghetti squash when I can find it with a meat sauce instead of spaghetti.
 
mike in london said:
Hi from Michael type 1 insulin dependent , please can you tell me regarding a LCHF. If part of my meal contains LC and quite a bit of protein say chicken, im aware I have to calculate the carbohydrates but do I also have to calculate insulin for the protein ,
If so how do I do this ? Also if I only eat protein in a meal do I still calculate for insulin . Im not sure what to do around this area of the LCHF diet. Im new to this diet and to this site
Regards mike . :roll:
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no you only need insulin for carbohydrates. your baseline insulin if right should keep your blood sugar from going up. you should ask your doc about doing a DAFNE course. i did it a couple of years ago and its really help
 
It may be hard to believe but no food is carb free. Please read this, many if us on low carb have read this book and it is a super tool kit. I have been diabetic 30 years, I've also done Dafne but many of its principles are floored.

THE CHINESE RESTAURANT EFFECT
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(Diabetes Solution, page 95)

Years back, a patient asked me why her blood sugar jumped significantly every afternoon after she went swimming. I asked what she ate before the swim. “Nothing, just a freebie,” she replied. As it turned out, the “freebie” was lettuce. When I asked her how much lettuce she was eating before her swims, she replied, “A head.”

The small amount of digestible carbohydrate in lettuce should not by itself have caused her blood sugar jump, even considering the quantity she ate. The explanation lies in what I call the Chinese Restaurant Effect. Some Chinese restaurant meals contain large amounts of protein or slow-acting, low-carbohydrate foods, such as bean sprouts, bok choy, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts, that can make you feel full.

During and after meals, the stomach empties a slurry of food mixed with liquid into the small intestine. The liquid passes through the small intestine and is absorbed, mostly in the large intestine. The solids stretch the walls of the small intestine as they slowly pass through. Cells in the upper part of the small intestine release hormones that signal the pancreas to produce insulin when they’re stretched. (The pancreas is the gland responsible for manufacturing, storing, and releasing insulin in the body.) Large meals cause greater stretching of the intestinal cells, which in turn will secrete proportionately larger amounts of these hormones.

A very small amount of insulin released by the pancreas can cause a large drop in blood sugar, and so the pancreas produces the less potent hormone glucagon to fine-tune the potential excess effect of the insulin. Glucagon acts to increase blood sugar.

The problem arises when the insulin-producing cells of your pancreas the pancreatic beta cells make little or no insulin. Glucagon is still produced, but adequate insulin is not available to offset its effect.

The first lesson here is: Don’t stuff yourself. The second lesson is: There’s no such thing as a freebie. Any solid food that you eat (even pebbles) can raise your blood sugar if you’re diabetic. Trivial amounts, however, such as a small stick of celery, will have negligible effects.


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Actually, since going on a low carb diet I have found I do need insulin for protein. Only if I have a large portion of meat though, say more than a handfuls. It takes a while for your body to convert protein into glucose, for me its around 2 hours after eating. Its only a small amount of insulin though. So I'll have my usual meal time insulin then top up with a unit or two two hours later. The only way to find out if it affects you is to test.
 
Ricky, there is an active thread all about Shirataki Noodles if you want to take a look, which is what the "Eat Water" noodles are
 
I'm with stuffedolive on this one. I love my low carb diet. I'm eating all the things I once banned on a diet, and it's really only bread that's a pain in the backside. Also, unlike low fat diets, on this one I've got a tiny waist for the first time in ages, and I'm squeezing into my skinny jeans when I've still got a stone to go before 'perfect weight'. It's the easiest diet I've ever been on.

On the diabetes, I don't know the results yet. I feel better, that's for sure. I get my first 3 month checkup in a couple of days, so I guess the blood test will have the answer in it.
 
Nice one, Claire! :)

Talking of jeans I had to add extra notches to my leather belts so it's all going good.

Just about to go on holiday though - that'll be a challenge with all the eating out...
 
Wullie said:
Talking of jeans I had to add extra notches to my leather belts so it's all going good.
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I bought three leather belts before my holiday which I could fasten on the first notch. By the end of the holiday, I was on the last notch.

Sadly, they were cheap belts and the leather was stretchy :-(
 
I've been low carbing for about 8 years and Ieat a varied and healthy diet. I love vggies and salads, so truly don't miss fillers like bread etc. I do like occasional small portions of new potatoes and the odd slice of Burgen soya and linseed toast.[ not more than one slice per day.] I keep fruits down and green stuff up.
today for lunch I've had a mixed salad with hard boiled egg. I had lemon mayo on the egg and a Balsamic reducion on the salad. now I'm having my coffee with stevia sweetener and CREAM.
We've just been on a week's break to East Anglia [cathedrals are good to visit when the weather is sweltering outside!] and I've had no difficulty keeping to my meal plans; and come back half a kilo lighter!
Hana
 
And I have just rediscovered peanut butter! Having avoided it for years in a vain attempt to keep my cholesterol down, I now find that I can eat such yummy lo-carb delights and my cholesterol stays low.
For lunch I had a large celery stick packed with peanut butter, four slices (1/2) of a green pepper, stuffed with cream cheese and dill and a handful of mixed nuts.
 
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