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Low carb pre-prepared snacks.. rant

ThePenguinPimp

Well-Known Member
Messages
130
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Well my sister and mum were going to Tesco (not a Tesco Express this is a HUGE Tescos in Streatham, London) to grab some food for lunch (sandwiches etc for them) and asked if I wanted a salad or something.. I said I think you will find it difficult to find anything pre-prepared that is low carb as it all comes with pasta or sauce that has carbs but I'd be happy with a bag of salad and some chicken or something..

They returned with a pre-packaged chicken with salad which had a little tub of ranch sauce and said they did indeed find something low carb (I have been diabetic for 30 years my sister is 4 years younger than me and has a law degree and a masters in psychology she is not daft). I looked at the back of the packet and it had 26g carbohydrate in it. Obviously the carbs were in the dressing so I chucked it and got some mayo which has virtually no carbs in it https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/264365273.

I have 3 points to make about this..

Firstly there is absolutely no excuse to put 26g of carbs(sugar whether it comes directly from sugar it makes no difference) in a dressing with something that anyone would assume to be a really healthy salad. They could have put mayo with it and it would then actually be healthy.

Secondly if my sister, who is intelligent and has grown up with me having 'brittle' diabetes (turns out brittle means more susceptible to insulin resistance) and always looking at the back of the packet to see how many carbs are in it can be fooled by the misleading **** in the traffic light box then what chance does anyone have.

Thirdly, where is the 'helpful' traffic light table that you see on all 'healthy' food that has low added sugar? It really seems to me it generally only appears on the food that is low in added sugar but has loads of carbs in it.

I just feel like crying, ok by now I actually am I admit. I have started this petition to have carbs added to the front of all packaging so people know what they are consuming but it just feels like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall. My sister tells me that I shouldn't be saying the food industry are deliberately trying to mislead people but they are not acknowledging that carbs exist at all and find a way to add them to just about every pre-packaged snack or ready meal.

Here is a link to my petition if anyone does agree with me. But I just feel so disheartened and fed up. I have lost so much to diabetes (I'm registered blind, I had charcots foot, have lost 2.5 toes on my right foot incl big toe, severe internal and external neuropathy, impaired kidney function etc etc) and all these people are getting T2 diabetes (which I now see is worse than controlled T1 as by definition their blood sugars are out of control as mine were (I really have to stay very low carb as I get insulin resistance easily). I genuinely want to help stop the same **** happening to others. It's not like I'm the first one to realise that if things are going wrong you need to reduce your carb intake sometimes drastically at first to get your insulin sensitivity back, but our voices are drowned by the constant stream of misleading and confusing information coming from the food and pharmaceutical industry. Trying to educate people that all carbs raise our blood sugar levels and if your blood sugars are out of control you are consuming to many is just turning me into a joke. Why am I bothering.. I'm spending my own fkn money on fb ads to try and help people and people just think I'm a nut job. I must be!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/display-carbohydrate-value-on-front-of-all-food-packaging

Rant over. Thanks for listening if you got this far.
 
I have signed. I agree with you as often foods are fine on the traffic lights where it says "sugars" but are actually high in carbs so once we eat them they turn into high sugars! I want to avoid getting all the problems you have if I can and I struggle to find things I can eat, I admit I don't particularly like cooking so would love to be able to pick up nice healthy ready meals. I get so bored with my diet but what I can eat is so limited. I have to watch my husband eating all the things I would love to eat and resist (most of the time!) the half eaten bars of chocolate he leaves on the coffee table in front of me.
 
Hi @Arab Horse have a look at the Low carb diet thread in forum, also the "what have you eaten today" thread. They may give you some ideas for nice meals.
 
I'm very interested in what exactly this chicken salad was? I'm a regular Tesco shopper and the only chicken salad that I know of that they sell with that many carbs is a 260g nutty chicken salad, is it possible to have the name of the product you had at all? xx
 
I signed your petition @ThePenguinPimp when you posted it the other day. My low carb moan is the lack of LC meals or snacks in coffee shops. Bread, pastry, cakes all carb ladened stuff. I always carry low carb snacks in my bag and get them out to eat with my black coffee, so at least I have something to nibble on while my friends and family eat regular stuff. I’m waiting for the day someone tells me off for eating something not bought on the premises! I’ll ask them to point to something low carb I can eat!
Having said all this Prèt a Manger get my custom if I find one, quite a few low carb foods there and excellent shelf edge labels with complete nutritional info.
 
Pret is an absolute lifesaver for me when I’m out and about! CoOp and Spar (and probably other shops too) do a protein pot with hard boiled eggs and spinach that are quite handy too.
 
I have signed the petition and added it to my FB Page, I will keep re posting it over the next week or so to keep it in peoples view and minds.
I think what you are trying to do is very worthwhile, having control over what we eat in our own homes can be managed fairly well on a daily basis, trying to find suitable things to eat when out can be an absolute minefield. It can be very difficult to find low carb food items that can be picked up from a shelf in a supermarket, and lets be honest there are times when even the most prepared and controlled of us needs that option.
I recently took a flight and the menu mentioned a diabetic meal option was available, it may well have been ok for type 1 or medicated type 2 but certainly wasn’t suitable for a type 2 diet controlled low carb person, it contained potatoes and below ground veg, the “normal” menu was actually the better slightly safer option to go for.
I wish you well and hope you achieve your aims, well done for trying on all our behalves.
 
Terrytiddy said:
Hi @Arab Horse have a look at the Low carb diet thread in forum, also the "what have you eaten today" thread. They may give you some ideas for nice meals.
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There are a regular group of us who add to this thread everyday, it really does give you ideas and identifies foods that you might not have considered, it’s well worth a look @Arab Horse
 
Exactly my feelings and thoughts Rachel. Recently went out for lunch to a well known chain where they provide options for swapping the unhealthy things for something else, I asked to swap my chips for the broccoli, sorry we’ve run out of broccoli was the reply!! Can I get you rice or a jacket potato instead? Uh no, it’s fine I will go without, just bring the steak and mushrooms. They did just that, didn’t even try to even things out on the plate, massive empty space for the missing carb element of the meal.
 
It is very annoying isn't it. I tend not to eat out much as it is often so difficult to have anything you like.
 
Arab Horse said:
It is very annoying isn't it. I tend not to eat out much as it is often so difficult to have anything you like.
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It’s frustrating and acts as a reminder when otherwise you might be able to temporarily forget about being a diabetic.
 
jayney27 said:
It’s frustrating and acts as a reminder when otherwise you might be able to temporarily forget about being a diabetic.
Click to expand...

Fat chance! I like curries but they are not the same when you can't have nan bread and popadoms. I only had a small amoumt of rice so am not too bothered about that but I love garlic and corriander nans, torture to watch everyone else eating them!
 

I meant to take a picture of it then thought I'd just find it online and couldn't! It was literally 'chicken salad with ranch dressing' but this is apparently one of the largest Tescos so maybe they have a larger range. Next time I go in there I will find it and take a picture. It was almost certainly with the sandwiches etc.
 
I check things out on their website all the time and have never came across anything like that, big shop or not it should show up on there as well xx
 
Going back to traffic lights thing, there is no official consensus on carbs vs. fat though on this forum we are mainly in the church of low carb (and on some threads it has the taint of a religion or an ideology).
There is a certain minority of the population who tolerate carbs really well so it just isn't right to demonise them with red lights and surely we can all work out the difference between carbs and added sugars? Conversely there is no scientific evidence (not epidimiology) that saturated fats are dangerous so they should not get a red light either.
Whilst the government is still promoting Eatwell (high carb and low fat) I don't see how we can expect food manufacturers and retailers to do anything but try and market their foods to us in the best possible light eg. No Added Sugar for products that are still full of processed carbs.
If in a restuarant or shop I don't rely on packaging to tell me what's low carb and generally assume that most stuff in packages represents a landmine! Also I am partially sighted so can't even read the back of packaging!
The other thing I fear is that there are all these ersatz products creeping in proclaiming that they are low carb when they are usually 'lower carb' than the very high carb thing they are replacing or are nutritionally pointless (zero carb noodles and protein bars are 2 things that spring to mind) yet there are so many great whole foods we can eat. I truly miss bread and don't eat it much but happy to do so occasionally just to lighten up a bit and not take this diabetes thing so seriously.
 
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