Thinking about liquid diet

[Annb]

I am T2, insulin dependent, seriously overweight and have been eating as little carb as possible for many months. I am still gaining weight and have tried all sorts of timings for dosing with insulin to see if any alternative helped. Some success with very early injection, but not much and not long lasting. To add to that, I have found in the last few days, that I have seriously gone off of meat and vegetables. Can't face anything other than toast (obviously spoils the low carb effect), maybe fish, when I can get it and drinks. So I'm wondering about the potential of a liquid diet.

Does anyone on a low calorie diet have any ideas on the nutritional value of such a diet?

 

[TriciaWs]

You could try puriton for some lowish carb meals although I'd add at least one meal a day of fish, eggs or cheese and green veg/salad.
https://www.purition.co.uk/

 

[Annb]

Thanks for that. Just checked out the website and it looks interesting but doesn't give ingredients for individual items. I have a few food intolerances which makes me wary. I was thinking of making my own shakes, but not sure that they would be nutritionally adequate.

 

[Goonergal]

Thanks for that. Just checked out the website and it looks interesting but doesn't give ingredients for individual items. I have a few food intolerances which makes me wary. I was thinking of making my own shakes, but not sure that they would be nutritionally adequate.

Ann this page appears to break down nutrition by product, including ingredients:

https://www.purition.co.uk/pages/ingredients-and-nutritional-data

 

[Geordie_P]

What do you generally eat in a day?

 

[Annb]

What do you generally eat in a day?

I usually start the day with streaky bacon fried crispy and a couple of fried eggs (using any fat cooked out of the bacon). Sometimes I have one slice of home-made wholemeal bread, toasted, with it.

Then I have a second meal most days which has usually been a meat and veg mixture. An old-fashioned pudding plate of the mix is usually as much as I can eat. More and more often these days, I don't finish the meal and throw anything left over away because I really can't face eating it again. This second meal is usually around 2 - 3 pm. If I leave it much later than that, I go off the idea of food altogether so just make do with the bacon and egg meal.

I do drink quite a lot of tea or water. A few years ago I ended up in hospital, dehydrated and having caused a problem for my kidneys so I have made sure since then to have at least 2 litres of fluid a day - usually tea with full cream milk in it.

Much of my excess weight is fluid, for which I take diuretic pills in an attempt to get rid of it. It doesn't work. I don't think I will ever lose weight but I still hope to control my BG and that, perhaps I can take something which my stomach (or brain??) doesn't want, ie a liquid meal. Not sure that such a meal would not cause more problems with the fluid retention, but it might be worth a try.

 

[Annb]

Ann this page appears to break down nutrition by product, including ingredients:

https://www.purition.co.uk/pages/ingredients-and-nutritional-data

Thanks Goonergal. I did see that page but it doesn't make clear which of the complete meal sachets contain Stevia. I suspect that most of them do. Stevia is a real NO-absolutely NO for me. I did ask on their chat line, but the response wasn't very informative.

 

[bulkbiker]

I am T2, insulin dependent, seriously overweight and have been eating as little carb as possible for many months.

Sorry to hear you are having problems.. I'd hazard a guess that it's the insulin rather than what you are eating that is causing you the problems.

How much are you taking and what sort of blood sugar levels are you seeing each day?

 

[Annb]

Sorry to hear you are having problems.. I'd hazard a guess that it's the insulin rather than what you are eating that is causing you the problems.

How much are you taking and what sort of blood sugar levels are you seeing each day?

Thanks for your interest. I am on large doses of insulin - 56u of basal and 60u of bolus each time I eat and sometimes a correction dose of the bolus. Recently, because I started dosing half an hour before eating, my BG was sitting around 6 - 8 most of the day, but that was a recent development, which doesn't seem to be working any more - that's what usually happens. BG the last few days has been going daft between 9 and 18. 18 last night so I took 45u bolus dose which only brought it down to 10.8 by morning. Sticking around 9 - 10 at the moment.

It is really insulin resistance that is the problem but can the insulin itself cause a problem?

 

[bulkbiker]

It is really insulin resistance that is the problem but can the insulin itself cause a problem?

Adding yet more insulin to an already saturated body probably won't help and it is known as the "fat storage" hormone so I doubt it will be assisting much.
Has any medic ever suggested getting your own insulin production tested or had it done?

 

[Goonergal]

Thanks Goonergal. I did see that page but it doesn't make clear which of the complete meal sachets contain Stevia. I suspect that most of them do. Stevia is a real NO-absolutely NO for me. I did ask on their chat line, but the response wasn't very informative.

It’s a bit hidden but it does - those I looked at DO contain stevia so suspect you’re right.

 

[Annb]

Adding yet more insulin to an already saturated body probably won't help and it is known as the "fat storage" hormone so I doubt it will be assisting much.
Has any medic ever suggested getting your own insulin production tested or had it done?

Yes - I suggested it to a GP. He didn't understand why I was requesting it, but he did arrange it. I am producing insulin - or I was about 2 years ago. Just not able to use it efficiently, is the problem.

If I don't take the high doses of insulin, my BG shoots up to the upper teens or off the meter's ability to read it. Taking these high doses at least gives a little control.

 

[Annb]

It’s a bit hidden but it does - those I looked at DO contain stevia so suspect you’re right.

This is why I was wondering if I could make up my own mixture but I suspect it would be deficient in more ways than one. I suppose I could keep going with the bacon and egg and just make up milk shakes and take supplements to cover the rest of the days' food. I was hoping someone on this part of the forum might have done something of the kind. When I can get fish, it's a fairly low calorie and low carb ingredient, so by increasing the amount of fish I eat, that would probably help.

 

[AndBreathe]

This is why I was wondering if I could make up my own mixture but I suspect it would be deficient in more ways than one. I suppose I could keep going with the bacon and egg and just make up milk shakes and take supplements to cover the rest of the days' food. I was hoping someone on this part of the forum might have done something of the kind. When I can get fish, it's a fairly low calorie and low carb ingredient, so by increasing the amount of fish I eat, that would probably help.

@Annb , I feel your frustration from here, so can understand why you might want to try something different.

My only comment would be to go very cautiously. If your shakes are to be milk based, you could find your relationship with the loo becomes very close indeed.

 

[Goonergal]

Ann, this may be totally off beam given you said you’re not fancying meat, so feel free to ignore it! But would you consider bone broth? I know it’s meat based, but would be a liquid and contain much that is nutritious.

I haven’t tried this brand (yet) but it comes highly recommended in a Facebook Carnivore group and the owners of the company seem pretty decent. They also ship anywhere in the UK: https://www.wildisle.co.uk/

 

[shelley262]

Ann, this may be totally off beam given you said you’re not fancying meat, so feel free to ignore it! But would you consider bone broth? I know it’s meat based, but would be a liquid and contain much that is nutritious.

I haven’t tried this brand (yet) but it comes highly recommended in a Facebook Carnivore group and the owners of the company seem pretty decent. They also ship anywhere in the UK: https://www.wildisle.co.uk/

That beef broth looks amazing and their ethos impressive @Goonergal

 

[Annb]

Ann, this may be totally off beam given you said you’re not fancying meat, so feel free to ignore it! But would you consider bone broth? I know it’s meat based, but would be a liquid and contain much that is nutritious.

I haven’t tried this brand (yet) but it comes highly recommended in a Facebook Carnivore group and the owners of the company seem pretty decent. They also ship anywhere in the UK: https://www.wildisle.co.uk/

I'm sure it is very good stuff and if I could face the flavour of meat, I would think of trying it. But it seems very expensive. I appreciate that the Wildisle people are offering a low price for anyone who can't afford it, but I couldn't let myself take advantage of that. They can't be too far away from here and it's good to see a local firm making a name for itself. Trouble is, their blurb puts me off a bit because I live here and it sounds a bit too fulsome. I still might look into it further though.

 

[AndBreathe]

I'm sure it is very good stuff and if I could face the flavour of meat, I would think of trying it. But it seems very expensive. I appreciate that the Wildisle people are offering a low price for anyone who can't afford it, but I couldn't let myself take advantage of that. They can't be too far away from here and it's good to see a local firm making a name for itself. Trouble is, their blurb puts me off a bit because I live here and it sounds a bit too fulsome. I still might look into it further though.

Google gives me this info on Wild Isle:

 

[Annb]

Google gives me this info on Wild Isle:

View attachment 54894

Yes - they are in Ardroil - on the far side of the Island from here. Very much in the wild west. Quite remote but a lovely area. I hadn't heard of them until today. Must ask DIL. She goes over to that area quite often to deliver or uplift laundry.

 

[Goonergal]

I'm sure it is very good stuff and if I could face the flavour of meat, I would think of trying it. But it seems very expensive. I appreciate that the Wildisle people are offering a low price for anyone who can't afford it, but I couldn't let myself take advantage of that. They can't be too far away from here and it's good to see a local firm making a name for itself. Trouble is, their blurb puts me off a bit because I live here and it sounds a bit too fulsome. I still might look into it further though.

I get your conundrum and it’s definitely tricky as ALL the pre-prepared shakes contain lots of gunk.

The only potential solutions I can think of aren’t cheap, but I wondered about some sort of ‘clean’ protein powder which could up the nutrient content of anything you put together at home? Some of them are either plain or only gently flavoured. I’m going to tag @Krystyna23040 as I know she found something when she was looking into the PE Diet.

Hunter and Gather produce bovine collagen peptides which are apparently flavourless, so might achieve something similar to bone broth but without the flavour and can be added to any liquid. They ain’t cheap! https://hunterandgatherfoods.com/products/grass-fed-collagen-peptides-protein-powder

They also do a fish based one, but that costs even more.