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Vegan and low carb?

PepperTed

Well-Known Member
Messages
104
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
My insulin sensitivity is very low, even though I'm type 1, and I want to reduce my carb portions to reduce my TDD. But I just can't think of how on earth I could stay full on a low carb diet, being vegan... as much as I love vegetables, they don't fill me up for long. I looked at the vegetarian recipes sticky thread, but very few of them are vegan and if you cut out the dairy and eggs, they would be pretty low fat and not very filling at all.

I'd be fine with eliminating rice and replacing with quinoa (is that even low carb?) and subbing potatoes for other veg, but what about bread and pastry? Could I still eat dal / lentils, which are currently a large part of my diet? How can I get enough vitamins and minerals without fruit?

Typical current day:

Breakfast: small bowl of cereal

Lunch: sandwiches

Dinner: dal and rice/ curry and rice / risotto / veggie sausage and mash / shepherd's pie (veggie mince) / veggie chicken wraps / pasta bake / pie and salad...

Snacks: at least two pieces of fruit a day. Sometimes have popcorn.

I don't do much of the cooking (I'm the 'breadwinner' who works long hours) and I don't think I can change the household diet that drastically. I think maybe I will have to compromise by having just a small portion of whatever carb we have, and increasing my portion of the protein part?
 
That's Avocado! I'm pleased to see chickpeas and beans are on the good list. They are very filling and we have dal / bean curry a lot.
 
Hi again

I eat chickpeas, beans, lentils etc, but only in moderation and only if my meter says they are ok. Some people tolerate them better than others. Best to test your own tolerance.

I am not vegan and am a non insulin T2. Virgin coconut oil is an excellent fat source and great for frying veg and cauli rice. Nuts are also very fatty and versatile. And avocados of course!

I tried chia seeds this week and they are great if you haven't tried them. Funny texture but very nutritious.

I haven't tried quinoa personally, but it features a lot on this website http://vegangela.com/tag/low-carb/

@izzzi might be able to help you out with more food ideas.
 
Fruit - I eat berries, rhubarb and Meyer lemons without troubling my bg as they are lower carb fruits. I avoid tropical fruits altogether as they are full of sunshine and sugar.

Family - I am a single working mum with weird cauliflower-hating children I don't mind making different dinners as good health is the priority.

Rice, mash, pasta, wraps are all things I wouldn't touch. Again, use your meter as you may tolerate small portions.
 
Hi, @PepperTed your cats look happy enough.
We have used a lot of @Avocado Sevenfold 's recipes and made a few adjustments. (to good compared to my recipes that take to long )
Ground linseed/flaxseed, Avocado and nuts are a great help.
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Avocados, raw, all commercial varieties
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Seeds, flaxseed
Calories In Nuts Chart: Which Are The Lowest Calorie? - BuiltLean
dal / lentils are ok
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt

What do you mean by sandwiches for lunch, and also mash. ( me just being picky )
Not to sure if you can have brownies but there are a few great glutton free, sugar free recipes about that fill you up. ( give yourself a little time, well maybe for the sake of those lovely cats )
 
Thanks izzzi. Ted and Pepper have very low carb diets but they are definitely not vegan!

For lunch I usually have two sandwiches with something like peanut butter, jam, veggie 'meat'... because I have so much insulin in the morning to correct dawn phenomenon, I'm usually starving by lunch and need something filling to get me through to dinner. By mash, I mean mashed potato.

I think dinners will be okay as long as I can still have my lentils and beans. I just need to think of a good replacement for my lunch time sandwiches. I did take salads for a while which was okay, but got a bit boring. I suppose if I concentrate on mixing up the salad vegetables, and snack on some nuts as well, that could work.

Unfortunately one of the very few vegan foods I don't like is avocado. I do like nuts though .

I'm not in any rush to drastically change my diet, since going onto the pump is going to be a pretty huge change in itself. I think I will start slow... for dinner today (I made a curry) I halved the amount of rice I would usually have and increased the curry portion. I didn't miss the rice. I'll start by continuing to reduce the carbs I have with dinner, then in a while move on to other meals.
 
@PepperTed have you tried the lower carb breads for your sandwiches?

Livlife - Waitrose and some Morrisons
Hi-Lo - Sainsburys
Burgen soya and linseed - most places

EDIT the hi-lo may not be vegan. What is wrong with Sainsburys? Sell a bread that is not vegan and don't stock it in Scotland? Grrrr!
 
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@Avocado Sevenfold , are you saying your Scottish.
 
izzzi said:
I wondered why your recopies were so clever. I am a posh Grenockian sent down to England to find a good Wife with great success.
Click to expand...
Did you bring her back up the road?

While you're here, and to keep the thread on track, have you tried chia seed pudding? I had it last week and it is fantastic. It's my new favourite lunch
 
Avocado Sevenfold said:
Did you bring her back up the road?

While you're here, and to keep the thread on track, have you tried chia seed pudding? I had it last week and it is fantastic. It's my new favourite lunch
Click to expand...
I am afraid I somehow got stuck with our 4 children ( now adult children ) and my sons business keeps us in England. Not to bad these days as it does not take long to drive up to Scotland.
Yes chia seed pudding many times. Our son is a dab hand at cooking some great meals using chia seeds.
@PepperTed I think your wise not to rush into things regarding diet changes. control is all that matters.
By the looks of Pepper and Ted all seems good and they know best.
 
I'm T2 & not vegan.

I rely on ground almonds, coconut flour, milled flax seed to provide HCLF food.

I make a porridge using about 50 g of the nut mixture, thickened with boiling water followed by a minute in the m/wave. That provides approx:
carb - 4 g
fat - 28
protein - 10
fibre - 7
Kcals - 300

300 Kcals is double the energy of a cereal b'fast.

Thicken your veg stock with ground almonds.

I use the nut mix instead of flour in cooking. It's good for thickening soup - add a 5-10 g of powdered nuts to cup-a-soup. (Keep your spoon for the sludge.) You may find a suitable biscuit recipe based on nut flour on the recipe section of the forum.

I use crackers or rice cakes (6-10 g carb) piled high with peanut butter for the occasional snack..
 
Stay where you are just now as they are predicting minus 13 in the Central Belt tonight! I am going to put some soup on to thaw me out. Celeriac and anything I can find in the fridge.

@PepperTed sounds like a plan to ease yourself into low carb. There are lots of curry night tweaks you can adopt if you decide to cut carbs further
 
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Thank you everyone for all the great advice, I am taking notes

We use Manjula's kitchen a lot but I haven't seen that chickpea curry before, it looks incredible! My husband is from India so we cook lots of Indian food, especially dals.
 
PepperTed said:
Thank you everyone for all the great advice, I am taking notes

We use Manjula's kitchen a lot but I haven't seen that chickpea curry before, it looks incredible! My husband is from India so we cook lots of Indian food, especially dals.
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Sorry, the chickpea curry is not on her site. It was adapted from a book published by my local curry house. I highly recommend the cucumber salad. It sounds boring, but tastes incredible and smells of dolly mixtures!
 
Taste buds alert ....curry veggie style and love cucumber salad .....loved it years before being type 2
Chickpeas are great for many dishes I find ....

I had dhal with okra tonight in a coconut sauce .....just sharing ....
 
Well, I started my pump this morning. My DSN has set the basal and I:C deliberately lower than my MDI dosages would indicate. I'm on so much insulin and she isn't comfortable with me having anywhere near that amount through the pump until we're sure I need it.

I know I'm going to be running really high for at least a couple of days until we get the settings right. I'm really reluctant to have starchy carbs and push it up even more, since I know my current I:C is not going to cover it. So here is my first attempt at a low carb day...

Breakfast: Two veggie sausages
Lunch: Tofu scramble and one slice of bread (DSN said it's good to have a small amount of carbs to avoid ketones, especially since my BG is currently 18 :|)
Dinner: it's our Chinese takeaway day so I'll probably get some kind of vegetables / tofu in sauce and no rice

I'm craving fruit!! Might treat myself to a satsuma later if my BG goes down
 
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