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Very Low-Carb Diet Plans

jclegg73

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hello All

Sorry if this question has been asked before but can anyone recommend where to find a free very low carb diet plan thats easy to follow?

Thanks in advance

John
 
Hi @jclegg73 I suspect you don't really want as simple an answer as this, but it may give you ideas.
A very Low Carb way of eating is a Carnivore way of eating, since all veg, fruit, grains, nuts contain carbs - even a lettuce leaf has a minute amount of carbs.
In my opinion it's better to expand that to include foods that indigenous populations sus as the Maasai , Inuit etc. eat (or used to eat) such as milk and eggs.
So only Meat, Fish (including all associated fats and including organs) plus blood, milk, cheese, eggs. Personally I don't eatvery low car, just 20gns to 40gms per day - so flirting with Keto. Neither do I eat many organs - just blood (black pudding, blood sausage etc) liver, kidneys, bone marrow. Oh and Lo Salt.
Do you really need a plan for that?
 
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jclegg73 said:
Hello All

Sorry if this question has been asked before but can anyone recommend where to find a free very low carb diet plan thats easy to follow?

Thanks in advance

John
Click to expand...
In the Members Area on this very forum is a free low-carb 7 day and 30 day meal plan. I have not used these myself.
 
Thanks for that Ian I have been looking for plans but most are not free so I'm sure that just checking the amounts of carbs in foods is all I need to keep an eye on.

Do you know when checking carbs in foods is it just the amount that sugars you count?

Thanks
 
Hi - you count all the carbohydrate, not just the sugars. Carb is digested to glucose, so that's what you need to monitor in terms of intake and impact.

In the US they give a figure for food which includes indigestible fibre, and then a "net carb figure" of digestible carb. This can cause confusion on the internet.

The UK (and I think most everyone else) just gives the digestible carbs in the first place.
 
Thanks very much for that Kenny not had much help from the NHS since I came out of hospital.
I was supposed to have an appt. with the diabetic nurse at the hospital to go through everything but all I got was a phone appt 2 weeks ago and no dietary advice given as promised, so I have just been trawling the web for very low carb plans but most of them get quite expensive.
Hopefully now I've got a bit of an idea I can start getting these blood sugars dow,

Cheers
 
No @jclegg73 For UK products it is Total carbohydrates that matters since all digested carbs turn into sugar! So you can ignore the sugars, added sugars etc. Carbohydrates are listed as either per 100gms, or per serving, since it's a combination of both the carb 'density' and the amount eaten that matters.

In the UK Fibre isn't included in Total Carbs, but in the USA it is and needs to be subtracted from Total Carbs.
This is important when looking online since it isn't always obvious which sources are British or American. You can tell the difference by the spelling :- Fiber is the American way of spelling the word instead of the British word Fibre!
 
A lot of people are and have been in the same boat since lockdown. I don't think you'd be likely to get much other than the so-called "Eatwell Plate" advice - which is "eat lots of carbs" - through NHS channels - you might be lucky, but I doubt it.

A lot of the easy to find low-carb stuff is expensive, and it's easy to find because whoever's selling it pays Google to show you it first. My personal opinion is that the advice from folks on here is streets ahead of anywhere else. It's the difference between being shouted at by the Internet "you must do this" and this forum's approach "I did this and it worked for me, see what you think".
 
Thanks Kenny I agree.
 
You don’t need to pay for low carb advice. If you want to follow a very low carb way of eating (usually called keto) go on YouTube and look up Dr Ken Berry and Dr Eric Westman. They’ve been doing it and teaching it for years and can be relied on to give you the correct advic. Good luck
 
jclegg73 said:
Hello All

Sorry if this question has been asked before but can anyone recommend where to find a free very low carb diet plan thats easy to follow?

Thanks in advance

John
Click to expand...

Fundamentally you are looking for ways to replace / eliminate starches and sugars in your diet. Sugars are easier IMHO - stop taking sugar in coffee / tea (if you do), stop drinking full-fat drinks, stop (mostly) eating cakes, biscuits, pastries, fruit juice... I say 'mostly' as personally I make an exception if I'm out for a meal, which doesn't happen very often! Also some forms of alcohol contain a lot of carbs, principally beer and obviously sweet wines, sherries and cocktails. Beer not only contains more carbs per 100ml, we usually drink it in bigger quantities. Spirits are very low carbohydrate but we tend to put sweetened soft drinks (tonic water, orange juice) with some of them.

Replacing breakfast cereal, potatoes, pasta, rice, bread etc. is IMHO much harder as we are so used to using the to bulk up our meals. Lots more veg is the way. I've discovered cauliflower rice - I now roughly chop cauliflower to make my own, it's cheaper and I prefer the texture. I'm told you can do the same with broccoli, and probably other vegetables.

I've also started spiralizing, only courgette so far. I slice down the side so I get slices rather than one long spiral. It needs a minute in the microwave to heat if eating with a hot meal, but you can it it raw as well. I imagine mooli would work well.

Lots of salads... I love avocado & olives in mine, and sometimes add cheese or meat.

And simply cooking lots more veg to go with your meat / tofu / eggs etc.

You also have to start reading labels. I was surprised at how few carbs are in top-quality sausages at the supermarket - sadly butcher's sausages aren't labelled in such detail.

But what makes it far easier IMHO is 1) if you can afford to spend more on food, 2) you are used to making nearly all your own meals from scratch, and 3) you are only cooking for yourself. I can't imagine doing low-carb if I had a family pestering me for potatoes / rice / pasta / bread.
 
CatsFive said:
stop drinking full-fat drinks
Click to expand...
why? Fat isn’t the issue unless you mean sugar filled drinks
CatsFive said:
Lots more veg is the way.
Click to expand...
usually a good thing, but more fats or proteins keeps you fuller for longer
CatsFive said:
you are only cooking for yourself. I can't imagine doing low-carb if I had a family pestering me for potatoes / rice / pasta / bread.
Click to expand...
I do a lot of dishes that have these on the side. I just miss them off my plate and add more of whatever else is going on.
Or a common occurrence in my house is to do two pots with largely the same in but one without the carby items (or without the meat for my veggie or more/less spices if its a hot dish etc etc)
 
I call Coke cola (red label) and other regular sodas ‘full fat’
 
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