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What makes something diabetic friendly?

C

curiousresearcher

Newbie
So I know that:
‘Reduced fat’, ‘Lower fat’ means 25% less fat than the regular version.
‘Light’, ‘Lite’ only applies when the characteristic that makes the food ‘light’ is stated on the label. It could be fat or salt content, colour or even flavour
‘Low fat’ – No more than 3g fat per 100g.
‘% Fat Free’ – Must meet the low-fat claim, so you should only see 97, 98, 99 or 100% fat free. Claims like 95% fat free are in breach of food industry guidelines. ‘Fat Free’ can only appear on foods with no more than 0.15g fat per 100g.
‘Low saturated fat’ – Must meet the ‘low fat’ claim and have no more than 1.5g saturated fat per 100g of food or 0.75g per 100g liquid food.
‘Low cholesterol’ – No more than 20mg cholesterol per 100g.
‘Cholesterol Free’ can appear if cholesterol is no more than 3mg per 100g.
‘Reduced sugar’ – 25% less sugar than the regular version.
‘Low sugar’ – No more than 5g total sugars per 100g. ‘Sugar free’ only if sugar is no more than 0.2g per 100g of food or 0.1g per 100g liquid.
‘No added sugar’ – No added simple sugars, including added honey, malt, malt extract and maltose. Foods may still contain natural sugars.
‘Unsweetened’ – Contains ‘no added sugars’ and no artificial sweeteners.
‘Diet’ – 40% less energy than the regular version and a reduction of at least 170 kJ per 100 g food, or 80 kJ of liquid food.
‘Source of fibre’ – At least 1.5g fibre per serve. ‘High fibre’ must have 3g fibre per serve and ‘Very high fibre’ 6g fibre per serve.
‘Low salt’ – No more than 120mg sodium per 100g. ‘Salt free’ and ‘No salt’ only when no more than 5mg sodium per 100g of food or 2.5mg per 100g liquid.

So what are the figures for something being 'diabetic friendly' (the label that is now included on some foods)?
Thank you


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I try and keep if possible to foods that have less than 5g carbohydrate per 100g. The 'of which sugar' is irrelevant for diabetics, it's the total carbs that count. Fibre is OK as it's not digested and is reported separately on UK labels (not the case in the US I believe).

Sugar is the enemy and not fat. Generally anything that says 'low fat' or 'light' contains more sugar than the full fat version.
 
Full fat is diabetic friendly.

Low {almost anything} is generally not diabetic friendly because the key selling points of 'special' foods are based on out dated theories about what makes you fat, thin, healthy etc.

So don't go for anything that has a special label - just avoid all starchy things such as bread, pasta pizza, rice and root vegetables such as potatoes and parsnips. Sadly, that includes breakfast cereals, porridge, pulped fruit in smoothies and all sorts of fun things.

Eat naturally - eggs, full fat cheese, full fat milk, double cream, meat (assuming you are not veggie) salads, green veggies.

Avoid pre-packaged and processed foods as much as possible.

Read the labels for %carbohydrates of which %sugar - and keep those low.

Strange things pop up - like skimmed milk can spike your blood sugars because it is mainly lactose - a sugar.
Read the labels on milk and cream and you will find that double cream has the lowest carbs.
 
I am not aware of the official limits - I do want to warn people though - a lot of the "diabetes friendly" foods, particularly sweets, chocolate and jam, contain laxatives! Be careful if eating them. Also, they usually have as many carbs, if not more, as the "normal" versions, so be very careful with that too!
 
I see you are a Student/Researcher.

I don't know where you got your list from but would say that there are no special foods for diabetics.

Anything that agrees with a meter readings is fine and will be different for individuals. If you read through the forums you will see that menus vary from person to person as there is no blueprint.
 
Cynical, but I would not buy anything labelled 'diabetic friendly'. Another marketing ploy to con the gullible.
Each of us with diabetes needs to find our own 'friendly foods' . Some like high fat low carb. For me I find low carb, low fat high protein works, with few processed foods in my diet.

Edit, forgot to mention, bulk of diet fresh veg.
 
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I'm not sure that your definitions are EU definitions which are here http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/nutrition_claims_en.htm
I would think that any manufacturer trying to suggest that a food is diabetic friendly might fall foul of health claim regulations.
A joint governmental/DUK statement suggests that foods labelled 'diabetic' or suitable for diabetics could be referred to trading standards. Saying that a product is friendly would surely imply some sort of benefit and that would have to be demonstrated scientifically.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/webpage/diabeticfoods#.U8k6rJpBscA
If a certain make of 'diabetic' chocolate claimed to be diabetic friendly , I know of a few people who would be able to report that it wasn't .


Personally, I think something is more likely to be healthy and hence diabetic friendly if it doesn't come from a factory or require any sort of label.
 
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I'm veggie/ vegan and try not to eat any "processed" foods. New regime is: I buy organic wherever possible and eat lots of veg (obvious!!) and pulses, beans & brown or black rice; plus nuts for in-between meals. Smaller portions too. Hope it all works!!
 
I'm with Pipp - if I saw something labelled as "diabetic friendly" I would be suspicious. My experience of diabetic food products is high cost, low quality, low taste with various dodgy additives/sweeteners. I haven't bought a diabetic food product in decades.
 
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