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Why is there virtually ZERO interest by supermarkets in UK in selling LOW CARB foods?

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PollyAnna25

Newbie
Messages
1
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Fresh tomatoes. Allergic to kiwis
Hi, I’m a pre diabetic(diagnosed about 5/6 years ago) and always on the lookout for low carb alternatives. I come from Glasgow originally but have lived in Western Australia since 2007. Like many countries, Australia has seen significant increase in type 2 Diabetes diagnoses over the years. I regularly visit Scotland(am here now )and bring with me many LOW CARB food items both for myself whilst I’m traveling and for my sister who has type 2 diabetes. So what I’m seeing is that supermarkets in Australia have responded quite well to the statistics and have a good range of LOW or LOWER CARB and SUGAR FREE products including breads, pasta alternatives. Even specially bread, LOWER CARB potatoes. I am a total loss as to to why British Supermarkets don’t seem to see this niche in the market as profitable.
I would encourage anyone who would like to see a good range of such products in stores in the UK, to contact all of the big players.
 
There have been a few scams re 'diabetic' food in the past. To illustrate the point I usually quote the egg salesman who said on television, "I find I sell more eggs if I write free range on the box". The problem with 'diabetic food' is similar. I have my doubts that relying on retailers to tell me what foods are low carb will just be another case of this.

I behave defensively in this regard. I read the info label on the back of the pack which clearly states the carb content. Supermarkets sell a lot of low carb food. You just have to read the label and take a bit of responsibility for yourself. It's safer that way.

There is also the absolutely obvious behaviour of staying away from the pizza aisle and more in the meat and veg aisles.
 
I get quite a lot from Ocado. They do carbzone products, wraps, bread, chocolate and fitbake bread and wraps. If you search keto there’s lots of other products too. I especially like a product called nibble, which are low carb biscuit bites, soft like fudge and only 3.5 carbs a bag. They also do cheesies, which are baked cheese bite, lush. Also lots of protein deserts. Also no grain muesli
 
PollyAnna25 said:
LOWER CARB potatoes
Click to expand...
Taking this back to the OP's issue of lower carb potatoes, there is a form of ancient sorcery the retrogradation spell, which transforms a regular potato into a low carb potato. (works on other carbs too)

Cook then and put them in the fridge over night.
Reduces carbs and calories.
 
Not for everyone sadly I tried with pasta into oblivion & it didn’t work for me, neither does the potato but I wasn’t so bothered about that
 
lovinglife said:
Not for everyone sadly I tried with pasta into oblivion & it didn’t work for me, neither does the potato but I wasn’t so bothered about that
Click to expand...
Agree, but it seems to work with bread for me.
Only the seeded wholemeal, though when toasted.
 
lovinglife said:
Not for everyone sadly
Click to expand...
Arrrrrr retrogradation tis a complex form of sorcery.

Chilling cooked carbs over night, changing the carbs to resistant starches, can lower GI and calories promoting weight loss in some. (reports vary)

However some reports say chewing this food undoes all this.
I'd always heard mastication is bad for you.
 
Getting back to supermarkets and low carb food.

I think that many who follow low carb way of eating tend to also avoid ultra processed food?
Therefore start meal prep with fresh ingredients with few additives?
So , fish, eggs, meat, green veg, cauliflower, etc. , butter, yogurt, nuts, oil, cream ( though I also cannot tolerate too much animal fat) berries. All available in various supermarkets.

One thing I do wish supermarkets would stock more is low carb bread. Lidl rolls have disappeared a few years ago. Having to order low carb bread in bulk, online, is a bit of an inconvenience, because my freezer isn’t big enough to accommodate lots of bread, and not much space if several loaves in there, for my batch cooking of soups and casseroles.
 
I think both Sainsburys and waitrose stopped selling their lower carb bread this year. Maybe shows there isn’t enough demand for it. Holland and Barrett sell a flax one I like but it’s more like a German bread.

Perhaps the basic problem is that the NHS still doesn’t widely promote a low carb way of eating for type 2s, and therefore the demand isn’t there. Hopefully that is slowly changing now.
 
I think that's right that the NHS doesn't advocate low carb. I am going to an NHS-funded prediabetes class and we are told to follow the Eatwell Guide, which recommends at least 30% starchy carbs on your plate. I don't like that.
 
It's all about making cheap food for the masses.
Food production, Feeding the world.
Massive population growth after the second world, cheaper varieties of crops, and better farming methods and the change from small farms to mega farms and of course supply and demand.
Mass production of cheap centralised food outlets of poor quality industrial fast junk foods.

And the reason why there is so much more allergy and intolerance from these foods.
According to the latest research, it could be as high as twenty percent of the western population is intolerant to wheat and train products. Also the high incidence of T2 and other conditions.

Eat and cook fresh food.
 
Lamont D said:
According to the latest research, it could be as high as twenty percent of the western population is intolerant to wheat and train products.
Click to expand...
Whilst I agree with much of what you say @Lamont D I'm very sceptical of those wheat intolerant stats - 20% is very high. I have not been able to find any link for those high numbers @Lamont D . Do you have a link ?

Also, and this is only a n=1 study, but as I am coeliac I have a lot of difficulty finding wheat free anything. If 1 in 5 of the population is wheat intolerant I'm sure the food industry would capitalize on those numbers. As it stands they don't . And when I think of a food intolerance I am minded to think adverse reactions.

Ed spelling
 
you could be correct in your assumption. And it is not a coincidence that (No link) it was Canadian report about the latest strain of wheat and the science of the make up of the actual grain, down to atomic level and certain markers and in that is certain parts of the grain that is known to cause intolerance.
intolerance to me is something equalling a biological reaction to that part of the grain.
Which included coeliac, diverticulitis and other conditions.
intolerance is a lesser reaction than an allergy.... But both make you feel ****!

Edited by mod to remove thinly disguised profanity
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm very mindful that this thread is about low carb products and not about gluten intolerance. So not wishing to derail . Very briefly here is the study around modifying some of the gluten proteins.

Safer Wheat for Celiac Disease | Celiac Disease Foundation

A Promising Step Toward Safer Wheat for Celiac Disease We are proud to share the results of a three-year study funded by the Celiac Disease Foundation, recently published in the journal Theoretical…
celiac.org
 
That might explain why low GI, resistant starch and other magic doesn't work for me - I chew.
 
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