YET ANOTHER THING WE CAN'T EAT!

[Q007]

Morning, just had my latest hba1c results and it's gone from 43 to 50 so I'm on a mission to try and get it back down. I've cut out pastries - I used to have bake scones with jam and butter with a cuppa tea and I drank a lot of tea so it was probably this that pushed the number up.

I don't know why but I'm getting terrible craving for sugar especially late at night. So, I bought and tried a breakfast cereal with wheat flakes and dried fruits, the raisins made each mouthful quite sweet and along with dried banana, nuts I thought I'd struck gold. Then I read that dried fruits such as raisins, prunes etc have concentrated sugars and cause spikes in BS readings and should be avoided for D people.

They tasted so good, is this true then? something else off the menu? It's a shame if so as I read they help lower cholesterol and mines high. Any comments please, I'd like to have wheat flakes with some dried fruit and nuts as I hear they're rich in B complex which is good for mood and I that's on the to do list as well. I need some help with this awful craving for sugar, Kind regards all, Q..


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[2131tom]

Hi,

FWIW, I also found breakfast cereals with dried fruit gave me some pretty hefty BG spikes so I stopped eating them. We shouldn't be surprised - I've just had a look at one my other half has and it's got 33g of sugar (out of 68g total carbs) in 100g of the product.

There's no reason why we shouldn't make our own mix, though - going back to basic ingredients and adding flaked nuts, other types of fruit etc. (I've found that blueberries don't affect me too badly, for example).

 

[DonnaC-T]

I agree with the blueberries, I buy frozen and then take out enough for breakfast each night. That way they're not too expensive and no waste. I put this with yogurt and a tiny amount of granola for breakfast. It's quite yum. X

 

[phoenix]

Fruit N Fibre has ingredients similar to those you describe. It 68% carbohydrate and over a third of that is sugar.
If you are buying a box of this cereal it might also have added sugar; look on the ingredients list, the ones I saw contained both extra sugar and 'sweetened' banana chips.


The glycemic index gives you an idea of the effect of various carb foods, ie for the same amount of carbs something with a GI of 100 would have a much greater effect than something with a GI of 30.

Wheat flakes without the fruit have a GI of around 60. (so quite high).
Dried fruit varies; dried apples and apricots are quite low at around 30 but raisins have a GI of 61. (can't find bananas)
Tesco's claim that their version of fruit and fibre is low GI but they don't actually say how low. (they have actually tested it but the results aren't public) I note that their suggested portion size is 30g (ie not very big)

My gut feeling is that unless you only have a very small portion it could raise your glucose levels quite quickly, and if you aren't moving about overnight then they may stay up The only way to try would be to test using a meter.

You could try making your own, using all-bran (not flakes) or better rolled jumbo oats as a base and adding your own dried fruit and nuts, choosing only those with lower GIs. You still need to be very aware of portion sizes though . ( dried fruit GI list on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_fruit)

 

[Jamrox]

Ive found that mixing organic nutty muesli (sprinkling )with raspberries or blueberries with a weight watcher frommage frai is good.

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[Thommothebear]

Get yourself a copy of the Hamlyn GI & GL counter, its £3.99 and lists a lot of common foods giving details of carb, fat and protein content. Alternatively read the nutrition details on food packaging which will give you some info, but not GI or GL which indicates how likely you are to spike as a result.

Pretty much the only cereal I can tolerate is bran stix and even then only 30g at most. Tastes almost exactly like cardboard.

 

[Thommothebear]

The Hamlyn guide lists fruit n fibre as high GI and high GL, for a 40g serving it contains 147 cals, 28g carbs, only 0.2g of fibre. Bran stix (strands) are Low GI and GL, for the same serving size 19g carbs but 9.8g fibre. Shame about the taste and texture.

I tend to have scrambled eggs for breakfast (one whole egg, two egg whites) and I add some ground chia seed to the mix which is very high in fibre and has almost no flavour, just looks like I overdid the pepper! I buy a carton of egg whites once a week which does me for the whole week.

 

[2christine]

can we turn this into a word game,for example.
Sugar!.

 

[hanadr]

If you really want to have cereal for breakfast, look at the packaging of the Granolas. Find the one with the smallest percentage of carbs and have a SMALL portion.
However, what about bacon and eggs for breakfaest. filling/ healthy and carb free.
Hana

 

[WhitbyJet]

Try any of these, add berries to any of them.
Almond Muesli

1 cup Slivered Almonds (or chunky ground)
1/2 cup Ground Almonds
3/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
3/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds
3/4 cup Sesame Seeds
1 1/2 cups Coconut Shreds
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Stevia
4 Tbl Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Water - hot
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine almonds, seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and stevia.
Combine water and oil, when melted and coolish add vanilla.
Add to the nut mix and stir until well mixed.
Place on oven tray
Bake at 325F for 1 hour (stirring as needed)

Makes 6 cups approx.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chia Nut Muesli

2 cups Ground Almonds
1 cup Ground Hazelnuts
1 cup Ground Macadamias
1/2 cup Chia Seeds
1 cup Sunflower Seeds
1 cup Coconut Shreds
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbl Vanilla Whey/Protein Powder
1/2 tsp Stevia
125 g Butter - Melted

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in melted butter.
Put on an oven tray
Bake in Oven at 325F for 30 minutes - Stir

Makes 7 cups approx

NB - Any combination of ground nuts can be done - Pecans, Brazil etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Porridge
2tbsp ground almonds, 1 tbsp each of coconut flour, ground linseed and oatbran, mixed together, heat your milk or milk and cream or cream, or almond milk or soya milk, pour into dry ingredients, stir and enjoy, can add seeds/other nuts if you like.

 

[aqualung]

Try any of these, add berries to any of them.
Almond Muesli

1 cup Slivered Almonds (or chunky ground)
1/2 cup Ground Almonds
3/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
3/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds
3/4 cup Sesame Seeds
1 1/2 cups Coconut Shreds
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Stevia
4 Tbl Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Water - hot
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine almonds, seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and stevia.
Combine water and oil, when melted and coolish add vanilla.
Add to the nut mix and stir until well mixed.
Place on oven tray
Bake at 325F for 1 hour (stirring as needed)

Makes 6 cups approx.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chia Nut Muesli

2 cups Ground Almonds
1 cup Ground Hazelnuts
1 cup Ground Macadamias
1/2 cup Chia Seeds
1 cup Sunflower Seeds
1 cup Coconut Shreds
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbl Vanilla Whey/Protein Powder
1/2 tsp Stevia
125 g Butter - Melted

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in melted butter.
Put on an oven tray
Bake in Oven at 325F for 30 minutes - Stir

Makes 7 cups approx

NB - Any combination of ground nuts can be done - Pecans, Brazil etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Porridge
2tbsp ground almonds, 1 tbsp each of coconut flour, ground linseed and oatbran, mixed together, heat your milk or milk and cream or cream, or almond milk or soya milk, pour into dry ingredients, stir and enjoy, can add seeds/other nuts if you like.

Thank you for these. They will be good for when i don't have time to cook bacon and eggs or fancy a change from berries and cream/yoghurt. My husband bought some raspberry and dark choc granola yesterday. I nearly fell over when I read the carbs

 

[Daibell]

Hi. 85% Dark Chocolate is fine for us as the carbs are pretty low. I buy Green & Blacks as I find it very smooth but there are other cheaper brands around.

 

[Sarahfergo]

I'm confused why can't you eat all this? I'm type 1 and on an insulin pump and have done dafne and as long as I take the correction ratio insulin to carbs I can eat it! I've just been in hospital and the doctor who doesn't know about diabetes said I shouldn't be eating too many carbs I'm like what?? I've never been told that ever unless I want to loose weight etc which I'm not on a diet but eat healthy but at the same time eat as much as I want I'm confused by all of this, I've been diabetic over 20 years and have always been told to have carbs etc

 

[Sarahfergo]

Not correction just the ratio

 

[CollieBoy]

I'm confused why can't you eat all this? I'm type 1 and on an insulin pump and have done dafne and as long as I take the correction ratio insulin to carbs I can eat it! I've just been in hospital and the doctor who doesn't know about diabetes said I shouldn't be eating too many carbs I'm like what?? I've never been told that ever unless I want to loose weight etc which I'm not on a diet but eat healthy but at the same time eat as much as I want I'm confused by all of this, I've been diabetic over 20 years and have always been told to have carbs etc

For an anwer, peruse Q's details: he is D&E, NO MEDS!
He cannot just compensate for carbs with insulin
For D&E T2s, controling carbs are the only way to control the carb/insulin balance. I wouldn't tell you that you could live without insulin if you just low carbed. I understand the difference between an insulin dependant D and a non insulin dependant D on D&E.

 

[Sarahfergo]

What's D&E

 

[Squire Fulwood]

What's D&E

Probably Diet and Exercise

 

[Sarahfergo]

Oh I get it lol sorry

 

[noblehead]

Oh I get it lol sorry

Although D&E isn't listed there's a good list of abbreviations here concerning diabetes:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-jargon.html

 

[Q007]

If you really want to have cereal for breakfast, look at the packaging of the Granolas. Find the one with the smallest percentage of carbs and have a SMALL portion.
However, what about bacon and eggs for breakfaest. filling/ healthy and carb free.
Hana

Thanks for that, actually I have scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, the cereal was to help me during the day and late at night when I go hunting for something sweet or carbs like crisps. Anyone know why I'm craving so hard for sugar?

On this very site I'm sure I read an article that bacon wasn't a good choice for D's, what do you believe!
Kind regards, Q,


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