Diabetic friendly foods

sarah_loo87
sarah_loo87 Posts: 12
edited December 26 in Food and Nutrition
So, I kinda need help

So far when I been looking at some 'diet' meals, I've found that they're not really carby, I mean I know carbs make you GAIN weight, but I'm diabetic and i need a few carbs in my diet.

To be able to take my insulin, I need carbs, at least 10g I would say, and for all I don't want to eat carbs I know i need to. If i don't then that would mean no insulin, and that would mean making myself terribly ill, which is something I want to avoid

Can anyone advise me on a few things I could eat that would fit into my 1200cal diet AND also have enough carbs in for me to stay healthy?

Help is much appreciated :)

Replies

  • EmmaM2211
    EmmaM2211 Posts: 536 Member
    My advice is dont eat "diet" meals. They're rarely keep you full for very long and they have too much sodium and very little nutritional value.

    I cook (almost) all my own food from scratch then I know exactly whats in it. Dont be scared of carbs, they're needed in every diet. A lot people people do low carbing on here but there are also a lot of people who eat what they want in smaller portions and both methods seem to work. You can still have pasta and potato and bread just smaller portions, wholewheat versions and with healthy fillings.

    Hope that helps :-)
  • drezha
    drezha Posts: 18
    Check out the Keto diet (there's some really good stuff over at Reddit - www.reddit.com/r/keto). It's a low carb diet that focuses on less than 25g of carbs a day and a number of diabetics on there have reported success.

    I'm surprised you're finding it hard to add carbs - carbs are hidden in almost everything, sometimes it can be a struggle to remain under 25g!
  • MommaKit79
    MommaKit79 Posts: 852
    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Most people, on a low carb diet, try to stay away from the bad carbs (refined sugars, white flour, etc). Whole wheat or whole grain foods & pastas help. I am hypoglycemic so, I understand what you mean.

    Good Luck!!
  • samblanken
    samblanken Posts: 369 Member
    I go as low carb as possible. And by that I mean no bread, no rice, no pasta, no soda. I will have an occasional baked potatoe. Also no juice, and nothing prepackaged. If I am really thirsty and craving something sweet, I will have tropicana 50 orange juice 12 oz. mixed with a can of diet ginger ale. Not so sweet, very good thirst quencher, and still fairly low cal / low carb. Add me as a friend if you like and you can check my daily food log. Doing this I've been able to keep my A1C at 5.9 and stay off insulin, just metformin. And I hope to keep it that way, I really do not want to take insulin EVER.
  • tubaman58
    tubaman58 Posts: 151
    Apples.... Pears.... Peaches .... plums.... oranges
    Low cal and "Good" carbs
    :smile:
  • SgtMindy
    SgtMindy Posts: 53
    My advice is dont eat "diet" meals. They're rarely keep you full for very long and they have too much sodium and very little nutritional value.

    I cook (almost) all my own food from scratch then I know exactly whats in it. Dont be scared of carbs, they're needed in every diet. A lot people people do low carbing on here but there are also a lot of people who eat what they want in smaller portions and both methods seem to work. You can still have pasta and potato and bread just smaller portions, wholewheat versions and with healthy fillings.

    Hope that helps :-)

    This, but is you still want to lower your carbs, cut the grains and potatoes and get all your carbs from fresh fruit and especially veggies. Veggies are great, low in carbs but they still provide them but also, low calory, high fiber, bulky and nutrient dense. Broccoli is my fave!!!!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    you can find a diabetic group here at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups

    The insulin is just to balance the blood sugar, so less carbs and less insulin would seem a sensible strategy. If you didn't eat the carbs and didn't need the insulin why would you get ill ?
  • sarah_loo87
    sarah_loo87 Posts: 12
    if i dont eat carbs then i dont need to inject my insulin, but if my body had ZERO insulin intake then i would go into DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) which can be life threatening

    I did a silly thing a few years ago by purposely not injecting my insulin (so that i would lose weight QUICK) and for all it works (i lost 4stone in 2months) i was admitted to hospital and almost suffered a heart attack at the age of 22, so not good!!

    i try to eat a few carbs, mostly rice and potatoes, as i find bread (or gluten) makes me terribly ill also
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    protein, veggies.

    carrots, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, broccoli, zucchini.
    all low in carbs.
    get creative with veg. have some spaghetti squash, mashed cauliflower, or even boiled radish.
  • poodlelaise
    poodlelaise Posts: 149 Member
    I am also on insulin, at 1200 calories, and my diary is open. Last couple of days have been awful, but there are months of good days out there. I usually try to eat from 15 to 30 carbs at a meal, and certainly under 45. Where my snacks show higher, its because they are spread out a couple of hours apart, but mfp just doesn't have that many buckets to break them into.
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    Are you a type 1? I've been managing type 1 in my son since he was 4 years old. It sounds like you may be an outdated regimen like NPH if you are "required" to eat carbs.

    The way to do it is make your insulin match what you want to eat, not make what you want to eat match the insulin.

    You might look into what's called MDI therapy. You use a 24-hour insulin for your body's baseline ("basal") needs. Then, you take a shot for each meal. It's more shots, but then you can skip meals, and adjust the insulin dose to THAT MEAL only. A pump can also do this, and there's no shots - you have the pump deliver small doses ("boluses") when you eat to cover the food. Pumping doesn't mean your diabetes is "bad", it means you want the flexibility in schedule and meals.

    NOTE!! For those of you who have type 2 diabetes, remember it's totally different. A type 1 diabetic doesn't produce insulin internally, whereas a type 2 does. If a type 1 diabetic doesn't inject insulin, they will die in a few days. No amount of diet, exercise, or oral meds will change that. Applying type 2 advice to a type 1 a bad idea - it can kill them.
  • sarah_loo87
    sarah_loo87 Posts: 12
    Yea I'm Type 1, and im already on the '24hour' ones, I take Glargine (basal) 20u twice a day, and NovoRapid (bolus) with everything I eat, and i did DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) course, too, so i adjust my insulin according to my carbs, but was still told to eat carbs so i can inject, so i take 1.5u for 10g carbs!!

    today hasnt been such a bad day, but it hasnt been great, i mean breakfast for a cereal bar and lunch was curry and 200g of rice, that itself was alot of carbs, and a few snacks!! so because of that ive restricted myself from eating tonight, and im living off water and dilute juice haha!!

    what im trying to do really, is eat 3 meals a day, all with a little amount of carbs (and as little gluten as possible) but filling enough so i dont tempt myself towards the snacks, as i find thats where i do downhill!!

    can anyone recommend any low carb low calorie filling meals?? breakfast too?? cereal bars just arent doing it for me!!
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