Ideas for grain-free, sugar-free diet and many other restrictions... HELP!

magiaaa · July 2017

Hi, all! I'm kinda new in here. I've been logging my food intake here for a couple of weeks now.

I have a whole set of conditions which make me have to restrict my diet:

1. Gastritis: I can't eat raw veggies (I'm only allowed to eat some peeled tomato with no pulp or seeds and some arugula. I can also eat some grated carrots, but we'll get to that later.) I can eat fruit, but it has to be peeled and with no seeds. I can't drink coffee (only decaf,) alcohol or sodas. I can't eat chocolates either (but I can eat chocolate-based stuff, like cakes.)
2. Steatosis (fatty liver): I should stay away from fats, especially animal fats. So I can't eat cream or butter, only low-fat milk and cream cheese, and I have to eat lean meats.
3. Insuline resistance: My insulin numbers are off the charts, so I should stay away from sugar and high-carb foods in order to avoid diabetes type II. For the time being, I'm using sucralose (per my nutritioner's advice) as sweetener, since I can use it for cooking too. I'm also not allowed to eat any kind of flour (I can only use almond flour), rice or bananas. Once a week, I can eat whole-wheat pasta or toast, or even beans for lunch. I can also eat (raw) grated carrot and baked pumpkin just once a week, also for lunch. My nutritionist doesn't let me mix high-carb food with meats, so I eat them with veggies. Whenever I eat sugary veggies or fruit, or whole-wheat pasta or bread, I'm supposed to exercise a bit harder.
4. Constipation: I've been suffering from constipation lately. I eat a lot of fiber (mostly spinach, some arugula... I've been eating dried-coconut bakes too). My nutritionist said to boil some dried plums and apricot, then drink this "water" early in the morning and the fruit in the afternoon (yet they could spike my insulin levels, so I should be cautious with that.) She said I should have some yoghurt right after my morning decaf coffee, and to have some mate infusion (very popular here in Argentina.) It's still not working out for me. I end up eating lots of sugar-free chocolate, which obviously upsets my stomach and my whole digestive system, but that's the only thing that seems to be working for me now... sometimes, anyway.
5. High cholesterol levels, though my HDL is high: I'm using olive oil for salad dressing (for tomatoes and arugula) and I'm having yoghurt with freshly-ground chia seeds. I've been adding some fish to my diet (only with tomato-sauce, otherwise I don't like it.) I'm also eating homemade peanut butter (with sweetener instead of sugar) and some nuts.

That doesn't leave much for me to eat. I don't like cheese, so that's off the table.

I'm trying to find low-carb, fat-free recipes with no flour at all (well, maybe almond flour) that will not upset my stomach. I've found many keto recipes, but most of them are full of fat, which I can't eat.

Because of the steatosis, my doctor asked me to lose some weight (I was a bit overweight.) I've already lost around 24.5 pounds. Right now, I'm 5'5" and I weigh 134.20 lbs (if I've done my conversions correctly,) but I'd like to lose some more because I'm still "chubby." My daily calorie-intake goal is 1,200.

I'm quite sedentary because of my job, but I bought myself an elliptical trainer. I find it hard to do a lot of training on it, so I'm trying to get used to it. So far, I've only gotten to 20 minutes tops, but I'm trying to break that mark. I usually use it around five times a week, probably for 5-10 minutes a day (until I get to do more without feeling like I'm dying.)

Any ideas as to what I else could be eating that fits the whole thing? I'm running out of ideas. I make a couple of (grain-free, sugar-free) sweet bakes for snacking or for dessert, but it's tiring to be eating the same thing all the time. I also have trouble finding any savory recipes.

Thanks!

blueeyetea · July 2017

Where do you get your fiber? I wouldn't call spinach and arugula high fiber in comparison to other vegetables. Salads are good, but you can also make vegetable soups. I make a green vegetable soup every so often, and freeze it in small containers for those nights I don't have time to cook. Essentially, I fill a pot with vegetables, barely cover with stock, some seasonings, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. When ready, I use a stick blender to blend the soup into a puree.

Can you eat cooked grains, beans, or lentils? What about nuts and seeds? I see in your post that you eat beans only once a week? Why only once? They won't be as bad as eating whole-wheat or toast on your insulin levels, that's for sure.

How much water do you drink? Being constipated might be a sigh that you're not drinking enough. You should aim for at least 8 cups of water a day to start, but a good formula to do by is this: divide your weight in half, the number is how many ounces of water you should drink.

I also suggest you look into eating foods high in "soluble" fibers. Sounds like you're not eating raw vegetables because they're hard on your digestive system. The dried plums and apricots your nutritionist is telling you to eat is one form of soluble fiber. It's softened by liquid so that it's easier to pass through. The chia seeds too. But look at bananas and other vegetables that could fit the bill.

And congratulations on your weight loss. Just for kicks, I went to a BMI calculator, and it's 22.5. That sounds like a healthy weight to be at, even if you consider yourself still chubby. Look into weight-based training to build muscle. Getting into the habit of taking a walk would help with your constipation also.

Last, have you researched fatty liver? If you have problems with insulin resistance, it's also a good bet that what you were eating up to your diagnosis contributed to the fatty liver as well as the insulin resistance. It's not meat, butter, or milk that caused it, but sugar, high-carb and processed foods. After this weight loss, have you gone back to your doctor for tests to determine if your fatty liver and insulin resistance have improved?

blueeyetea · July 2017

Oh, on second thought, why are grains not included in your diet?

LaughHappy907 · July 2017

Veggie soup a million different ways. My favorite right now is roasted red pepper. Just season them and tomatoes, roast till a little burned and pop em in the blender. Add a little teeny bit of milk to help it blend and enjoy. Low-cal and very good for you. Or cabbage and white bean. Find some veggies high in fiber and make whatever soup you think sounds good.

jgnatca · July 2017

A lot of people confuse diabetes management with a long list of forbidden foods when it really is about balancing the foods out. You want a steady supply of energy. Fats and protein are your long term energy sources. Even sugary fruits are fine because of the fiber.

I find it helpful for people with a long list of restrictions to focus on what is allowable. I made up a diagram for you. The central circle can be your imagined plate showing the portions of the various types of foods on your plate.

Based on the diagram, I think you are cheating yourself out of enough good fats and oils. Also, fats can help a lot with constipation.

jgnatca · July 2017

Here's an unusual sausage dish I just learned about.
https://www.vietnamonline.com/recipe/vietnamese-sausage-gio-lua.html

How are you with raw avocado? Try an avocado salad.

jgnatca · July 2017

Chia pudding; chia soaked in yoghurt or kefir overnight and sweetened with chopped dried fruits.

jgnatca · July 2017

For your chocolate fix:

http://www.feastie.com/recipes-ingredients/cocoa-powder/ingredients/coconut-oil-7697/ingredients/almond-meal-9021

lemurcat12 · July 2017

With those restrictions, I'd really recommend seeing a registered dietitian -- your doctor should be able to refer you. Low carb/low fat is a super difficult combination. A former poster talked about being on the NASH diet, which was for your liver condition, and had really good guidance for a difficult diet from her RD.

No carbs with meat seems odd -- normally protein with carbs is good for IR. Is this nutritionist recommended by a doctor?

magiaaa · July 2017

Thank you all for your answers! I'll be quoting you to answer to each one of you.

blueeyetea wrote: »

Where do you get your fiber? I wouldn't call spinach and arugula high fiber in comparison to other vegetables. Salads are good, but you can also make vegetable soups. I make a green vegetable soup every so often, and freeze it in small containers for those nights I don't have time to cook. Essentially, I fill a pot with vegetables, barely cover with stock, some seasonings, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. When ready, I use a stick blender to blend the soup into a puree.

I do eat lots (and I mean lots) of spinach and arugula. I also eat some dried fruits and coconut. But I love the idea of a good green vegetables soup. I'll try that.

blueeyetea wrote: »

Can you eat cooked grains, beans, or lentils? What about nuts and seeds? I see in your post that you eat beans only once a week? Why only once? They won't be as bad as eating whole-wheat or toast on your insulin levels, that's for sure.

I can eat beans or lentils only if they're cooked, but as a replacement of meat, and only about once a week. I guess they have too many carbs or something that might make my insulin levels go up. I do eat nuts: as homemade peanut butter with no sugar and almonds, chestnuts and peanuts, usually as snacks. I used to eat a lot of them, but they upset my stomach, so I'm only eating a few a day now. And I use almond flour to make a nice chocolate cake. The only seeds I eat are ground chia seeds, which I eat with my yoghurt. I used to eat some sesame seeds, but they upset my stomach as well.

blueeyetea wrote: »

How much water do you drink? Being constipated might be a sigh that you're not drinking enough. You should aim for at least 8 cups of water a day to start, but a good formula to do by is this: divide your weight in half, the number is how many ounces of water you should drink.

I also suggest you look into eating foods high in "soluble" fibers. Sounds like you're not eating raw vegetables because they're hard on your digestive system. The dried plums and apricots your nutritionist is telling you to eat is one form of soluble fiber. It's softened by liquid so that it's easier to pass through. The chia seeds too. But look at bananas and other vegetables that could fit the bill.

I drink about two liters per day, on top of the coffee and mate infusion.
I can't eat bananas for now because it does make my insuline levels go up (I spent a week eating a lot of bananas and boiled carrots and pumpkin, which I didn't know I shouldn't eat for my insulin resistance, and then my tests came back with a higher level of resistance.)

blueeyetea wrote: »

And congratulations on your weight loss. Just for kicks, I went to a BMI calculator, and it's 22.5. That sounds like a healthy weight to be at, even if you consider yourself still chubby. Look into weight-based training to build muscle. Getting into the habit of taking a walk would help with your constipation also.

Last, have you researched fatty liver? If you have problems with insulin resistance, it's also a good bet that what you were eating up to your diagnosis contributed to the fatty liver as well as the insulin resistance. It's not meat, butter, or milk that caused it, but sugar, high-carb and processed foods. After this weight loss, have you gone back to your doctor for tests to determine if your fatty liver and insulin resistance have improved?

Thank you! My liver doctor said I'm okay at my weight, but I still see myself quite chubby. I've been working hard at the elliptical. I should probably do some other exercises to build some muscle all over my body, not just my legs and arms. I'll look into that.
And yes, the fat in the liver has been widely reduced because I stayed away from fats. And the insulin resistance is probably to blame for the fatty liver in the first place. I never knew I had it until my liver got fatty and the doctor ran some tests. I used to eat normally (well, as normally as I could with gastritis). That's why I'm trying to eat healthier and get better, but the last lab results (after the banana, carrots and pumpkin I mentioned) came back worse than the diagnostics ones. So I'm trying to find new foods and recipes I haven't tried yet.

blueeyetea wrote: »

Oh, on second thought, why are grains not included in your diet?

My nutritionist said grains in general boost your sugar levels (in my case, my insulin levels, which makes my sugar levels go down.) I can eat whole grains only once a week, usually as pasta or a toast.

LaughHappy907 wrote: »

Veggie soup a million different ways. My favorite right now is roasted red pepper. Just season them and tomatoes, roast till a little burned and pop em in the blender. Add a little teeny bit of milk to help it blend and enjoy. Low-cal and very good for you. Or cabbage and white bean. Find some veggies high in fiber and make whatever soup you think sounds good.

I can't eat cabbage or red pepper, but I'll think of something to put in my soup... Thanks for the idea!

jgnatca wrote: »

A lot of people confuse diabetes management with a long list of forbidden foods when it really is about balancing the foods out. You want a steady supply of energy. Fats and protein are your long term energy sources. Even sugary fruits are fine because of the fiber.

I find it helpful for people with a long list of restrictions to focus on what is allowable. I made up a diagram for you. The central circle can be your imagined plate showing the portions of the various types of foods on your plate.

Based on the diagram, I think you are cheating yourself out of enough good fats and oils. Also, fats can help a lot with constipation.

Thank you for making that diagram for me. It's very useful. I should probably get more healthy fats... I'll work on that.

jgnatca wrote: »

Here's an unusual sausage dish I just learned about.
https://www.vietnamonline.com/recipe/vietnamese-sausage-gio-lua.html

How are you with raw avocado? Try an avocado salad.

I can eat avocado, just not in large quantities... and it'd be a great way to get some healthy fat. Thanks for the suggestion! That sausage looks like it's really simple to make. I'll probably try it next week.

jgnatca wrote: »

Chia pudding; chia soaked in yoghurt or kefir overnight and sweetened with chopped dried fruits.

I haven't tried kefir. I'll add it to my shopping list. Thanks!

jgnatca wrote: »

For your chocolate fix:

http://www.feastie.com/recipes-ingredients/cocoa-powder/ingredients/coconut-oil-7697/ingredients/almond-meal-9021

Thanks for the link! Everything looks so good. I'm sure I'll find something I can eat on there.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

With those restrictions, I'd really recommend seeing a registered dietitian -- your doctor should be able to refer you. Low carb/low fat is a super difficult combination. A former poster talked about being on the NASH diet, which was for your liver condition, and had really good guidance for a difficult diet from her RD.

No carbs with meat seems odd -- normally protein with carbs is good for IR. Is this nutritionist recommended by a doctor?

I'm seeing a registered dietitian. The thing is that she just provides a list of things she thinks I can eat (with all the restrictions made by my doctors), but not any recipes, so I'm running out of ideas, and I'm getting tired of eating the same thing. I'll look into the NASH diet, though.
I think she just wants me to eat a whole lot of veggies per day (which, if they contain fiber, would help my constipation too,) and use up that energy carbs give me by doing some exercise. She will allow me to mix them later on, I think.

Andy10725 · July 2017

Chicken breast and sea food give a lot of recipe to work with. Sprinkle some salt on the breast and put some ginger on to and steam it. Sea food like fillet can use the same method. Shell fish is good steaming on its own. Or cooked it with daikon or white gourd in soup.
Cauliflower and broccoli are also solid. Avoid high sodium you could bring a pot of hot water to boil and add a table spoon of salt with the vegi. Cook for 5-8 min and drain it. You may eat them like this or stir fried it with garlic and a tbsp of oil.
Taiwanese cabbage is also really good for stir frying with garlic and tiny shrimp shells.
Mushroom, bean sprout are alway nice with simple garlic and salt.
Grill tofu

Just a side note, you probably should check with your doc about sub sweeter for sugar. I don't think you should have that for a sugar free diet.

Also, you might get more idea from vegan keto diet as well.

blueeyetea · July 2017

You know, I find your nutritionist has restricted you from whole foods that, although they may raise your sugars, do have some benefits. Yes, beans have a lot of carbs, but with they also contain a lot of fibers, apart from the other vitamins and minerals they may give you. Has she taught you anything about the glycemic index or glycemic load? It's a measure on how the foods will be changed into sugar in your system. Adding fiber (and fat) to a dish will also slow down the absorption of the high carb foods. That's why I'm confused you'd get the advice it's ok to eat toast and pasta, which are high in the glycemic index. If there's something you should remove from your diet if you want to go low-carb, those are it!

Also, if you really want to know how foods affects your insulin levels, get yourself a glucose meter, and measure your sugar levels 2 hours after eating. Eating meat and vegetables gets old fast. I've been where you are, and it came to a point when I couldn't stomach eating meat so much. When I got the glucose meter, I found that eating lentils didn't affect my sugar levels at all, but kidney beans did. Oatmeal is another food that I can eat with no ill-effect.

Has your nutritionist also instructed you into calculating "net carbs" and told you to stay within a certain limit each day? It's another took you can add to your kit to reduce your carb consumption that would allow you to judge if some foods could be added.

Ideas for grain-free, sugar-free diet and many other restrictions... HELP!

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