Tea, and more importantly, milk for tea on low carb diet...

[lendal]

Morning,

being new to this low carb lark and, (again), going down rabbit holes looking for information, I thought it would be good to delve into the experienced voices on here.

Milk for a cuppa!

One says full fat, next one says no, too carby.
Then Lactose free..Yippee says one, next says no, still too carby, sugars just sort of pushed around!
Oat Milk..again, yes from some and a definite no from others..

Which non cow milk replacement is considered the best taste for a morning cuppa. or two?

Cheers

 

[Felinia]

A 40ml serving of ordinary milk, either skimmed, semi skimmed or full fat is 1.8 - 1.9 gm carbs. I measure out 175ml semi skimmed first thing which is 8.2gm carbs. I enjoy my drinks and when the milk is gone, it's gone. I then switch to water or peppermint tea. Oat milk is higher in carbs than ordinary milk, unsweetened almond milk is lower. I tried it and stuck to ordinary milk!!

 

[Merluza]

Just use ordinary, semi-skimmed milk. The carbohydrate in a regular serving is irrelevant, don't worry, the first cup of tea of the day is too important to mess with.

 

[lendal]

A 40ml serving of ordinary milk, either skimmed, semi skimmed or full fat is 1.8 - 1.9 gm carbs. I measure out 175ml semi skimmed first thing which is 8.2gm carbs. I enjoy my drinks and when the milk is gone, it's gone. I then switch to water or peppermint tea. Oat milk is higher in carbs than ordinary milk, unsweetened almond milk is lower. I tried it and stuck to ordinary milk!!

Thanks - this seems to be both the most less stressful and the common sense route forward- generally only drink tea in the morning, does take a cup or three to get the tired bones working!

Haven’t a problem with almond milk rest of the time

 

[s'nic]

My coffee matters to me, so I just use the milk I want to in it, and factor an average amount of carbs into my day for an average total milk used in 5 coffees. Trying to track milk per coffee is too much faffing about

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Ordinary milk for me, the amount and carb load is so small its insignificant, about 2g I believe, it can be ignored. Have no idea about alternative 'milks' though, the label will give you the info! If you love a cuppa coffee try cream, carb virtually zero, assuming your not trying to loose weight of course.

 

[s'nic]

If you love a cuppa coffee try cream, carb virtually zero, assuming your not trying to loose weight of course.

Sadly I am still working on weight loss for the next 2-3 months (probably). And at the end of january I had high cholesterol, which I managed to reduce to normal levels in july (but it wouldn't hurt to tweak them lower).

 

[mitchsi]

I prefer almond milk (sweetened) but it’s expensive if you drink a lot of coffee like I do. So I have gone back to cows milk but will aim to reduce this and my carb intake.
Semi skimmed really affects my BG, almond fat less effect.

 

[42istheanswer]

I don't like a lot of milk in my tea or coffee anyway, but I have either normal milk (usually semi skimmed) or coconut milk drink (bought primarily for my fiancé who is dairy intolerant) and don't worry about it too much. It isn't many carbs in the grand scheme of things

 

[nonethewiser]

Unless you like your tea coffee milky then small splash in each cup shouldn't come to much over course of day.

Prefer blue top milk over skimmed type, tried some alternative versions of cows milk but didn't like taste.

 

[Deb_l]

Soya milk is practically zero carbs but it is an acquired taste. I find it just about OK in tea but it's vile in coffee.

I was having soya in tea and cream in coffee but I've gone back to semi-skimmed in both since I got gout

Going back to 'proper' milk hasn't made a smidgen of difference to my BG levels.

 

[s'nic]

Soya milk is practically zero carbs but it is an acquired taste. I find it just about OK in tea but it's vile in coffee.

I was having soya in tea and cream in coffee but I've gone back to semi-skimmed in both since I got gout

Going back to 'proper' milk hasn't made a smidgen of difference to my BG levels.

Recently you said you wanted to reduce fats. You may like to try Arla Bob skimmed - it tastes virtually identical to semi-skimmed, but has only 0.4g fat.

 

[Johneds]

I gave up milk completely. Coffee was easy and I now can't stand coffee with milk - of any flavour. It didn't take long.

Tea was more difficult but made easier by switching to 'Ceylon' tea. I was in Sri Lanka a few years back where, on a visit to a tea plantation, they served us black Ceylon tea. My wife and I did a double take to begin with but we both agreed it was delicious. So, when I binned the milk I switched to Ceylon and never looked back. I now couldn't imagine having milk in tea.

PS. I also ditched the sugar. For two or three weeks I used to have a quarter spoonful of sugar in tea, but soon binned that as well. Again, if I tasted tea or coffee with sugar now I'd likely bring it back up.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Johneds 🙂 Yes, a good tea makes it easy to omit the milk. Lots of cultures just drink tea black, and there’s such a wonderful variety of teas that it’s easy to find one to your taste.

 

[Drummer]

I put double cream in coffee and have various green teas with flavours such as liquorice, mint or lemon, without milk.
There is a specialist shop close by so I can get hold of green gunpowder menthos and other delights and have little tea ceremonies of an evening.

 

[Witchylin]

I put double cream in coffee and have various green teas with flavours such as liquorice, mint or lemon, without milk.
There is a specialist shop close by so I can get hold of green gunpowder menthos and other delights and have little tea ceremonies of an evening.

In the past I always put Elm Lea single cream in coffee. Since being told I am on the high side of becoming type 2 I have been afraid to use it. I am also trying to lose weight. 24 pounds so far but need to lose at least another 14 pounds which confuses me as I understand I need to eat more fats. The nurse at the GP surgery told me no potatoes, bread, pasta or rice. I ate a lot of rice and pasta so I am more mixed up than ever. I am working my way through the Learing Zone but I'm scared to eat too much fat in case the weight goes back on. HELP!!

 

[Jasmin2000]

I am working my way through the Learing Zone but I'm scared to eat too much fat in case the weight goes back on. HELP!!

Dietary fats are essential and are not directly related to increases in body weight. Carbs on the other hand increase body weight fast. But overall body weight control can be managed by looking at total calories. your diet can be as varied as you like within a calorie target.

Btw - the sugar industry has spent 30+ years trying to persuade us that dietary fats increase body fat, while sugar gives us energy and is healthy - all lies. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unveiling-sweet-deception-how-sugar-industry-science-collom-mnfne/

 

[Leadinglights]

It is more the combination of carbs and fats which is more of the problem so in cutting carbs and replacing with protein and healthy fats is what works for many in losing weight and reducing blood glucose. Use real cream not highly processed Elmlea which to my mind tastes vile.
Have a look at this link for a low carb approach based on the suggested no more than 130g carbs per day https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Drummer]

In the past I always put Elm Lea single cream in coffee. Since being told I am on the high side of becoming type 2 I have been afraid to use it. I am also trying to lose weight. 24 pounds so far but need to lose at least another 14 pounds which confuses me as I understand I need to eat more fats. The nurse at the GP surgery told me no potatoes, bread, pasta or rice. I ate a lot of rice and pasta so I am more mixed up than ever. I am working my way through the Learing Zone but I'm scared to eat too much fat in case the weight goes back on. HELP!!

Elmlea isn't cream.
Their marketing and packaging is really deceiving - isn't it just.
I use double cream - real cream.

To burn fat, to be in ketosis, reducing the carbs seems to be the key for many people. I have lost loads of weight since diagnosis, even though it is a fairly slow process for me. The best thing about the low carb diet is my shrinking waistline, as I was just about spherical at diagnosis.
The foods I choose to eat do have fat in or with them, the natural fat - an essential raw material for a lot of the controlling chemicals in our body and particularly our brains. Hormones, neurones, liver functions, all rely on fats. The more natural the better - but it doesn't have to be an excessive amount.
Carbohydrates are not essential for anything I can find.

 

[Johneds]

In the past I always put Elm Lea single cream in coffee. Since being told I am on the high side of becoming type 2 I have been afraid to use it. I am also trying to lose weight. 24 pounds so far but need to lose at least another 14 pounds which confuses me as I understand I need to eat more fats. The nurse at the GP surgery told me no potatoes, bread, pasta or rice. I ate a lot of rice and pasta so I am more mixed up than ever. I am working my way through the Learing Zone but I'm scared to eat too much fat in case the weight goes back on. HELP!!

Everybody has their own way but my simple way was to eliminate rice, pasta, milk and (more or less!) bread. This was basically my diet so cutting these things out made a fairly significant difference for me. I now go for meats and vegetables but any veggies on the higher carb side (e.g. potatoes) I just eat smaller portions. It works for me.