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New member seeks advice

E

eao

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello, Firstly, Thank you for allowing me to join the group. I have had type 2 diabetes for a year now and quite frankly have ignored it while trying to eat healthily now and again. It does not help bring a chocaholic.
However it is now urgent I take things seriously as my husband, who is also diabetic and on insulin has now been diagnosed with non alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Choosing the right meals is too priority, but the amount of conflicting advice and recipes are giving me a huge headache. Especially as my husband is stuck in his ways and prefers basic foodstuff and hates greens.
I need advice on basic recipe books (UK) which will get me started. I have used a couple from diabetes UK and they went down well, but it is so time consuming and confusing looking at fat, sugars, salt etc. Any ideas? I would be so grateful. X
 
eao said:
I need advice on basic recipe books (UK) which will get me started. I have used a couple from diabetes UK and they went down well, but it is so time consuming and confusing looking at fat, sugars, salt etc. Any ideas?
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Welcome to the forum, you will get plenty of good advice.

To start the ball rolling as simply as possible I'd suggest you have a look at Dr David Unwin's diet sheet and you and your husband go through Dr Kim Andrews (Freshwell) simple Meal Planner and Food Lists.

I've found it's a question of selecting fresh foods for the stock cupboard and then deciding how to cook them.

P.S. For recipes

The Caldesi's Reversing Diabetes book is good; it also has an excellent introduction.

I have the RMR books written by a masterchef, Jonno Proudfoot, for my DIY cookery course. The website also has extensive food lists and sample recipes for download. Try AbeBooks for them.
 
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Hi and welcome from me too.

You will need to be a bit careful if your husband is on insulin and you are not as a low carb diet might be suitable for you but not necessarily for him.
Which insulin(s) is he on and does he carb count and adjust his doses according to what he eats or is he on fixed doses?
 
Hi @eao and welcome to the forum.

As my wife does all the cooking, I'm not much help, but I know others on the forum will for sure be able to offer some help and advice re meals

Alan 😉
 
rebrascora said:
You will need to be a bit careful if your husband is on insulin and you are not as a low carb diet might be suitable for you.
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@eao

Rebrascora's point reminded me that I monitor my nutrition including carbs with Cronometer (free version) - you could easily use it to add some more carbs to your husband's plate while you eat your greens!

I use it to check my fibre, iron, calcium, folates, vitamins etc from graphical displays as I enter the ingredients. Nothing could be simpler; all done for you instantly by typing in courgettes 190 g and so on.
 
Welcome to the forum, as mentioned what will be suitable for you and your husband will differ as he is on insulin, so finding the right diet for him will be dependant on what insulins he is taking, I assume he is Type 2.
What you will need is also looking at your diet but I'm sure there will be some commonality in the meals you can both share. When not on insulin then many find a low carb approach successful, that being a suggested no more than 130g carbohydrates not just sugar per day, but depending on what your HbA1C is you may be able to make modest changes mainly cutting out cakes, biscuits, sugary drinks, sweets and being careful of high carb foods.
This link has good explanation so may be helpful as well as meal plan and recipes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
The website sugarfreelondoner has low carb recipes for both sweet and savoury dishes.
Don't assume this will be suitable for your husband as his needs may be different because of the insulin. You don't say if you have been prescribed any medication as that can also have an effect on what will be suitable diet wise.
 
Welcome to the forum @eao

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis :(

But in some ways perhaps it’s good that you are battling diabetes alongside your husband? And you can work to find an approach that suits you both, and support each other?

He wil most likely have a little more liberty with carbs being on insulin, but (depending which insulin(s) he is on) you could well develop a way of eating that is adaptable to you both 🙂
 
Absolutely doable

My husband is the main cook, not diabetic, and not as keen on vegetables as me, but we manage to share a main meal most days.

We agree on a protein source and at least one common vegetable, then he's free to add a carb for himself, and he cooks another vegetable for me if convenient, or adds some kind of salad to my plate if not.

We also both like a cooked breakfast/ brunch a couple of times a week, he puts bread on his plate and fries me an extra tomato.

Occasionally we have to eat completely separate meals as my pie tolerance has fallen to almost dangerously low levels but it works well when it's just the two of us at home.
 
eao said:
Hello, Firstly, Thank you for allowing me to join the group. I have had type 2 diabetes for a year now and quite frankly have ignored it while trying to eat healthily now and again. It does not help bring a chocaholic.
However it is now urgent I take things seriously as my husband, who is also diabetic and on insulin has now been diagnosed with non alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Choosing the right meals is too priority, but the amount of conflicting advice and recipes are giving me a huge headache. Especially as my husband is stuck in his ways and prefers basic foodstuff and hates greens.
I need advice on basic recipe books (UK) which will get me started. I have used a couple from diabetes UK and they went down well, but it is so time consuming and confusing looking at fat, sugars, salt etc. Any ideas? I would be so grateful. X
Click to expand...
Thank you for all your kind replies. I have written down many of your comments and my husband is meeting his doctor to try and get some answers. As I am in my 70's, it is a hard adjustment to make. We have made a start by cutting out all sweet things and I am constantly reading recipes which will give good results.
 
eao said:
Thank you for all your kind replies. I have written down many of your comments and my husband is meeting his doctor to try and get some answers. As I am in my 70's, it is a hard adjustment to make. We have made a start by cutting out all sweet things and I am constantly reading recipes which will give good results.
Click to expand...
You will make it harder if you try to track too many things as it is carbohydrates are the important thing, all carbohydrates convert to glucose.
Anyway they say that 70 is the new 50, I am a bit older than you but didn't find making changes difficult basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, vegetables, salads and fruit like berries.
 
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