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lack of diabetic-friendly food in supermarkets

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Z

Zozo_19

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi,

After years of looking for no added sugar foods for diabetics I have noticed a lack of such items in the large supermarkets, for this reason I have written letters to ask for more foods for diabetics to be included however, incase they do not listen to one letter, I have created an online petition to increase knowledge and support for this issue which is important to me, if you could please take the time to sign the petition, I would be very grateful.

Thanks,
 
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Hi Zozo, welcome to the forum 🙂 What sorts of foods would you hope they would stock?
 
Hope your petition is well received, though I have to say I'd run a mile from any food product labelled 'diabetic'. They are usually full of real nasties and many of those sugar substitutes have a laxative effect.

Sugar is only one form if carb - and isn't even particularly quickly absorbed being only 50% glucose. The other half takes more breaking down. Everyone is different I course, but for some diabetics sugar would hit the system slower than, for example, mashed potato.

I tend to go for 'moderation in all things' and base decisions more on GI/GL rather than seeing sugar content as the be all and end all.

If it comes to chocolate I'd rather have less of the real thing 🙂
 
Zozo_19 said:
Thanks for replying 🙂 ,
more confectionary items, so far the best selections i have found are in thorntons and boots but still the items are slim, ASDA did a small selection a few years back but in these hard times they cut it out
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Hi and welcome Zozo I would have to agree with Mike here I stay well clear of anything stating dabetic freindly etc etc,I would much rather have a full fat choccy bar but abit at a time.It always has a terrible effect if I even have one bite of it 😱
 
Hi Zozo. Welcome 🙂

DUK have spent years criticizing the food industry (Boots being a big culprit) for producing so-called diabetic foods (jams, etc) since we can enjoy pretty much everything anyone else can, just in measured doses.

It may be difficult to now persuade them to go back on that and start producing specifically for us. It's a good idea for everything to be made more healthy, including less sugar, salt, etc but I wouldn't want them to aim anything at diabetics, since it would push the price up for one thing.🙂

Rob
 
welcome to the forum Zozo and good luck with your petition

having (knowingly) been diabetic for a year now, I'd like to say that I would prefer to buy fresh fruit, veg and meat..... and not have any 'diabetic' foods at all. I find it much easier to follow a healthy eating plan if I make it myself.... then I know exactly what is in it (and therefore know what might be the cause of a spike). having said that... I do occasionally buy a 'ready meal'... but that is a rare 'treat'.

as to chocolate..... I would much rather have one square of Green and Blacks dark chocolate now and again... than have some diabetic choc. I used to be a real chocoholic and eat several bars a week!!! but now a bar lasts me several weeks. I used to be addicted to sugar but now I'm not a slave to it.

I'm not a saint..... I am just really concerned about what is happening in my body and want to get the most out of life :D

but please don't let me influence anyone else signing the petition 🙂 choice is good in supermarkets and life 😛
 
I actually find a small chocolate bar doesn't affect the BG too much - one thing that does annoy me is the lack of choice in drinks - it's either diet coke or water! the ready mixed ribena light has just about disappeared!
 
caffeine_demon said:
I actually find a small chocolate bar doesn't affect the BG too much - one thing that does annoy me is the lack of choice in drinks - it's either diet coke or water! the ready mixed ribena light has just about disappeared!
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yes very little choice in drinks so I stick to water 😱 would be lovely to go into the pub when I'm the driver and order something other than water or coffee 🙄
 
Hiya

Well I think we may be on the opposite sides of this petition. We actively write to all these companies trying to get them to bann 'diabetic' foods.

They are soooooooo not good for anyone but in particular people with diabetes.

Thorntons and Boots are the main culprits at the moment.

They use the wrong sweetners, it would be better to use sugar quite frankly. The sweetners give a laxative effect and that in itself is dangerous for someone with diabetes. These particular sweetners also raise blood sugar levels like sugar does so you would still need insulin to cover what you are eating. So not only does it raise levels it also keeps you in the bathroom for a lot longer than you would like to be and we all know what that does to levels and can bring on hypos and dehydration.

Foods labelled 'diabetic' need questioning. Some cake makers at county or craft shows label things diabetic and when questioned they may have used crushed almonds instead of sugar which is fine but when sweetners are used do not touch them.

DUK and JDRF are against these types of food and Balance always has it in big writing, do not eat diabetic labelled food. It is absolutely recommended to have a normal bar of chocolate or fudge or jam etc etc.

Sorry about all that :(
 
Adrienne said:
Diet drinks are a whole other ball game and there needs to be more choice when out and about, agreed 100% with that.

In the supermarkets they have loads of diet drinks but in restaurants of pubs it only diet coke or water. Not great
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Hi Zozo welcome to the forum. I'm afraid I completely agree with Adrienne - sorry. But I agree it would be great to have more choice of diet drinks. I'll often drink slimline tonic when in pubs as I prefer the taste to diet coke, but there really isn't enough choice there!
 
I'd support the drinks but not foods.

I see you are the parent of a diabetic child - I appreciate that 'confectionery' might be a difficult area but if children were brought up to understand that sweets are a treat as we were*, not a necessity and most certainly NOT a foodstuff, then it wouldn't be a problem in the first place.

* they were rationed. They WERE a treat. Think the Govt ought to bring rationing back for c**p!
 
by the way.... my DSN and my Doc told me NOT to eat food labelled 'for diabetics'. they said that normal food in moderation was far better for a diabetic 🙂
 
Hi Zozo - welcome to the forums - I hope that you will find some of the content on the site useful to you.

I am going to close this thread as you requested.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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