Bread

[Fatbellycustard]

Ok, so perhaps not the best foodstuff for a T2 diagnosis, but one with conflicting schools of thought across the internet. Taking it as a given that processed white bread is a non starter (which I never eat anyway) what do people think about other options such as wholemeal, wholegrain, sourdough, rye, pumpernickel, Ezekiel, Burgen, etc? As someone on the move an awful lot, sandwiches have been a necessity of "life on the road" for decades.

 

[Drummer]

The normal alternatives to white bread are usually high carb. I have found that there is Livlife bread, at 4 gm of carbs per, admittedly small slice, and also a protein bread sold at Asda with the same carb count.
There are home baking options which use lower carb flours, usually ground almonds or coconut flour, which are good if you get the right recipe for your tastes.
Personally, if I am going to take food out of the house I opt for a bowl of salad and eggs and cheese, or some meat with a chiller block from the freezer to keep it fresh.

 

[Pine Marten]

Hi @Fatbellycustard, as with other choices of foods the answer is you need to test and find which you can tolerate well! Some people don't eat bread at all, and some do - I buy Burgen bread, Hovis Nimble or Waitrose's LivLife, and they are are fine for me.

Do you have a meter to test your BG with?

 

[Fatbellycustard]

The normal alternatives to white bread are usually high carb. I have found that there is Livlife bread, at 4 gm of carbs per, admittedly small slice, and also a protein bread sold at Asda with the same carb count.
There are home baking options which use lower carb flours, usually ground almonds or coconut flour, which are good if you get the right recipe for your tastes.
Personally, if I am going to take food out of the house I opt for a bowl of salad and eggs and cheese, or some meat with a chiller block from the freezer to keep it fresh.

I'll check these options out. It may require a change of attitude from me to actually take a proper stop for lunch. Thing is, as a salesperson on the road, it encourages you into bad habits like eating literally on the go.

 

[Fatbellycustard]

Hi @Fatbellycustard, as with other choices of foods the answer is you need to test and find which you can tolerate well! Some people don't eat bread at all, and some do - I buy Burgen bread, Hovis Nimble or Waitrose's LivLife, and they are are fine for me.

Do you have a meter to test your BG with?

I'm going to sort these things out - only diagnosed on Monday just gone! I was thinking about some quick changes I can make while I learn more about the condition and how it affects me specifically. Fitting things in to a hectic schedule.

 

[Drummer]

As you are early in the process you might find that by avoiding bread you are much more alert in the afternoons. I certainly get more out of life these days.

 

[Pine Marten]

Wow, only on Monday! I was diagnosed in 2007, spent the next few years in blissful ignorance, and only found this forum in 2013 😱

 

[Fatbellycustard]

Yes. I feel very lucky to have found this site and forum so soon. I'm most definitely in that confused state that I guess everyone had post diagnosis, but am trying to make some changes as best I can.

I suspect many find the same thing after diagnosis - it feels like I am having to almost reprogram my entire relationship with food and drink, which will take time and self education.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi @Fatbellycustard, as with other choices of foods the answer is you need to test and find which you can tolerate well! Some people don't eat bread at all, and some do - I buy Burgen bread, Hovis Nimble or Waitrose's LivLife, and they are are fine for me.

I agree with @Pine Marten - it’s something you’re going to have to check things with a meter @Fatbellycustard

The great thing about using a meter is that you aren’t left assuming things are fine, or limiting yourself based on what happens to other people... you can actually see what happens for you personally.

You might want to add ‘wraps’ into your experiments to. Different breads have different carb counts per slice (anywhere between 10g and 20g is possible), which might be 35-40g in bread carbs for a sandwich. Whereas a wrap would be approx 15-20g.

 

[Fatbellycustard]

I agree with @Pine Marten - it’s something you’re going to have to check things with a meter @Fatbellycustard

The great thing about using a meter is that you aren’t left assuming things are fine, or limiting yourself based on what happens to other people... you can actually see what happens for you personally.

You might want to add ‘wraps’ into your experiments to. Different breads have different carb counts per slice (anywhere between 10g and 20g is possible), which might be 35-40g in bread carbs for a sandwich. Whereas a wrap would be approx 15-20g.

Wraps, now that's a good idea. I'll give then a try.

 

[Fatbellycustard]

Do you have a meter to test your BG with?

Ok, a BG meter. Any good ones out there? Anything I should look for or avoid, for a T2?

 

[trophywench]

You need to do that planning thing with yourself as well as work!

Yeah you can grab a sandwich or a sausage roll (saw last week Greggs apparently had some Vegan Steak Bakes - bloody liars! Funnily enough the board advertising them was nowhere to be seen, today …….) (Husband said perhaps they haven't proved very popular ….) but there again if you made yourself a BIG frittata one evening, you could divide it up and keep in the fridge having cling-filmed the portions, and grab a bit to have for lunch just before leaving home in the morning. Basically the same thing as a Spanish omelette but with other things in it rather than spuds and onions - could throw chopped up cold meat, bits of leftover cooked veg like (bell) peppers or frozen peas or whatever you happen to have, in it ! Chuck at least 4 if not 6 eggs in the goody mix, season and tip it all in a frying pan on a low heat. Once the top starts setting, put a plate over the top and invert the pan, then slide the thing back in the pan to finish cooking the other side.

 

[nonethewiser]

Pine Marten is on the money, instead of concentrating on what others can & cant eat you need to work it out yourself.

 

[ColinUK]

Do you have a meter to test your BG with?

Ok, a BG meter. Any good ones out there? Anything I should look for or avoid, for a T2?

I’ve got an SD Codefree one from Amazon. It’s recommended on here because test strips are cheap.
If you search for it on Amazon you’ll see that there an updated version that’s apparently more accurate and requires less blood - I think it’s called GlucoNavii or something like that - and still has really well priced test strips.
Whichever one you choose I’d advise getting extra test strips immediately because to learn what impacts your blood glucose you are going to be using a lot of them at first.
I test when I wake up, immediately before every meal and then two hours after the first mouthful and immediately before bed. Depending on what I’ve eaten and what the figures are I may throw in a random test as well. So that is a minimum of six times a day right now. That will drop significantly once I’ve got a better understanding of which foods I can tolerate and which I should avoid.

 

[Pine Marten]

Ok, a BG meter. Any good ones out there? Anything I should look for or avoid, for a T2?

I’ve got an SD Codefree one from Amazon. It’s recommended on here because test strips are cheap.
If you search for it on Amazon you’ll see that there an updated version that’s apparently more accurate and requires less blood - I think it’s called GlucoNavii or something like that - and still has really well priced test strips.
Whichever one you choose I’d advise getting extra test strips immediately because to learn what impacts your blood glucose you are going to be using a lot of them at first.
I test when I wake up, immediately before every meal and then two hours after the first mouthful and immediately before bed. Depending on what I’ve eaten and what the figures are I may throw in a random test as well. So that is a minimum of six times a day right now. That will drop significantly once I’ve got a better understanding of which foods I can tolerate and which I should avoid.

Yes, many of us use the SD Codefree. You can also get it direct from Home Health here (and I see it's the new version) : https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/gluconavii-blood-sugar-meter-glucose-monitor-starter-kit/

If you check the 'diabetic' box they take off the VAT, and with the old version you can get a discount on bulk orders, but I don't know if this applies to the new Navii version. Maybe someone knows?

 

[Mephistophlillie]

I bought an SD Codefree meter and we get along just fine.

On the subject of bread, I discovered hi-lo bread after a fruitless search for the livlife bread - the Newcastle Waitrose doesn’t stock it.

I’ve found the hi-lo stuff In Sainsbury’s at Durham (Arnison). The slices are quite small, but it’s really dense and very nice. It freezes quite well, and I often clean them out of it as they don’t always have it in. I personally don’t react negatively to this stuff, and I’m enjoying it with avocado and a poached egg for a cracking breakfast

nutritional info here -

Link here
http://www.hi-lo-bread.co.uk/

 

[Eddy Edson]

Maybe you'll be fine at some point with ditching bread altogether.

Anyway, FWIW I got to that point, though it took a while and was probably the toughest thing in changing the way I eat. My BG was really sensitive to grains, so that was the main driver.

In short, I worked out that seeds (and nuts) are generally way more nutritious than bread, without the carb load and with a lot more fibre. On the other hand, I found Burgen bread and all the other fake industrial-product low carb "breads" loathsome - much rather just eat the seeds, which I've trained my brain to enjoy.

Not long after diagnosis, I remember whining to my doc about how a small piece of wholewheat toast would spike me to 12+. He said, "Well, just don't eat it then. Eat some seeds or nuts or something."

I thought he was mental - how can you not have toast for breakfast?? But he was right, bless his nuggety flinty little heart.

 

[rebrascora]

If you can get away with a slice of this every now and then, then go for it, but like @Eddy Edson , I gave up on bread altogether apart from a very occasional half slice of a nice granary with soup, if I am eating out and of course as a Type 1, I can inject insulin to cover it. The reality of living without bread is not nearly as difficult as the prospect of it but I understand there is a convenience to using bread which can be challenging to forego at least in the early stages.
By the way, I am pleased to see another member from the North East.... I'm near Consett.

 

[Mephistophlillie]

Maybe you'll be fine at some point with ditching bread altogether.

Anyway, FWIW I got to that point, though it took a while and was probably the toughest thing in changing the way I eat. My BG was really sensitive to grains, so that was the main driver.

In short, I worked out that seeds (and nuts) are generally way more nutritious than bread, without the carb load and with a lot more fibre. On the other hand, I found Burgen bread and all the other fake industrial-product low carb "breads" loathsome - much rather just eat the seeds, which I've trained my brain to enjoy.

Not long after diagnosis, I remember whining to my doc about how a small piece of wholewheat toast would spike me to 12+. He said, "Well, just don't eat it then. Eat some seeds or nuts or something."

I thought he was mental - how can you not have toast for breakfast?? But he was right, bless his nuggety flinty little heart.

If you can get away with a slice of this every now and then, then go for it, but like @Eddy Edson , I gave up on bread altogether apart from a very occasional half slice of a nice granary with soup, if I am eating out and of course as a Type 1, I can inject insulin to cover it. The reality of living without bread is not nearly as difficult as the prospect of it but I understand there is a convenience to using bread which can be challenging to forego at least in the early stages.
By the way, I am pleased to see another member from the North East.... I'm near Consett.

I've only had the bread once or twice, my wife has it on Slimming World as it's good for that apparently. It's my first real steps into seeing what carby stuff does to me. This bread doesn't seem to hit me any harder than other meals so fingers crossed. Good to hear from another Northerner!

 

[Maz2]

I make my own from the keto bread recipes on dietdoctor.com. Appreciate everyone won't be interested in doing that though. Had a lidl low GI roll a week or two ago. Started at 5.5. 7.5 after one hour, 5.3 or 4 I seem to remember after two hours. was pre-diabetic, then had normal result last year and have to wait to see what happens this year. Everyone is different though so I suppose testing after different types of bread would be the best thing to do. I would never personally touch white bread, although haven't touched it for about 40 odd years anyway.