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Carb-free recipes
- Thread starter RichT
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trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Rich - it doesn't have to be whole days! You can split it up into sections and do a different group of hours every day. Just need to be flexible with both what you eat and what time you eat it
The downside of going any length of time carb free (and let's face it cucumber and lettuce both contain carbs, it's simply because we don't usually eat 10 tons of either at a time, the amount of them is considered negligible!) is if the body then gets used to that, it will become more efficient at manufacturing the glucose it needs in order to function, from either or both protein or fat. It's simply easier and quicker for it to do from carbs, so it always deals with them first! If your body gets to that state where it uses protein/fat for its fuel - then it will then also need sufficient insulin to do so. You're then into a more complicated set of calculations than 'just' the carbs, cos neither need as much fast acting, one needs less than 50% and the other still less than that - aargh.
Protein and fat, plus above ground vegetables or fungus - ie mushrooms! - are the easy answer though, generally.
Could start the day with bacon and mushrooms, could lunch on eg meat and green salad (some of the 'mixed leaves' packs in supermarkets make the salad both look and taste a bit more interesting, even if you don't add a simple dressing of 'oil & vinegar' (nice enough as it is but with a very few extra tiddly bits of herbs etc, this quickly becomes the classic French vinaigrette and either livens up a plain looking bit of salad no end, especially if you toss the salad in a small amount of anything whether it's a teeny dribble of oil and a cursory shake of vinegar, or a smallish spoonful of mayo - don't need a ruddy great dollop of anything) and again meat and decent veg for dinner. Steak onions and mushrooms with something green?
Brekkie could also be as much as you want of full fat yoghurt - a lot of us like the thick Greek yoghurt. You could probably afford to chuck just a few berries in there - shedloads of lovely raspberries available just at the mo - but not a lot of them. Nobody said you need to starve!
The downside of going any length of time carb free (and let's face it cucumber and lettuce both contain carbs, it's simply because we don't usually eat 10 tons of either at a time, the amount of them is considered negligible!) is if the body then gets used to that, it will become more efficient at manufacturing the glucose it needs in order to function, from either or both protein or fat. It's simply easier and quicker for it to do from carbs, so it always deals with them first! If your body gets to that state where it uses protein/fat for its fuel - then it will then also need sufficient insulin to do so. You're then into a more complicated set of calculations than 'just' the carbs, cos neither need as much fast acting, one needs less than 50% and the other still less than that - aargh.
Protein and fat, plus above ground vegetables or fungus - ie mushrooms! - are the easy answer though, generally.
Could start the day with bacon and mushrooms, could lunch on eg meat and green salad (some of the 'mixed leaves' packs in supermarkets make the salad both look and taste a bit more interesting, even if you don't add a simple dressing of 'oil & vinegar' (nice enough as it is but with a very few extra tiddly bits of herbs etc, this quickly becomes the classic French vinaigrette and either livens up a plain looking bit of salad no end, especially if you toss the salad in a small amount of anything whether it's a teeny dribble of oil and a cursory shake of vinegar, or a smallish spoonful of mayo - don't need a ruddy great dollop of anything) and again meat and decent veg for dinner. Steak onions and mushrooms with something green?
Brekkie could also be as much as you want of full fat yoghurt - a lot of us like the thick Greek yoghurt. You could probably afford to chuck just a few berries in there - shedloads of lovely raspberries available just at the mo - but not a lot of them. Nobody said you need to starve!
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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- He/Him
I would second the suggestion to split the day up so you only miss one meal at a time
Overnight - through to lunch (so miss breakfast)
Breakfast - Eve meal (checking from 12ish to 6ish)
Lunch - Suppertime (checking from 6ish until say 11 or midnight)
For the overnight check, it helps to eat no later than 6ish, so that your dose should be out of your system by around 10-11
I think if you fast for too extended a period you risk your liver getting twitchy and releasing some glucose.
I’ve always done my basal checks in sections and haven't needed to eat during them. Though I know some people rely on sugar-free jellies 🙂
Overnight - through to lunch (so miss breakfast)
Breakfast - Eve meal (checking from 12ish to 6ish)
Lunch - Suppertime (checking from 6ish until say 11 or midnight)
For the overnight check, it helps to eat no later than 6ish, so that your dose should be out of your system by around 10-11
I think if you fast for too extended a period you risk your liver getting twitchy and releasing some glucose.
I’ve always done my basal checks in sections and haven't needed to eat during them. Though I know some people rely on sugar-free jellies 🙂
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Low carb and keto diets are currently very popular. There is a lot of information available from -
Old Threads and Posts on this Forum, especially this food & carb section
YouTube
Amazon books; Their used books are good value for money
The help sections on the Home Page of this forum
Old Threads and Posts on this Forum, especially this food & carb section
YouTube
Amazon books; Their used books are good value for money
The help sections on the Home Page of this forum
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think the OP was interested in no-carb foods more as a short term method of enabling basal testing, rather than as a long-term way of eating / diabetes management 🙂
Thanks for all the ideas here. Will certainly try them. I'll check with the clinic about splitting the test over a number of days but happy to do it all in one go. I am looking to do a (more) restricted carbs regime (hate the word diet) for longer term though as it is helping with my weight reduction (lost nearly 10kg since Easter this year - but a long way to go still) which is in turn also helping with my blood sugar control.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
My BG doesn't behave quite the same if I don't have at least one good meal a day. Yours might, we are all different.
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