Diabetic food in Supermarkets

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Jenni49 said:
I would like to know if Diabetes UK has ever seriously put pressure on supermarkets to provide food low in carbs and calories at a reasonable price. The only way to get bread, various snacks, cooking sauce, pasta etc etc is to pay exorbitant prices on line. Surely with the increasing numbers of diabetics it would be of financial benefit for supermarkets to provide us with a wide range of foods. Gluten free food is well supplied but nothing for diabetics except Hilo bread which although lower than normal bread is not that low in calories, could be lower in carbs and not available in every supermarket. Surely this is a campaign you should be headlining and leading but I am not aware of anything.
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There is no such thing as ‘diabetic foods’. In fact, Diabetes U.K. had a campaign years ago to stop foods being labelled as such.

Choose from the huge range of foods available, according to what you need/want as an individual. There’s no one diet recommended for people with diabetes. Type 1s eat bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal, etc etc. Labelling foods as ‘diabetic’ in unnecessary, confusing and misleading.
 
rebrascora said:
The fact of the matter is that all carbs on our UK labels are countable certainly for people on insulin pumps and have to be more precise, but DAFNE simplifies it a bit because there is usually a bit of surplus basal insulin which will mop up those carbs that are "overlooked".or ignored.
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Where did you get that idea from?

Been pumping for last 12 years & don't have surplus basal knocking around to mop up overlooked carbs, if that was so we pump users would hypo if we ate late or skipped a meal. Just like those on mdi if we miscalculated our food then bg levels will rise or fall accordingly, basal rates are set to hold our bg levels steady in absence of any food.

@Inka is right, DUK campaigned for years to remove foods that were labelled diabetic, all supermarkets have ample low carb foodstuff that you can buy, most have it right in front of your eyes as you enter storr it's called fruit & veg aisle.

Think with things like bread just eat less of it or look for alternatives if you don't want to give it up, trouble is lower carb versions are tiny slices & alternatives won't be as delicious as normal bread so don't expect it to be, that is my own experience anyway.
 
nonethewiser said:
Where did you get that idea from?

Been pumping for last 12 years & don't have surplus basal knocking around to mop up overlooked carbs, if that was so we pump users would hypo if we ate late or skipped a meal. Just like those on mdi if we miscalculated our food then bg levels will rise or fall accordingly, basal rates are set to hold our bg levels steady in absence of any food.
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Sorry, I clearly didn't express myself well enough. I was trying to say that on MDI we often have a bit of spare basal knocking around to mop up those extra DAFNE ignored carbs.... a bit like wearing shoes that are a little too big in order to be able to wear them, whereas people on a pump have their insulin adjusted very precisely so it is a close fit for their body and there is no surplus to deal with 10g carbs here or there from beans or sweetcorn or half a tin of soup, so they need to be more precise with their carb counting.
 
Well, if dapne says ignore carbs under 10g, then i shall have an interesting time when/ if i finally get sent on daphne. I shall argue. For various reasons, i have low carb dinners when working, 8g carb. This needs 1 unit insulin. If i didn't take it i would be out of range all day.
I count all carbs, even in stuff like brocolli. I have a1c of 39, 99% in range. If someone wanted me to do different, they'd have to explain to me how this would improve my control. Gosh i am going to be so stroppy on daphne if they peddle the 'don't bother' line!
End of the day, you do you, but that advice would not work for me! I wonder, its possibly cos they mainly deal with the newly diagnosed who are still in honeymoons who still have some own insulin? I tell you, i eat 10g carbs with no insilin and i am going out of range! (i used to be able to get awsy with it, not now).
As for only counting 50% carbs in commercial baked beans, i spike even counting 100% carbs. Its one of the foods i don't bother with now.
I do realise that some people find they need to only count a % of the carbs for some things ( eg pulses) but as different foods act differently for different people it has to be via trial and error on an individual basis and daphne therefore can't give a 'rule' on that. To to be honest i've not got that far as yet.
 
Diabetic food may not be useful, but low carb section may be handy for those who want lower carb options, but i agree the veg section is probably the best place to look for low carb. Cauli rice, courgette noodles, nuts, the ever popular avocado.
Must admit i used to get low carb chocy but now gone back to normal carb most of the time am happier and still get good control...i missed bread dreadfully!
 
GLB said:
I'm too convinced type 1 and 2 should even be in the same forum such a different condition.
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I’m type 2, I count carbs, inject insulin for meals, do my basal insulin at 6:30, wear a libre… sounds like you’re pretty uneducated about how varied diabetes is.
 
A t1 only forum would be pretty quiet, plus, we do share a lot of commonality...hopefully more so when more t2s get cgm
 
@Tdm You won’t get “sent” to DAFNE. You can choose whether to go or not. I’ve never been to a course. It might be useful for some but it’s not a necessity.
 
I didn't do the actual DAFNE course but a version thereof, and the advice was certainly not to worry about carbs in accompanying veg (apart from the obvious), but no-one ever suggested trying to work out the amount of, say, onion in a ready meal and deducting it from the total. The difference would be negligible.

As for baked beans, like many others I have to bolus for the full amount and then some!
 
Yes, bad phrasing...i've been waiting for a place since dec 21 so it kinda feels less of my choice and more 'waiting to be called up'
I did wonder if it would still be useful but a lot have people have said how useful it was for them
 
Tdm said:
Yes, bad phrasing...i've been waiting for a place since dec 21 so it kinda feels less of my choice and more 'waiting to be called up'
I did wonder if it would still be useful but a lot have people have said how useful it was for them
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If anything it's good to sit in same room as people who experience same ups & downs of living with condition, we had good time & great laugh.
 
Tdm said:
Yes, bad phrasing...i've been waiting for a place since dec 21 so it kinda feels less of my choice and more 'waiting to be called up'
I did wonder if it would still be useful but a lot have people have said how useful it was for them
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I found it really useful, even though I don't use any of the principles anymore, mostly because they don't apply very well to low carb eating, so I simply inject to my Libre rather than doing any formal calculations. It is still useful to have that frame work of knowledge to fall back on and spending a week with other diabetics was such a big benefit even though we were all very different in our approaches. What it did for me, was give me confidence and you can't buy that. There was a notable change in how I went about my diabetes management after the course. It didn't happen overnight but over a period of a couple of months I just started to feel more empowered. Maybe that would have happened without the course, but I genuinely think it was linked. Of course I had a lot more knowledge and understanding of diabetes than most other people on the course because I had learned it here on the forum first and perhaps that contributed to me feeling more confident, just realizing that I actually had a better understanding than someone who had been living with it for 15 years.

I am a big advocate for the course, but I think you are going into it with the right attitude that not all the stuff will work for you as an individual, so you need to pick and choose what you take from the course according to how it works for you. The great thing about the course is that it welcomes discussion and diverse approaches. The tutors are very open to different people's experiences and discussing them within the group and learning to problem solve for each other..... not that you will have many problems to bring to the table with an HbA1c of 39! :D Gold start for that.... assuming there isn't too much time in the red to get it of course. I think it is also important to understand that whilst things are clearly working well for you at the moment, it will not always stay that way and you learn different strategies that you might need to employ in the future but have no immediate application to you now.
 
Yes, still early days and likely my pancreas is still helping out so can't really compare my number with someone with an older diagnosis...not in the red much, 99% in range, though i try for 4-8 if i can cos 4-10 gets a bit boring.....also, no hypo awareness, never had it so its not like i lost it. I have alerts set at 5 during day (4.5 at night when no rapid insulin on board) so i don't tend to run to the line. Thank goodness for cgm i say!
 
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