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FOOD DELIVERY

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Peter4pne

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi

Can anyone recommend a diabetic friendly food delivery service. I am due to be at home on my own in august and I have arranged for carers to come in and prepare frozen meals but I can't source a supplier of diabetic meal supplier.

Any help will be appreciated.
 
Sorry Peter, but I don't know of anyone that does specifically diabetic meal delivery, but you might be OK if you do some homework

Search the lists of supermarkets that do home delivery (I think they all do now) for suitable meals, plus fruit & veg of course. It's summer so you should be able to do salads easily enough

Iceland do a decent selection of plain meat & fish, or in simple sauces plus they have a selection of stir fry veg, Mediterranean, mixed veg and so on. They do home delivery but again it's up to you to find out what they have

You could see what these have - www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com and www.oakhousefoods.co.uk
Otherwise Search t'Net for 'diabetic meals delivered uk'

Try Diabetes UK Careline - 0345 123 2399

I've just re-read your post, and I'm a bit confused
Do you want diabetic ready meals delivered, or will the carers be preparing the meal themselves, in which case ordering ingredients for them should be relatively straightforward
 
Last edited:
Omelettes are low carb (which is really what you are looking for as a diabetic) and very easy to prepare, can be varied using different fillings like mushrooms, ham, cheese, onions and peppers and can be served with a simple salad to bulk them out. Unfortunately you are unlikely to be able to buy them as ready meals. Cooked breakfast without any bread or toast is another low carb option which can be eaten any time of day and simple to prepare.
It is difficult to find low carb ready meals as they usually incorporate potatoes or pasta or rice or noodles which are not good and many also have added sugar in the sauces as well. A roast dinner with plenty of veg and very little potatoes is good and you could always buy a ready meal and leave at least half of the potatoes or pasta or rice and avoid things like sweet and sour versions.

You need to go easy on fruit as it is also full of sugar and usually berries are lower in carbs than exotic fruits like pineapple, bananas and mangos etc. Raspberries are in season and one of the lowest carb fruits, so an ideal choice for diabetics. Nuts or cheese or olives are good low carbohydrate options for snacking.
 
Wiltshire Farm Foods do low sugar main meals and desserts so you might find something suitable. You need to check as when we tried them a few years ago (lots of hospital visits were going on) I got the impression they thought diabetics watched sugar not carbs! The Slimming World ones stocked by Iceland might also be suitable.
 
Peter4pne said:
Hi

Can anyone recommend a diabetic friendly food delivery service. I am due to be at home on my own in august and I have arranged for carers to come in and prepare frozen meals but I can't source a supplier of diabetic meal supplier.

Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hello Peter,
My dietitian suggested the Wiltshire farm foods ready meals mainly because a qualified dietitian worked for the firm so the carb count was more trustworthy in her opinion.
Dietitian did qualify this though by also adding that most of the frozen meal brands were balanced so not a problem as long as you choose wisely and watch the carb content.
 
Would it not be possible for whoever normally prepares your meals just make extra portions which you can keep in the freezer and could be got out as required. You could have a stock of cooked meats or tinned fish that you could have with salad.
 
Tesco do some microwave meals that could be suitable, they do frozen cheese omelettes, steam veg that can be microwaved, and I particularly like their cottage pie. If you get the one from the healthy range it’s made with vegetables in the mash and not too bad on carbs. They probably do things like fish in sauce too that can be microwaved.
 
I have tried Wiltshire Farm Foods both directly and via Meals on Wheels (didn't know they were the supplier originally). My rating 2/5. If you shop with care Waitrose and other supermarkets Healthy Options can be good.
 
Hey all.

I know this is an old post but did anyone ever come across a meal delivery service specifically for diabetics?
 
Welcome @Harry37 🙂 It depends what you’re looking for eg are you looking for convenience meals, low carb meals, carb-counted meals? Meals that can be microwaved?
 
Hi Inka

To be completely honest i am considering starting a service to provide these. My dad was diagnosed with type 2 about a year ago and as my background is in nutrition i started making his meals for him....as he had no idea how to cook, and no real interest in learning. He has had such amazing success with managing his diabetes by switching to the pre-prepared meals in the fridge that he suggested i look into starting a service to help other people.

I am just curious if anyone has found a service that they feel caters to exactly what they need to successfully manage diabetes,.....or is it a service that people might find helpful?

I hope you don't mind me asking. I thought there's no better place to ask than a post by someone looking for it
 
Ah, ok @Harry37 🙂 Well, it seems there aren’t really any specific services for people with diabetes so it definitely looks like a gap in the market. If you’re hoping to do a full plan - breakfast, lunch, evening meal - then you might have to allow different levels of total daily carb amounts. Again, you could do that with just evening meals - that is, band the choices according to the carb levels.

I think the probable reason there aren’t any (or many?) specific diabetes meals is that there’s no one ‘diabetic diet’ and Type 2s choose various ways to control their condition- keto, low carb, moderate carb, Med diet, shakes, etc etc
 
I think your difficulty might be in marketing it as I believe you can't legally say that something is suitable for diabetics.
Firstly, diabetics on multiple daily injections (MDI) (both Type 1 and Type 2) or an insulin pump can eat pretty much anything these days and just adjust their insulin doses, so no specific dietary needs.
Type 2s on oral meds will usually benefit from a lower carb diet, but those using some medications like Gliclazide need to be careful with low carb as the medication stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin.

You would probably have to "pitch" it as "low carb", but many Type 2 diabetics, particularly older ones who would likely be your "market" might not be aware that they would benefit from eating low carb as NHS advice doesn't usually point them in that direction..... So, whilst in theory it seems like a great idea, it might be a bit of a minefield when it comes to the practicalities and legalities, because low carb eating can be an incredibly powerful means of managing Type 2 diabetes and lowering BG levels, but without knowing what medication your proposed "customers" are on, it could potentially be hazardous. Ie. someone on Gliclazide ending up hypo and having a fall because the low carb meal doesn't provide enough carbs for the medication they are on.

That might be a rather negative take on it but diabetes is complicated and very individual and what suits one person, may not suit another. Much as most of us on the forum would see a value in such a service, we need to understand that the majority of diabetics are probably less well informed and particularly the older generation.

You can come and be my personal "low carb chef" though, if you like, as I am able to adjust my insulin for low carb eating, but sadly I couldn't afford to pay you. o_O The problem is that a lot of older people who would benefit from such a service don't have the knowledge to adjust their medication if necessary or even to know if their medication might need adjusting.
 
Good point @rebrascora Checking the legality of naming products and the right phrases to use would be a sensible first step if you haven’t looked already. I’m not sure what demand you’d get so that would be an important thing to research too.

I’m Type 1 and generally just cook my own meals, but on the occasions I do choose a ready meal I just go for a supermarket one that suits my needs. I do this by using the supermarket app where you can choose vegetarian, low fat, low salt, etc
 
Wilshire farm foods do a home delivery and cater for many different dietary needs.
 
Thankyou so much for taking the time to give me your thoughts. They are very helpful.

It looks as though i have lots more research to do. You may be right though, their may not be a market. It is difficult because of the varying medications that people may be taking to manage the condition.

My original idea was to try and help people recently diagnosed with type 2. Going from my dads experience, i can see how difficult it is to change a lifetime of eating habits, especially when cooking, and food in general doesn't really interest them. In my dads case, i never counted up any calories or grams of carbs. I made what would be considered an average portion size, using ingredients that synergistically have a low GL and beneficial nutrients.

I'm not sure if anyone can relate but in my dads case, his biggest barrier was his out of whack hunger hormones. All of his meals for years were processed, high sugar, fat and salt (pizzas, mcdonalds etc), which trigger the dopamine reward system, and screw up the normal functioning of the ghrelin, leptin system....so he essentially couldnt tell whether he was hungry or just seeking a reward. When he started eating real food, this system began to reset and the ghrelin resistance that he had developed started to go back to normal. Eventually being able to know on his own when he was actually full. So in his case, i didn't focus on a certain amount of carbs or specific calories. I just used real food that i knew were low GL and wouldn't spike BS, and he eventually re-learned how to read hunger signals, and stop[ eating when he was full.

I do appreciate that his case may be unique and not everybody would respond the same way to this but i really felt that if i started talking about carbs and calories he would have shut down and felt like he was being restricted, and we ended up with the same result.

It sounds like there isnt a need for a specific meal plan for type 1 diabetics, this was really useful to hear so thankyou. If i do pursue this idea then i will focus on helping type 2 diabetics.

I really do appreciate you taking time to give me your thoughts. Its a complicated condition like you say so i will make sure to research fully before offering any service.

thanks
 
Harry37 said:
Hi Inka

To be completely honest i am considering starting a service to provide these. My dad was diagnosed with type 2 about a year ago and as my background is in nutrition i started making his meals for him....as he had no idea how to cook, and no real interest in learning. He has had such amazing success with managing his diabetes by switching to the pre-prepared meals in the fridge that he suggested i look into starting a service to help other people.

I am just curious if anyone has found a service that they feel caters to exactly what they need to successfully manage diabetes,.....or is it a service that people might find helpful?

I hope you don't mind me asking. I thought there's no better place to ask than a post by someone looking for it
Click to expand...
Green Chef do a Low Carb and also a Keto option. All ingredients delivered in correct measures so you can put really tasty meals together very quickly.
 
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