Hi, new to the forum. Type 2 & IBS

[ron1961]

Hi,
I've been type 2 for a while, but I guess I have been in denial, as in the thread title I also have IBS and tried to concentrate on that. I have trouble with wheat and dairy, but am ok with potato and rice. I am trying to get my head around trying to restrict the potato and rice. I know you can have some, but I am wary of upping vegetables with the ibs. I would be interested in any pointers to suggest ways of doing this.
for example are there any charts/lists of recommended alternatives to the potato & rice?
it's hard to work out the best things to eat!
Thanks for reading (any advice appreciated!)

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @ron1961

I am not sure about the impact your IBS has in you specifically and I know that triggers can vary from person to person. As you are trying to reduce your carbs perhaps this might help: when choosing veg to eat, if the veg is grown

• underground it will be high in carb (eg potatoes, parsnips)
• over ground it will be medium carb (eg peas and beans)
• on the ground it will be low carb (eg celery and lettuce)

By swapping groups it may be a way of reducing your carbs.

For pasta which I find spikes my glucose levels, I have switched to edamame or black bean pasta. when we prepare a portion of this it gives us about 1/4 of the carbs from the wheat pasta, and tastes good.

I hope that this might be of help in some way.

 

[ron1961]

Welcome to the forum @ron1961

I am not sure about the impact your IBS has in you specifically and I know that triggers can vary from person to person. As you are trying to reduce your carbs perhaps this might help: when choosing veg to eat, if the veg is grown

• underground it will be high in carb (eg potatoes, parsnips)
• over ground it will be medium carb (eg peas and beans)
• on the ground it will be low carb (eg celery and lettuce)

By swapping groups it may be a way of reducing your carbs.

For pasta which I find spikes my glucose levels, I have switched to edamame or black bean pasta. when we prepare a portion of this it gives us about 1/4 of the carbs from the wheat pasta, and tastes good.

I hope that this might be of help in some way.

Hi,
thanks for your reply, it is a help. That is a good way of looking at it. I do ok with veg such as beans. Is it ok to have items such as potato and rice (maybe at a lower percentage of a meal). It's a lot to get my head around

 

[CraigD]

Welcome to the forum @ron1961

I am not sure about the impact your IBS has in you specifically and I know that triggers can vary from person to person. As you are trying to reduce your carbs perhaps this might help: when choosing veg to eat, if the veg is grown

• underground it will be high in carb (eg potatoes, parsnips)
• over ground it will be medium carb (eg peas and beans)
• on the ground it will be low carb (eg celery and lettuce)

By swapping groups it may be a way of reducing your carbs.

For pasta which I find spikes my glucose levels, I have switched to edamame or black bean pasta. when we prepare a portion of this it gives us about 1/4 of the carbs from the wheat pasta, and tastes good.

I hope that this might be of help in some way.

Recently diagnosed and told to go on low carb diet so got rid of the white pasta and got wholemeal is that ok

 

[Leadinglights]

Recently diagnosed and told to go on low carb diet so got rid of the white pasta and got wholemeal is that ok

I'm afraid wholemeal / brown versions of things like bread, pasta and rice are just as high carb as the white variety. Finding substitutes or very reduced portions of those high car foods, potatoes included would be a better option.
Some people use edamame or black bean pasta, cauliflower rice, butternut squash, swede, celeriac which are all lower carb and good alternatives.
This link may help you with some do's and don'ts and some ideas for modifying your diet.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
It is a low carb approach which many have found successful. Low carb is suggested as no more than 130g total carbs per day, it is definitely not NO carbs.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi,
thanks for your reply, it is a help. That is a good way of looking at it. I do ok with veg such as beans. Is it ok to have items such as potato and rice (maybe at a lower percentage of a meal). It's a lot to get my head around

You may find the book or app Carbs and Cals helpful in finding lower carb foods and suggested portion sizes that would be within the amount of carbs you can tolerate.
As you are restricted in what you can eat because of your IBS you would find having a blood glucose monitor for home testing so you can see the effect of meals. Testing before you eat and after 2 hours, you would be looking for an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l and as your levels come down then no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
Many have found that following low carb improves their IBS.

 

[CraigD]

I'm afraid wholemeal / brown versions of things like bread, pasta and rice are just as high carb as the white variety. Finding substitutes or very reduced portions of those high car foods, potatoes included would be a better option.
Some people use edamame or black bean pasta, cauliflower rice, butternut squash, swede, celeriac which are all lower carb and good alternatives.
This link may help you with some do's and don'ts and some ideas for modifying your diet.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
It is a low carb approach which many have found successful. Low carb is suggested as no more than 130g total carbs per day, it is definitely not NO carbs.

Thank you so much for your reply it’s very helpful especially knowing total carbs a day.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you so much for your reply it’s very helpful especially knowing total carbs a day.

If you have had a very high carb diet it is better to reduce your carbs gradually as it will be kinder on the eyes and nerves. By reducing what you have by a third for a couple of weeks then another third until you get to where you need to be.
Keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink with an estimate of the TOTAL carbs not just sugar will give you an idea of your starting point. You will very quickly get used to looking at the nutritional information on products, usually in small print on the back or shop websites for the info before you go shopping. You can also put FOOD X total carbs into Google. There are a few apps free or otherwise that people use.
Metformin gives your body a helping hand to use the insulin you produce more effectively but dietary changes will be equally if not more important.
When you have you appointment then find out what your HbA1C is as that will indicate how much work you need to do. Anything over 47mmol/mol will have given you your diagnosis

 

[SB2015]

Recently diagnosed and told to go on low carb diet so got rid of the white pasta and got wholemeal is that ok

Whole meal versions does not necessarily mean lower carb, which is why I switched to the Black Bean spaghetti, and edamame pasta. If you know how many carbs you are eating at each meal you can then make decisions about whether to swap foods or just reduce portion sizes. We were a bit shocked when we first started to reduce our carbs, and used smaller plates for a while, but we are now used to the portions we choose to eat.

keep in touch and keep the questions coming. No one will mind, and nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @ron1961 and @CraigD

Good luck in finding your own way through the maze of options when it comes to food choices. Everyone is different, and responses to exactly the same foods can be very different for different people, so it can be hard for anyone else to predict how you might respond to something. Wholemeal pasta and bread have more fibre which can slow down absorption of the carbs for some people, but unfortunately has little effect for others. They are also usually slightly lower in carbohydrates, but not significantly so.

Good luck with finding swaps and alternatives that suit your BG levels and keep your IBS happy @ron1961

You might want to try using a BG meter to see how your IBS-friendly choices are working for your glucose levels.

You can take a reading immediately before eating and again 2hrs after the first bite and look at the differences between the two numbers to see the ‘meal rise’. Ideally you’d want this to be 2-3mmol/L or less. And ultimately under 8.5, though in the beginning tweaking your menu to keep your meal rises small can help to bring your overall levels down gently over a period of time, so don’t panic if all your numbers are above target to begin with. Getting the ‘spikes’ reduced to low levels will help your overall BG averages come down smoothly.

It’s unlikely your GP surgery will offer you a meter unless you are at risk of hypos (though some do). If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 -10 for 50. Other brands can be more than double that!

 

[ron1961]

Hi, thanks for your replies, food for thought, pardon the pun. I'm looking into reducing the carbs, there is mention of the different types of carbs (underground, over ground, on the ground), some of the things I have seen mentioned in online literature is carrot as snacks. Being grown underground, are they an exception, or are they part of the 130g?
With the ibs I have tended towards the freefrom ranges, which looks like it is probably best not to do.
I'll be getting Carbs & Cals, looking at the pages shown on the diabetes uk shop it gives an idea of portion size/weight which is helpful.
thanks for your help

 

[ron1961]

Looking at the Carbs & Cals, it appears there is an app. Has anyone tried it? Currently it is showing it as £35.99 a year.

 

[Leadinglights]

The suggested amount of no more than 130g carbs is all carbs no matter where they come from.
However it is your choice whether you have say 40g carrots at 2g carb or 40g celery at 0 carbs, or a 50g piece of cheddar cheese at 0 carb or a medium apple at about 16g carb, it all depends on when and what you are also eating.
But they would all count in your total for the day or meal

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Looking at the Carbs & Cals, it appears there is an app. Has anyone tried it? Currently it is showing it as £35.99 a year.

I think some on the forum were ’early adopters’ so paid a one-off fee.

But the app and its contents/database are regularly updated, so an annual fee is designed to cover those costs I think?

The book also works well, of course!

 

[ron1961]

I'm going to order the book, it'll be useful at home, maybe look into the app later. The main advantage of the app would be it is updated.
the hardest part for me is reducing potato and rice, it'll take a bit of getting used to!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

the hardest part for me is reducing potato and rice, it'll take a bit of getting used to!

Forum members who opt to low carb sometimes recommend grated cauliflower (steamed for almost no time at all) as a low carb rice substitute, and celeriac or swede (or a combination) can be used in many of the same ways as potato, but only have a fraction of the carbs. I don’t know if either of those would be suitable with your IBS?

 

[ron1961]

hi, the grated cauliflower is worth trying, thank you. I must admit I've no experience of celeriac that I know of, I've seen it as an ingredient in some foods. I need to do a bit of research. I'll also need to look into alternatives for other high carb foods as I find them.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Leadinglights]

hi, the grated cauliflower is worth trying, thank you. I must admit I've no experience of celeriac that I know of, I've seen it as an ingredient in some foods. I need to do a bit of research. I'll also need to look into alternatives for other high carb foods as I find them.
Thank you for your help.

Butternut squash is a good alternative to potatoes, celeriac is looks a bit knobbly, has a texture like carrot or swede but has a mild celery taste.

 

[ron1961]

Thank you, I'll look into the butternut squash, with my ibs I think it is going to be trial and error. I've been looking on amazon and found something made by a company called Fullgreen. they do riced cauliflower & broccoli and similar items. They look like they could be a feasible alternative?

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[Leadinglights]

Thank you, I'll look into the butternut squash, with my ibs I think it is going to be trial and error. I've been looking on amazon and found something made by a company called Fullgreen. they do riced cauliflower & broccoli and similar items. They look like they could be a feasible alternative?

​

I think you would be paying a lot for something that would be cheap from the greengrocer and a chopper which is what I use. Dead easy.