Judith5
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome to the forum, @Judith5
What is it you think is tricky about low carbing when you're vegetarian? There are quite a few vegetarians on here, a couple of vegans, and a few people like me who don't eat meat but do eat fish, and there's a lot of food you can eat as a veggetarian with diabetes.
All sorts of salads and all the veg which grow above ground are good, you only need to cut down on root veg like potatoes and parsnips (carrots aren't too bad in small quantities). Nuts and seeds are mostly good (some nuts are a bit higher in carbs than others, but just check the packets for total carbs and eat the higher carb ones in moderation). Eggs, cheese, and butter are good, yogurt is fine so long as the total carbs aren't too high (avoid the low fat ones which tend to have added sugar so they're higher in carbs). Lentils are good, and some beans are fine too (just check the packets for total carbs to be sure which). Tofu is good, that's low carb. Some fruit are better than others, but most diabetics are OK with berries, and some can eat apples and pears - though the only way of knowing which fruit - or anything else - you can eat is to test before and after eating them to see how much they raise your blood sugar.
It really is worth testing because we are all different - some diabetics can eat porridge with no problems, for instance, others find it spikes their blood sugar far too much to be worth it, others can eat it in the afternoon but not in the morning! It's pointless cutting out things from your diet which you could eat with no problems, but on the other hand, you don't want to eat something every day which is spiking your blood sugar up to the teens, and you'll never know unless you test. As a type 2 you wouldn't have to keep doing it every day once you've worked out which foods you can eat.
Have a look at the food board for recipes though, I'm sure you'll find some vegetarian ones there - or you could start a thread asking for some.
Hi Juliet
Thanks for all the tips. I guess I should have been a little more specific. At home I’m ok doing low carb veggie food. But I have to eat out a bit for work. Like today where the veggie choice at lunch was ravioli (not whole meal) and the dinner choice was ravioli again! Although luckily I managed to get them to do me a cheese omelette for lunch and for dinner they managed to prepare a bean chilli. I guess the only way I can be sure of getting a low carb meal is to take my own!
I’ve ordered a BG meter from amazon. So will start testing soon....
Judith