Low carb v "5 a day"

[debs248]

I'm trying to strike a balance between limiting my carb intake while still eating at least 5 portions of veg per day. As I'm also generally only eating one full sized meal plus one or two snacks, this is proving to be a real headache!

I've noticed that nowhere in any of the low carb resources I've been following is there any mention of *how many* portions of veg to aim for in a day.

Does anyone here succeed in eating 5 or more veg a day while eating low carb? I'm trying for 35g carbs max per meal, up to about 100 per day. Is it even worth me trying, or should I just prioritise keeping the carbs down?

 

[Lucyr]

I’m a bit confused, what is the problem you’re having with veg - most of it is low carb? Eg carrots, one of the carbier veg, are 10% carb. So if you ate 5 portions of carrots, 400g carrots, you’d still only have eaten 40g carbs. In reality your veg should be varied so will be less carbs than that.

 

[Lisa65]

Most above ground vegetables are low carb and you can eat loads of them.
Swede only has about 5g per 100g and as Lucy said carrots only have 10g.
Potato, parsnip and sweet potato are quite a bit higher.

 

[rebrascora]

Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. courgette, aubergine, lettuce in all it's various forms, cucumber, celery, spinach are all really low carb and you can easily eat 5 a day from that group and not get close to 20g carbs, swap in a tomato or two and half an onion and some green beans and a portion of berries and you might be up to 30g at a push, so there is absolutely no conflict between low carb and 5 a day.

Maybe you are seeing some higher carb foods like bread and potatoes as being more essential to make your meal filling, but you can easily fill up on a big plate of cabbage (done in butter or bacon fat) and onion and mushrooms and maybe some carrot and swede mash with a few rashers of bacon or a couple of lamb chops for evening meal and have some celery sticks with a bit of hummus for lunch and some yoghurt and berries and seeds for breakfast and come in at under 100g carbs for the day.
And that is not mentioning celeriac chips with steak, mushrooms, salad and coleslaw.
If you are vegetarian then most of your protein is likely to come with some carbs, but the source of those proteins are often pulses and also count as veg, so you are getting extra veg with your protein.

 

[Inka]

Kale, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, rocket, lettuce, sprouts, carrots, courgettes, aubergine, etc etc, are all low carb. If you’re having up to 100g carbs a day, you’ll have ample room for plenty of veg.

Perhaps the issue is that you’re only having one meal a day? You could fit in plenty of veg if you added a salad as a lunch meal.

 

[Sharron1]

I average 100-130 carbs per day (although this does go a little haywire on birthdays and bank holidays) and includes a mountain of steamed broccoli or cauliflower. Yum

 

[Felinia]

I have no trouble most days. Mushrooms and/or tomatoes at breakfast. Salad or home made veggie soup at lunch. 3 or more portions of veggies with dinner

 

[silver minion]

I find since reducing carbs I actually eat a bigger variety of veg to fill me up and replace spuds and pasta or rice.

 

[Drummer]

@debs248 The 5 portions a day advice is nothing scientific or an actually proven beneficial to health ploy - just a general push to have about 400 gm of plant sourced foods other than heavy starches. To eat a variety of plants, it is argued, is beneficial and should ensure adequate nutrients.
I have probably been eating less than 400 gm for some time now, but don't seem to have suffered any ill effects - quite the reverse - but the other elements of my diet are all nutritious and also quite varied, so I am not all that concerned about keeping a tally. My daily intake of carbs is probably around 35gm.

 

[pjgtech]

Hi, all good advice above.
Everyone is different so its about finding what works for you.
As you have already been advised most above ground veg and salad is pretty low carb, plus some fruit, eg: berries, apples, etc.
Most below ground, eg: root veg is higher in carb but we can still eat some, just be careful with how much.
Some fruit is also higher in carb, eg: banana, exotic fruits, pineapple, grapes, oranges, etc
Like many people above, as I stick to a low carb regime I tend to eat lots of veg and salads, I think the key is to mix it up a bit so it does not get boring.
Personally I don't worry about the 5 a day thing or stress too much about exactly how much veg I am eating, I just make sure I am eating plenty of healthy stuff.
Don't forget most T2's can also eat lots of protein and fibre, so meat, poultry, nuts, fish, eggs, mushrooms, etc.
There are plenty of good books and online resources to check out which have good advice on food and recipes, etc, including:
Lowcarbfreshwell website.
Sugarfreelondoner website.
Plus lots of good recipe idea on here (Diabetes UK website) too.

Some books that are often recommended good reads for diabetics include:
Life without diabetes - Prof Roy Taylor
Carbs and Cals book (in conjunction with Diabetes UK)
Giancarlo Caldesi cookbooks
The Real Meal Revolution- Prof Tim Noakes

Please keep us updated and let us know how you get on.

 

[Tom1982]

Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. courgette, aubergine, lettuce in all it's various forms, cucumber, celery, spinach are all really low carb and you can easily eat 5 a day from that group and not get close to 20g carbs, swap in a tomato or two and half an onion and some green beans and a portion of berries and you might be up to 30g at a push, so there is absolutely no conflict between low carb and 5 a day.

Maybe you are seeing some higher carb foods like bread and potatoes as being more essential to make your meal filling, but you can easily fill up on a big plate of cabbage (done in butter or bacon fat) and onion and mushrooms and maybe some carrot and swede mash with a few rashers of bacon or a couple of lamb chops for evening meal and have some celery sticks with a bit of hummus for lunch and some yoghurt and berries and seeds for breakfast and come in at under 100g carbs for the day.
And that is not mentioning celeriac chips with steak, mushrooms, salad and coleslaw.
If you are vegetarian then most of your protein is likely to come with some carbs, but the source of those proteins are often pulses and also count as veg, so you are getting extra veg with your protein.

Just showing off now ain’t ya that grub sounds lovely!!!

 

[beating_my_betes]

To eat a variety of plants, it is argued, is beneficial and should ensure adequate nutrients.

Absolutely!

 

[debs248]

Thank you everyone for putting things in perspective. My BG readings are suggesting that food is not having much influence anyway so I will try to enjoy everything I eat including all the veggies

 

[Drummer]

Thank you everyone for putting things in perspective. My BG readings are suggesting that food is not having much influence anyway so I will try to enjoy everything I eat including all the veggies

Do you check your blood glucose levels after eating?
I found that testing was really useful in the time I was reducing down to get normal numbers. It flagged that I can somehow get more carbs than the listed value out of peas and beans - a couple of others have found the same thing - maybe a 'survival gene' passed down to us.
You eat about three times more carbs a day than I do, in my quest for ever greater normality, so there could be a good reason for your diet not having much influence.

 

[debs248]

Do you check your blood glucose levels after eating?

Not after every meal, it's still a lot of hassle trying to get blood to test. I've measured 5 different meals of different sizes and amounts of carbs and in only one case was my BG higher 2hrs postprandial than before I ate. That meal wasn't high carb, and was in fact leftovers of one of the previously tested meals so not sure why the result was so different.

I eat about three times more carbs a day than I do, in my quest for ever greater normality, so there could be a good reason for your diet not having much influence.

I am confused by this. I haven't stated how many carbs I'm eating so how do you know you’re eating a third of that amount? What do you mean by "greater normality"? Surely if I am indeed eating more carbs than you, I should see more effect on BG from food, not less? Really struggling to understand what's going on now, my brain hurts!

 

[Leadinglights]

Not after every meal, it's still a lot of hassle trying to get blood to test. I've measured 5 different meals of different sizes and amounts of carbs and in only one case was my BG higher 2hrs postprandial than before I ate. That meal wasn't high carb, and was in fact leftovers of one of the previously tested meals so not sure why the result was so different.


I am confused by this. I haven't stated how many carbs I'm eating so how do you know you’re eating a third of that amount? What do you mean by "greater normality"? Surely if I am indeed eating more carbs than you, I should see more effect on BG from food, not less? Really struggling to understand what's going on now, my brain hurts!

In your first post in this thread you said you were having about 35g carbs per meal, up to 100g carbs per day so what @Drummer was saying is that she only has a third of that to keep within normal range, she does seem to need to go lower than many though.
Is there any reason you only have 1 meal a day which you implied was difficult.
The criteria that people find useful is testing before eating and after 2 hours when an increase of no more than 2-3mmoll or no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l after 2 hours would indicate the meal was tolerated well.

 

[debs248]

In your first post in this thread you said you were having about 35g carbs per meal, up to 100g carbs per day so what @Drummer was saying is that she only has a third of that to keep within normal range, she does seem to need to go lower than many though.

Oh I see. No, I thought I said that I was setting 35g per meal and 100g per day as the maximum, not a target, as I'm sure I read somewhere that most people can tolerate that much without sending their BG up too much. I've only restarted counting carbs last week but most meals are 25g or below and snacks around 10g. Daily total usually under 60g.

Is there any reason you only have 1 meal a day which you implied was difficult.

Partly because I'm disabled and my husband doesn't want to make more than one meal per day and partly because I don't feel able to eat until the afternoon because of exhaustion and sometimes nausea or choking on solid food. I've never been much of a breakfast eater anyway.

I just got used to eating that one meal and then a snack before bed. It also helps keep the food bills down of course, which adds another layer of worry if I need to eat more now.

The criteria that people find useful is testing before eating and after 2 hours when an increase of no more than 2-3mmoll or no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l after 2 hours would indicate the meal was tolerated well.

By either one of those, every meal I've tested except one has been well tolerated which is promising. On the other hand, it suggests that whatever is causing the high BG is something I can't control as easily as what I do or don't eat.

Hey ho no one said life was supposed to be easy...

 

[Leadinglights]

Oh I see. No, I thought I said that I was setting 35g per meal and 100g per day as the maximum, not a target, as I'm sure I read somewhere that most people can tolerate that much without sending their BG up too much. I've only restarted counting carbs last week but most meals are 25g or below and snacks around 10g. Daily total usually under 60g.

Partly because I'm disabled and my husband doesn't want to make more than one meal per day and partly because I don't feel able to eat until the afternoon because of exhaustion and sometimes nausea or choking on solid food. I've never been much of a breakfast eater anyway.

I just got used to eating that one meal and then a snack before bed. It also helps keep the food bills down of course, which adds another layer of worry if I need to eat more now.

By either one of those, every meal I've tested except one has been well tolerated which is promising. On the other hand, it suggests that whatever is causing the high BG is something I can't control as easily as what I do or don't eat.

Hey ho no one said life was supposed to be easy...

People have to find a regime which suits them and the things that people quote are just suggestions of the things which they find works for them not 'targets' as everybody is different in their tolerance of carbs.
In your situation making sure you stay hydrated and that your meal and snacks are nutritionally balanced then that is all you can do. Some medications people are on mean they should still eat a certain amount of carbs to prevent low blood glucose but if you are not taking any medication then there is no need to eat more than you want to.
To make things easier for your husband then having easy meals in the fridge, cooked meats, cheese, eggs, salads, yoghurts. Sugarfree jelly is good and refreshing and nice with cream.