Meal suggestions in Balance - would they suit you? (genuine question)

[Eddy Edson]

I think most of them would be fine for me: maybe a bit heavy on the pasta & I'd cut most of the desserts (which I wouldn't really be into anyway). But by preference I'd tend towards simpler things.

 

[Carolg]

What country is this aimed at? ‘Roast vegetable pan bagnat, afghan salad’, ‘cashew toast, pasta in brodo(?), breakfast burritos?’

Would help if the menu suggestions were more culturally realistic and not so time consuming to prepare. Who has all these ingredients in and as a diet controlled type 2, the carb content would have me spiking badly after meals. The Sunday meal has a potential 155 grams of carb for one meal!

I wouldn’t have time to do all this for work and don’t know what some or it is

 

[Northerner]

I'm with a lot of the other Type 1s who have responded - even with fast🙂D) acting insulin a lot of it would be a no-no for me. I certainly couldn't eat any of the breakfasts and the total carb count for each day is generally above what I would want to inject for. And I couldn't be bothered to source the ingredients and spend the time preparing some of the meals, given I'm only cooking for one, I tend to eat to live, not live to eat these days 🙄 Interesting poll 🙂

 

[eggyg]

I must admit when I read this in my Balance mag. I thought bloomin’ Nora, I couldn’t eat all those carbs, and it didn’t seem very type 2, diet and exercise, friendly. It seems very much like a Slimming World diet which concentrates on low fat and high carbs. Ok for if you’re non D but like others have said even on a MDI regime, I would be doubling my insulin requirements.

 

[PhoebeC]

Also pudding every day?!?! What century are we living in, and what class of people are these. Unheard of these days in the real world, twice a week only in our house.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Also pudding every day?!?! What century are we living in, and what class of people are these. Unheard of these days in the real world, twice a week only in our house.

You need to get into some of the NHS courses. We aren't the "typical" diabetic here.

 

[HOBIE]

Bring back Richard Lane ! Duk are going down hill fast 😉

 

[HOBIE]

Duk have a look ! A popular post ? 😉. The boss needs to have a look ?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

You need to get into some of the NHS courses. We aren't the "typical" diabetic here.

I think perhaps that’s partly what is interesting about the responses so far. As a community I think we generally have better than average results, so I find it very interesting that so many motivated SMBG informed members have said that these suggestions are unworkable some through complexity, but mostly because the BG implications would not work for them. I was secretly hoping that there would be a fair number of responses to say that these meal plans would be ideal - but I far it seems that for those who see how food interact with BG - whether on meds, T2, T1, insulin or whatever these suggestions aren’t quite hitting the mark.

I’m not sure if this is something that @Hannah DUK can ask of / feed back to the team that put Enjoy Food and/or the Balance article together. The principle seems good (allow calorific ‘room’ in your eating plan for the things you generally forget/ignore) but the carb loads and types of carbs in the meals seem problematic.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Well, I could live on them, but I wouldn't like them.
I would be interested to know if they are trying to change eating habits generally, or specifically considering trying to go low carb to drive BG levels into the normal range specifically by that method.
If not, is it for any reason they have encountered.
Certainly, at courses and general conferences, getting the Mars bars off many was considered a life changing event.
Even before I reversed my diabetes, I didn't low carb, as I certainly found all carbs weren't equal, and it was way too difficult to fit into my lifestyle.
As to calories, while 1600 to 1800 may be high for some, it's about half of what I, and many, were eating.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

The puddings sound nice, but like others we generally only have pudding once or twice a week. Some of the meals don't appeal to me.

 

[Martin Canty]

That's a little too much, the breakfasts would be unworkable for me & I never eat desert.....

I think that be meal plan is over complicated & would (at least in our house) lead to a lot of wasted food.

 

[Amigo]

TBH I really think the folks who thought that menu up need to get into the real world A lot of people couldn’t afford it.

I agree Lin. There’s quite a range of products and ingredients on that list many of which would be very expensive and involve a well stocked larder of diverse foods.

 

[Diabetes UK]

It is really great to see the insight from each of you about the content of these meals plans, I have passed on your comments for the teams to see but it is also good just to have a space to discuss different reactions to the recipes.

Our meal plans have to be very general and broadly suit everyone, so it’s up to the individuals to tweak them however they see fit. We do have a number of different meal plans depending on your relevant calorie intake as well, as this will vary from person to person depending on your activity level, size and gender. Also, following a meal plan is not for everyone. If you are happy with what you're eating and have found a diet that works well for you, you should certainly do that. We have found that some people want meal plans as it can help to work as a guide, and so we developed some for those who may want them.

There are many approaches to healthy eating and for managing diabetes and we do advocate a range of approaches. But essentially, diets need to fit your lifestyle and be tailored to your needs.

 

[Drummer]

I eat in the mornings, usually a meal high in protein and the fats which are there naturally, with about 10 gm of carbs.
A mug of coffee usually follows at some point, but I might wander off and come back later to pour it out. I make percolated coffee and drink it with thick double cream dissolved in cold water.
In the evening I have meat, fish, shellfish or eggs and cheese, with a huge salad or maybe a stirfry now that it is cooler, another mug of coffee and then a couple of times a week I have berries and cream, or at this time of year I might have an apple off one of my own trees, which are entirely organic so the fruits are small - and sometimes inhabited, so I don't eat much of it. Usually 20 to 30 gm of carb.
The level of carbs and the dense carb foods advised would surely never have brought me back to normal levels - surely the advice should be to eat low carb and once back to normal levels only then add in small amounts of healthy carbs if you find you can cope without putting on weight. Healthy carbs from full of nutrients veges, not wholegrains.

 

[Drummer]

PS I do not do snacks though sometimes dessert is a small amount of high cocoa chocolate, but not every week.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

I agree Lin. There’s quite a range of products and ingredients on that list many of which would be very expensive and involve a well stocked larder of diverse foods.

I agree too. We could afford it, but wouldn't want to waste money on lots of complicated ingredients we'd hardly ever eat, not to mention the time and effort spent fiddling about making those recipes - we have better things to do. If I were low carbing I'd rather have a cheese salad and a yogurt and spend the money on books and the time on reading them. I can't imagine anyone with a family trying to get kids to school and adults to work and co-ordinating all their different social lives would have time to put meals like these together either.

 

[DaveB]

Why does anyone talk about calories at all? Focussing on the calories means you ignore the carbs and that's what matters to us as diabetics not calories. Calories have little value in what you eat as the body metabolises foods in different ways. DUK and PHE need to stop talking about calories and focus on carb content. Advising people to have so many calories per day is rather silly as we are all different and have different exercise and work levels. As fats have twice the calories than carbs you can end-up reducing fats rather than carbs which is counter-productive for us.

 

[Drummer]

As many diabetics are living with at least one non diabetic, I'd have thought that it would be a good idea to make a family friendly recipe book adapted for multiple options - a simple one for breakfast - core food, scrambled eggs, options of on ordinary toast, on protein bread toasted with fried mushrooms and/or sliced tomatoes, or for the very low carber with grated cheese and put under the grill for a few seconds. Listing the various options would give an at a glance view of the carbs for each food and how to adapt them to the needs of various people.

 

[SkinnyLiz]

what a great idea