Newbie

[SDowey]

Hi am new here and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes since 2019, I do find it hard to not eat carbs as I do love my bread and potatoes so if anyone knows what I could replace this with I would be grateful. Am on Metformin 3 tablets a day but recently I have lost a stone in weight so I must be doing something right.

It's nice to become part of this forum.

 

[Drummer]

Bread is a bit of a problem, but potatoes have lost their attraction for me, I use either cauliflower or swede mostly.
Mashed swede with an egg mixed in, with leftover veges to make bubble and squeak, or cheese, some mixed in and some on top seems a lot better than potato. I bake it in the oven to heat it up then turn on the grill to brown the top.
Cauliflower cheese with almost cooked cauliflower, covered in cream cheese in a warm bowl, add herb or spice to taste, then cover in grated hard cheese and brown in the oven - yum.
I have used cheese waffles to make bacon butties, they aren't bad.

 

[trophywench]

Have more of something else! Protein is more filling than carb, but you just don't feel 'stuffed'.

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome
There are some low carb breads around at some supermarkets which are less carbs than normal bread so you could try those. Burgen soy and linseed or livlife are a couple.
As for potatoes, I use butternut squash, celeriac when you can find it but usually make meals which don't really need potatoes.
You will soon get used to not stacking up a plate with high carb bland foods and have more of the tastier veg, meat, fish, eggs cheese etc.

 

[SDowey]

Thank you all for your suggestions I will deffo try them which is why I love the summer time when I eat all my veg in salads with chicken and tuna.

 

[goodybags]

Hi am new here and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes since 2019, I do find it hard to not eat carbs as I do love my bread and potatoes so if anyone knows what I could replace this with I would be grateful. Am on Metformin 3 tablets a day but recently I have lost a stone in weight so I must be doing something right.

It's nice to become part of this forum.

Hi there welcome @SDowey

ive not missed potatoes but I found I could not cut out bread completel, so I’ve turned into one of those people that pots on my reading specs and examines the carb content on the nutritional label of supermarket bread (it is an eye opener)
I’ve found the lowest carb that’s readily available
to be a
Warburtons Wholemeal no added sugar or Hovis Nimble, if that helps,
but yes good the warmer weather is coming so we can enjoy salads

 

[SDowey]

Hi thank you for your reply. Unfortunately over here in Northern Ireland we don't get Warburton but we do get nimble so I will try it and see if it helps.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @SDowey 🙂

Do you have a BG monitor to check your responses to different foods?

Many GPs are reluctant to prescribe them unless people are on meds that can cause hypoglycaemia, but many members here find them incredibly helpful in terms of fine-tuning their menu, and seeing exactly how they respond to what they are eating.

You can take a reading just before a meal, and again 2hrs after the first bite, to see how much your BG has risen. if it is a bigger rise than 2-3, try a reduced portion, different carb source, or try eating whatever it is at a different time of day (breakfast time is often trickiest). Just wondering if this would be helpful for you to see how your bidy gets on with different types of bread (some find seedier ones or rye breads different to standard sliced), and check what sort of portion of potatoes your metabolism can handle?

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 for 50

 

[SDowey]

Welcome to the forum @SDowey 🙂

Do you have a BG monitor to check your responses to different foods?

Many GPs are reluctant to prescribe them unless people are on meds that can cause hypoglycaemia, but many members here find them incredibly helpful in terms of fine-tuning their menu, and seeing exactly how they respond to what they are eating.

You can take a reading just before a meal, and again 2hrs after the first bite, to see how much your BG has risen. if it is a bigger rise than 2-3, try a reduced portion, different carb source, or try eating whatever it is at a different time of day (breakfast time is often trickiest). Just wondering if this would be helpful for you to see how your bidy gets on with different types of bread (some find seedier ones or rye breads different to standard sliced), and check what sort of portion of potatoes your metabolism can handle?

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 for 50

Hi Mike thank you for the reply and yes like you say my GP won't supply me with a BC because am med control so I did buy one but I haven't used it for a while so I must start and do it again . Could you tell me what is normal readings suppose to be. Thanks again

 

[Leadinglights]

4-7mmol/l fasting (morning) and before meals and no more than 2-3mmol/l increase 2 hours after meals from before and aiming at no more than 8.5mmol/l after meals.

 

[diatribe]

I also loved bread, but found the switch to dark breads (e.g. rye) quite easy and one slice is often enough. Also, many of the crispbreads you can buy have a very low carb content and are nice - just check the label.

In general I try to buy high fibre and protien based products, they are more expensive but I eat far less. Also my HBA1C has fallen and is now in normal levels, plus I have lost a lot of weight.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi Mike thank you for the reply and yes like you say my GP won't supply me with a BC because am med control so I did buy one but I haven't used it for a while so I must start and do it again . Could you tell me what is normal readings suppose to be. Thanks again

Like @Leadinglights says, ideally, eventually you would aim for 4-7 before meals, and no higher than 8.5 by 2hrs after meals, but if your initial readings are different, don’t be disheartened…

Just gradually experiment to aim for the ‘meal rises’ to be 2-3 or less, and let the levels gradually come down over time.

It’s a marathon not a sprint 🙂

 

[IrvineHimself]

I do find it hard to not eat carbs as I do love my bread and potatoes

As do I friend, (sigh)

In the last month, I've lost 3kg, about 6.5 lbs.

Low carb substitutes for, pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice) are:

• Potato: Mooli (3g/100g), a type of radish, can be chopped up and cooked with a very small potato and some neeps (5g/100g) or squash (7g/100g). I microwave them together for about 25 minutes or until the mooli is soft to the fork. As someone who traditionally piles on the spuds, I find this surprisingly effective. It is a large root, and I usually get two or three meals out of one.
• Rice: Cauliflower (4g/100g) can be used to make a rice substitute. If you like, you can follow the BBC recipe, but I usually just finely dice it.
• Pasta: Courgettes (2g/100g), can be used to make a pasta substitute. Again, rather than spiralize the courgette, I generally just cut the courgette into thinnish slices, (or even grate it,) to make either a Farfalle or Orzo type of pasta. Then, with a dash of olive oil infused with either fresh garlic or crushed chillies, I microwave it à la dent for about a minute or so.
• Bread: The lowest carbs per slice substitute I have found is Ryvita Crackerbread Original (4g/slice) and for variety Oatcakes (6g/slice). Though, because the latter is 50% higher in carbs per slice, I limit myself to 3 oatcakes per day. (About 18g of carbs, or 7% of my current daily carb allowance)

Be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content: Kidney Beans (22g/100g), Spilt Peas (21g/100g), Chickpeas (17g/100g), Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.

Remember, often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g garlic is up there with potato. So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.

Best of luck
Irvine

 

[Lucyr]

I can’t imagine anyone eating 100g of garlic in one sitting though Irvine…

 

[IrvineHimself]

No, but a normal sized clove weighs 7 or 8 grams, I just checked. So, if you like garlic, as I do, then three cloves weigh about 24 grams. This works out to about 4 grams of carbohydrate or 1 slice of Ryvita Crackerbread.

All these little 5 grams here 4 grams there add up

 

[Leadinglights]

No, but a normal sized clove weighs 7 or 8 grams, I just checked. So, if you like garlic, as I do, then three cloves weigh about 24 grams. This works out to about 4 grams of carbohydrate or 1 slice of Ryvita Crackerbread.

All these little 5 grams here 4 grams there add up

There was a cheffy recipe for a chicken dish that had 12 bulbs of garlic, that must have added quite a few carbs to an innocent dish

 

[IrvineHimself]

There was a cheffy recipe for a chicken dish that had 12 bulbs of garlic, that must have added quite a few carbs to an innocent dish

It's surprising the things that people take for granted that are just not true. Like, for example, in this case, onions and garlic not contributing to the carb count.

Out in the French sticks, (where they still eat an authentic Mediterranean diet,) along with a few olives, they will traditional start a meal with a clove of garlic, a few radishes and a bit of salt to dip them in. I like it, but, by time you in add in a clove or two to whatever you are cooking, along with the onions, the carbs can quickly mount up. So, alas, those days are long gone.

By the way I do use a mouthwash

 

[trophywench]

I can’t imagine anyone eating 100g of garlic in one sitting though Irvine…

Ah well neither could I at one time Lucy. However a few years back I tasted 'pickled' garlic purchased by some friends on holiday in Spain, (may have been in Catalonia but not sure about that) it was peeled but raw and the whole cloves were deliciously crunchy, did not even taste like garlic, let alone stink of it or cause you to have garlic breath after eating it. Only trouble was - stopping myself eating them! Don't think it was brine they'd been preserved in as no trace of saltiness. Bloomin gorgeous!

 

[SDowey]

As do I friend, (sigh)

In the last month, I've lost 3kg, about 6.5 lbs.

Low carb substitutes for, pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice) are:

• Potato: Mooli (3g/100g), a type of radish, can be chopped up and cooked with a very small potato and some neeps (5g/100g) or squash (7g/100g). I microwave them together for about 25 minutes or until the mooli is soft to the fork. As someone who traditionally piles on the spuds, I find this surprisingly effective. It is a large root, and I usually get two or three meals out of one.
• Rice: Cauliflower (4g/100g) can be used to make a rice substitute. If you like, you can follow the BBC recipe, but I usually just finely dice it.
• Pasta: Courgettes (2g/100g), can be used to make a pasta substitute. Again, rather than spiralize the courgette, I generally just cut the courgette into thinnish slices, (or even grate it,) to make either a Farfalle or Orzo type of pasta. Then, with a dash of olive oil infused with either fresh garlic or crushed chillies, I microwave it à la dent for about a minute or so.
• Bread: The lowest carbs per slice substitute I have found is Ryvita Crackerbread Original (4g/slice) and for variety Oatcakes (6g/slice). Though, because the latter is 50% higher in carbs per slice, I limit myself to 3 oatcakes per day. (About 18g of carbs, or 7% of my current daily carb allowance)

Be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content: Kidney Beans (22g/100g), Spilt Peas (21g/100g), Chickpeas (17g/100g), Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.

Remember, often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g garlic is up there with potato. So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.

Best of luck
Irvine

Hi I hope your doing well and thanks for all the substitute items I can try instead of my usual ones it's not easy and as you say it's the nutritional info that catches you out