potatoes

[welshy1]

Is it right that sweet potatoes are better to eat than white potatoes. Have you got to cut potatoes out of diet completely with type 2.
I have been putting peas on meals. I have just read a post saying peas are quite high in carbs.

 

[Drummer]

sweet potatoes are actually higher in carbs than ordinary ones - neither feature in my diet, and I am really sensitive to carbs from peas and beans - I eat only a small amount if any at all. Green beans are not so bad as peas, though.
You really need to test before and after eating - the usual gap is 2 hours.
You will probably need to check whatever other people tell you though - some can eat porridge and others - like me just get a spike in BG.
I can eat the low carb breads - if I am careful. The ones I get are 4 gm per slice. Any other grain based foods - whole meal, brown or white - whoosh - potatoes - whoosh and remaining high for hours.

 

[zuludog]

With sweet potatoes and ordinary potatoes you need to consider both the total CHO content and the Glycaemic Index, which is a measure of how quickly carbohydrates are turned into sugar. Sweet potatoes have a lower GI than ordinary ones
That's when things get a bit more complicated and you have to do your homework, and, as mentioned, measure your BS to see how any CHO affects you. It's simpler just not to eat them. Same goes for other CHO things like pasta, pastry, & rice

Since I was diagnosed 20 years ago I have cut out a lot of carbohydrates, and I'm still working on it; you need to be careful all the time. I found the easiest was just to cut out potatoes completely (but see exception), and substitute plenty of vegetables. You soon get used to it
I do eat all types of vegetables though, including peas & beans. As well as peas on my plate I eat veg stews & casseroles. You just have to be careful about how much you eat
Now & again I'll buy some new potatoes and have one or two with a salad or poached fish & veg, but I allow for them

A side issue about potatoes, and not only for diabetics, is how they are eaten. Plain boiled spuds are OK as long as you know about them, but the problem is the things they attract and are served with, like fat & butter for chips & mash; mayonnaise on a baked spud; or commercial sauces which contain fat, sugar, and salt

 

[welshy1]

Hi zuludog
Thanks for the info on spuds.
I am really srtuggling at moment to prepare good food. Just had our lunch. It was bland and boring. I am steaming veg broccoli and green beans. I cooked chicken in oven in foil, I had fish cooked same way. But there is no taste in anything. I am going to have to find something to make the food tasty. I did look at some recipes earlier. I am going to try cottage pie with carrot mash that sounds really tasty.

 

[welshy1]

Anitram
The nurse at doctors surgery did not mention to my partner about doing pre or post testing. Do you think it is worth getting back to the nurse and asking her if he needs to be doing that.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Anitram
The nurse at doctors surgery did not mention to my partner about doing pre or post testing. Do you think it is worth getting back to the nurse and asking her if he needs to be doing that.

Chances are the nurse will say not to, but just about everybody here will say you should. But only if you actually use it for something, not just for showing to the nurse or whatever. What you want is to know what kind of foods do what to your partner - every T2 will react to different foods differently, so there's really no very useful general recommendations to be made about potatoes or anything else, and hence the need for testing.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Duplicated, with a couple of replies here:
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/potatoes.82047/#post-910940

 

[zuludog]

Hi zuludog
Thanks for the info on spuds.
I am really srtuggling at moment to prepare good food. Just had our lunch. It was bland and boring. I am steaming veg broccoli and green beans. I cooked chicken in oven in foil, I had fish cooked same way. But there is no taste in anything. I am going to have to find something to make the food tasty. I did look at some recipes earlier. I am going to try cottage pie with carrot mash that sounds really tasty.

A few point to think about -

You don't say how long you've been diagnosed. Have you joined Diabetes UK? They have an introductory guide and a careline. Also a magazine with interesting articles and recipes; and recipe books
You could go to your library for books about diabetes - general, which usually have a few recipes and food advice anyway, or diabetic cookery; or look at the book section on this forum or try Amazon

You could Search The Net and YouTube for meals for diabetics. Many meals and recipes are by Americans. Nothing wrong with that but add 'UK' to the search to make it more relevant. As with anything on t'Net you have to be a bit cautious

I've just discovered Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cookery. It's not all diabetes friendly, but at the moment I'm eating things based on Greek Salad even if it's not absolutely authentic
It occurred to me that variations on salad dressings like French or Italian could be used on other meals; just play around with them. But make your own; for example I noticed that Newman's Own French Dressing has added sugar
Again, Search Google and YouTube. There are lots of videos. I'm not a great fan of Jamie Oliver, but his video 'Principles for Salads' has a simple dressing

Fish or chicken in foil? How about adding rosemary to the chicken or tarragon to both; plus salt & black pepper; butter; white wine; olive oil; garlic if you like it; a few sliced mushrooms; lemon juice - out of a real lemon or a bottle; sliced bell peppers

When I was diagnosed I had a session with the dietician/nutritionist, and I remember her words - 'Don't get hung up ( we were both of similar age, and were young in the 1970s) on what you can't have. Concentrate on what you CAN have'.

Go to the Home Page of Diabetes UK. Scroll down and you'll find a section on food, meals, and recipes

 

[Drummer]

A low carb diet is not at all bland - cook your fish with a herb butter - roast some veges to have with it - mushrooms, courgette, aubergine - try mashed cauliflower where you'd 'expect' mashed potatoes, or celeriac.
Roasting chicken thighs, on a rack or In the Tefal Actifry gives them a crispy skin - delicious.
In the hot weather I often have a salad - sweet pepper, a bag of prepared salad, coleslaw celery radish cucumber - salad dressing with a pinch of herbs added and shaken up - leave a few hours for the flavour to develop.

 

[belugalad]

Hi zuludog
Thanks for the info on spuds.
I am really srtuggling at moment to prepare good food. Just had our lunch. It was bland and boring. I am steaming veg broccoli and green beans. I cooked chicken in oven in foil, I had fish cooked same way. But there is no taste in anything. I am going to have to find something to make the food tasty. I did look at some recipes earlier. I am going to try cottage pie with carrot mash that sounds really tasty.

Now and again I have a chicken curry made with pataks curry sauce in the jar, it's enough to make 2 curries and I serve it with cauliflower rice that I get from Sainsburys frozen(packet of four)I liked the texture of the cauli rice,I added a big mound of broccoli too,I tested afterwards with my meter and I was fine

 

[zuludog]

Search Google & YouTube for sweet potato mash, there are several references. If you're not too sure about it, you could substitute a proportion with ordinary potato to start with, but they have different cooking times so you would have to cook them separately then combine them at the end

Also you could fry off the fat from the mince, or replace it with canned lentils, beans, or chick peas

 

[Drummer]

Ah - the high carb option is one which doesn't work for me - no potatoes of any kind as they all cause spikes, no lentils at all - other than a few peas or a slightly larger portion of green beans - otherwise I have blood glucose in the teens.
I add mushrooms to mince to soak up the fat. It is essential to have fats in your diet when low carbing.

 

[rebrascora]

Mushrooms and aubergines are wonderful for soaking up fats.

 

[CathyB]

I cut all potatoes, rice, pasta and only have a little low carb Burgen bread, I also spike with berries where others are fine, the only fruit I can have is 2 small apples as long as they are spread over the day. I love my diet now, I eat chilli or curry sometimes with cauliflower rice but sometimes just on its own, I love a tasty stir fry or a fresh salad with avocado, a favourite is cottage pie topped with mashed cauliflower and sprinkled with cheese 😛
If you go low carb you can go higher in good fats, butter, cream, olive oil, Greek yoghurt is a yummy treat. I also have sugar free jelly as a sweet treat 🙄. I often go to my daughters for a roast, I just don’t have the spuds and she always does plenty of cabbage, broccoli & cauliflower so I always leave feeling stuffed!! I love a juicy steak topped with garlic mushrooms and served with cauliflower cheese (no milk or flour)......the list is endless.......I’m hungry now 😱

 

[welshy1]

Smoked fish poached in foil is tasty if served with a dollop of Lurpak or similar melted on top. That's a regular with me. The lazy option with chicken is to use one of those cook-in-a-bag packet sauces. Lots of flavouring options. Bolognese is also a regular with us, but with half portions of wholegrain spelt pasta or spaghetti rather than the regular kind.

We had a traditional roast dinner yesterday. I just went easy on the roast potatoes.

Martin

Anitram
When you have a roast dinner do you have gravy with it. I know my partner would really enjoy having a good roast dinner. What veg do you have with your roast dinner, would love him to have something tasty for a change. I know he is not eating much at all, he has lost weight, but really does not need to lose any more. I am still struggling with meals.

 

[welshy1]

Thanks for the help. I am really struggling with the meals.

 

[welshy1]

All of you on here are so good at managing your diabetes. I know my partner was only just diagnosed at 48, but I am finding it all very difficult.

 

[grovesy]

Is 48 his age or the Blood Result he was diagnosed at?
Some of us have been at this a while.

 

[welshy1]

Grovesy
He was diagnosed 48

 

[Drummer]

Can you explain what is difficult?
It is a little hard for me to understand as I started low carbing in the early 70s and have been doing that or on a low fat low calorie diet ever since. Normal eating doesn't seem to have happened to me.