vegan and gluten free help

[harry6]

hi, I'm a newbie and trying to find help with food for myself. essentially i an vegan but eats cheese. and milk. but i am also gluten intolerant. any help with meals and snacks would be amazinmg.

 

[trophywench]

What type of diabetes does this accompany?

 

[harry6]

t1

 

[Kaylz]

May I ask why you've marked yourself as a carer/partner if your Type 1? There are many products on the market to cater for your needs these days so you could start by looking at supermarket websites and seeing what they have to offer xx

 

[harry6]

it was a slip of the mouse trying todo too many things at once. its the snacking thats more of an issue as they all involve carbs, i know most can have an egg or meat but i cant.

 

[Robin]

My 'go to' snack for a little nibble of something that I needn't bolus for, is dark chocolate, (85% or more). If I need something more substantial, I’d look at the carb content and give myself an extra insulin bolus for it.
Difficult to advise in more detail, as I’m not vegan, and I don’t know where you are on your diabetes journey. Are you newly diagnosed, and have you learnt about carb counting yet? If so, then there’s no problem, just work out the carbs and snack on what you’d like (just learn how to calculate insulin left on board if you test before snacking, as 'stacking' your insulin can lead to problems if you’re not careful with the maths)

 

[Kaylz]

are snacks necessary? I only snacked when I needed to gain weight, I'm not having a go by the way just saying, as Robin says dark chocolate is low carb, Lindt 90% stuff is just over 1g carb per square, nuts are another low carb snack but again as Robin has mentioned as a Type 1 on insulin there isn't really anything to stop you having a snack with carbs and covering it xx

 

[Flower]

I'm vegetarian and if I want something to nibble that doesn't involve extra insulin I eat Quorn vegan smoky ham /vegan chicken slices, they're gluten free and vegan plus one or 2 slices doesn't make any odds to my blood sugar.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Nuts are good for snacking I find.

Or have something carby and dose for it (but watch for those doses being a bit unpredictable because you will most likely still have some insulin active from the previous meal!)

 

[rebrascora]

Cheese and nuts and olives are my favourite low carb snacks or veggie sticks with a sour cream and chive dip.

 

[Jon-Manchester]

hi, I'm a newbie and trying to find help with food for myself. essentially i an vegan but eats cheese. and milk. but i am also gluten intolerant. any help with meals and snacks would be amazinmg.

If you eat milk and cheese then surely you are vegetarian not vegan? Isn’t that just a vegetarian who doesn’t eat eggs?

 

[Drummer]

I think that there are different ways of defining the various philosophies - for instance, I am neither vegetarian nor vegan, but I look for unwaxed lemons simply because the waxed ones often use bees wax, which seems unnecessary when there are other options.

 

[Jon-Manchester]

Somethings are open for interpretation other things have very well defined definitions

My analogy would be;, I am an atheist, that very specifically states I don’t believe in any form of divine entity. I can’t say I am an atheist but I believe in Jesus. Not believing in any of the other religions doesn’t make me an atheist, it makes me a Christian.

To get back on topic, my snacks are popcorn and walnuts.

 

[rebrascora]

I think that there are different ways of defining the various philosophies - for instance, I am neither vegetarian nor vegan, but I look for unwaxed lemons simply because the waxed ones often use bees wax, which seems unnecessary when there are other options.

I think I can allay your fears there. I would be extremely surprised. shocked even, if they used beeswax to coat lemons as it is an extremely expensive wax compared to other food grade options extracted from plants, like Canuba wax

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Hello @harry6 your best bet is to look in the free from section in super markets, it's amazing what you can find there 🙂

 

[chaoticcar]

Just a note on unwaxed lemons, I have a slice of lemon in my tea and thought that unwaxed would be better but I read what they are treated with looked it up and found that it is poisonous in some cases .I wash my lemons well in warm soapy water and rinse and dry before using ( I drink a lot of tea!!!)
Carol

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Rice is a usual go to for carbs when you’re gluten intolerant (rice crackers as well as cooked rice) but it’s high carb and fast release so for many diabetics it takes a bit of experimentation to get the timing of a bolus right to coincide with the release of glucose. You’ll work it out with a bit of trial and error. Quinoa may be a good alternative as it tends to be slightly slower to release and it has protein in it too. Fried polenta has the advantage of already mixing some fat in there which helps slow the carbs down. Corn cakes are lower carbs per cracker than rice cakes (depends on the brand for specifics). You will presumably be eating things like rice/quinoa/polenta along with more pulses than most diabetics so working out how your combinations of carbs affects your insulin timings may take time. Tofu is a good egg substitute as it’s very low carb, not quite free but close. Almonds and almond milk as basically zero carb (depending on portion size) so are good for snacking. As a type 1 it’s just about matching your carbs to your insulin so is doable whatever you’re eating and in that way is easier to be vegan(ish) than if you were type 2. Just try to make sure you’re eating plenty of fat and protein in with your carbs to help slow the glucose release. Dairy cheese is carb free but if you eat it on its own it may give you a spike. Dairy milk has carbs so watch out for it if you’re using more than a splash. Cream because of the fat content tends to count more as cheese (again depending on portion size). It’ll be harder for you to eat very low carb but it’s not necessarily the goal of every T1 to be low carb anyway. Eat what you’d normally eat. Try to keep a food diary to help you work out any spikes or hypos caused by your insulin not hitting at the same time as the glucose is released and don’t worry too much about it. If you have a Libre or other monitor that may help you identify spikes from certain foods too so you can decide when you need to pre bolus.