Low carb/Low GI diet

daska

Mojisola wrote: »

I can't remember which diet advisor uses the phrase - if your granny wouldn't recognise it, don't eat it. (For the younger generation, think great-granny).

Eat basic, unadulterated food as much as possible.

how to find real food at the supermarket flowchart

Vejovis

thanks for the replies everyone. very helpful

margaretclare wrote: »

Also try cooking from scratch rather than buying prepared foods. If it has a long list of ingredients, don't buy it. If it has ingredients that you can't pronounce or don't know the purpose of, don't buy it.

HTH

i do try and cook as much as i can from scratch. although i do cheat on occasion

i've changed my weekly order from white bread, etc to brown. i'm sure the kids will moan, but if they're hungry they'll have no choice but to eat it.

Mojisola

Vejovis wrote: »

i do try and cook as much as i can from scratch. although i do cheat on occasion

Most people have to sometimes. You don't have to become fanatical about it but gradually shift the balance from one end of the spectrum to the other. Even small changes make a difference over the longterm.

What you'll also notice is that everyone's tastes change. Shop-bought stuff that we used to like now tastes only of sugar or salt. The more you eat real food, the more sensitive your taste buds become to different flavours and get overwhelmed by processed foods.

Good luck on controlling the diabetes. I've managed to stay off medication completely and have reduced my blood sugar levels down to really good levels.

If there's money available, a BS monitor is very useful. I used it to work out what I could eat and to identify what I really reacted to. I found that when I followed the diet recommended for diabetes, my BS went sky-high. That's why I started on the LC diet.

fluffnutter

I'd be really wary of putting kids on a low carb diet - they need lots of energy. Swapping refined carbs (pasta, white bread etc.) for unrefined ones (brown bread, brown rice etc.) won't do them any harm but if you're thinking of restricting their carb intake altogether, you should talk to your GP first.

Mojisola

fluffnutter wrote: »

I'd be really wary of putting kids on a low carb diet - they need lots of energy. Swapping refined carbs (pasta, white bread etc.) for unrefined ones (brown bread, brown rice etc.) won't do them any harm but if you're thinking of restricting their carb intake altogether, you should talk to your GP first.

Very important. Children need different things out of their diet because they're still making bits of themselves as well as using energy in daily life.

margaretclare

Mojisola wrote: »

Very important. Children need different things out of their diet because they're still making bits of themselves as well as using energy in daily life.

As I read it, no one is talking about restricting carbs to growing children, but if you mean changing towards a more 'wholefood' diet, surely this can only be good for children? There is so much carp about nowadays which children feel they 'have to' eat. Good wholesome veg soup, for instance, with wholemeal bread, is what generations have grown up on and had to live much more active lives than is the case nowadays.

fluffnutter

margaretclare wrote: »

As I read it, no one is talking about restricting carbs to growing children..

To be fair the original post did clearly say..

I want to change to a low carb, low GI diet...

As I can't afford to buy food for two different kinds of diets, it would need to be something that firstly was cheap, and secondly was suitable for children (youngest aged 10). Also it'd need to include items that could be used for packed lunches.

margaretclare

I found that when I followed the diet recommended for diabetes, my BS went sky-high. That's why I started on the LC diet.

Oh yes, my DH has found the same. He's been Type 2 since 1981, insulin-using since 1996, and he found that the amount of carbs recommended by DiabetesUK was far too much for him. Since we both changed our diet a few months ago, he now uses about half the insulin that he was using before that. Using less insulin means that his weight is gradually coming down, and he wonders why Diabetes UK places so much emphasis on the need to lose weight while at the same time advocating a lot of carbs, which results in more insulin, which makes the body hang on to all its fat cells!

margaretclare

fluffnutter wrote: »

To be fair the original post did clearly say.. As I can't afford to buy food for two different kinds of diets, it would need to be something that firstly was cheap, and secondly was suitable for children (youngest aged 10). Also it'd need to include items that could be used for packed lunches.

What do you put in packed lunches now? If you make sandwiches, there's no reason why sandwiches can't be made of wholemeal rather than white bread.

IMHO anything is suitable for children as long as it's 'real food'. Less of sweets, crisps and pre-made snacks has gotta be more healthy for them.

Someone mentioned 'what your granny'great-granny would/wouldn't recognise'. I suppose I'm in the great-granny category nowadays, and I often wonder what modern children would make of being told you can only have 3 ounces of sweets a week. Have porridge for breakfast and walk 2 miles to school. Walk home, and have a slice of bread and jam rather than a packet of crisps?

I think we did eat a lot of carbs, but the difference was, we didn't have all the extras like crisps and sweet drinks. I think we must have grown up healthy, because we've been called the 'golden cohort', healthier than any generation before or - for that matter - since.

TeamLowe

i found this book really useful when following a low GI diet
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Gem-succeed-using-Glycemic/dp/0007211392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327410217&sr=8-1

it lists all the nutritional info of foods but also works on a traffic light system sp its easy to see at a glance x x