Low carb/Low GI diet

Mojisola

margaretclare wrote: »

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.

Looking back at my grand-parents' meals, there was a lot of carbs and animal fat but there was also plenty of vegetables and the carbs were in their natural state which makes a big difference. That, combined with the extra exercise that was just part of normal life, seems to be a good combination.

amclauchlan

If you are switching to brown rice, remember and soak it overnight before cooking, otherwise its quite hard and not too nice. Don't be afraid to use natural fats e.g butter, olive oil etc with carbs, adding fats and proteins slows down insulin reaction so your blood sugar won't rise quickly.

The Schwarzbein Principle is an excellent book to do with low carb and diabetes, they also have a website.

The Weston Price foundation also has lot of info about traditional foods and eating naturally, most of it is also low carbs, no refined carbs.
(I cant post the links as i'm a new poster and it's not letting me, but you can google both and youll get the websites.)

ciderwithrosie_2

amclauchlan wrote: »

The Weston Price foundation also has lot of info about traditional foods and eating naturally, most of it is also low carbs, no refined carbs.
(I cant post the links as i'm a new poster and it's not letting me, but you can google both and youll get the websites.)

Is the Weston A Price site up and running again? They'd been shut down last time I looked due to some legal matter or other, fascinating reading though.

Vejovis

again thank you all, all good information.

i take on board what you're saying about kids needing extra energy and will definitely keep that in mind.

sweaty_betty

Hello there - another vote for low carb diet to control type 2 diabetes. I've had type 2 for at least 9 years now and in the last year have had to go on insulin (partially due to pregnancy, but I've stayed on it 16 months down the line).

5-6 months ago I switched to a very low carb diet. Although I acknowledge it's not for everyone, it's done me the world of good. My blood sugars are so much lower than they were - instead of injecting 4 times a day I now only inject 1-2 times - and I've also lost 2 stone (which will no doubt have a knock-on effect on my diabetes control I'm sure). I don't have a problem sticking to it because I'm desperate to get better blood sugar control and reduce injections. I second the suggestion to get a blood sugar monitor and check your levels 1-2 hours after a meal to figure out the kinds of food that suit you.

In terms of cooking for others, my OH and DS generally eat the same as me, but with extra vegetables like potatoes, carrots etc. so they're not missing out on carbs. (They're both so skinny they need the carbs!) They also eat pasta, bread etc for lunch when I'll have something else, which isn't a big deal to be honest.

Different things work for different people, and you may find that you improve your blood sugar by just switching to low GI rather than cutting out most carbs as I have. But I think it's great that you're taking positive steps to improve things re your diabetes, I wish I'd known about low carb/GI when I was first diagnosed as I'd definitely felt more in control of things.

Good luck

pink_princess

Fantastic sweaty betty, you should join us on the low carb thread