Cooking for diabetic (help!)

ellieo

thanks for your help, my hubby was told he has type 2 last week, we dont get an appointment with a diabetic nurse till the 12th so wasnt really sure on what he can eat, been to diabeties website and found what i was looking for .. many thanks

mudgekin

Having lived with a diabetic mother for many many years and before that helped look after a diabetic grandma there is no need for special diabetic recipes. The key is sensible nutritious food. Cut out the sugar and take complex carbs and be aware of meds like steroids that will rocket blood sugars.

Also learn how hypos feel and make sure you have access to an instant form of sugar should they occur.

I personally don't feel there is any need for "diabetic chocolates" etc, they are expensive and are full orf sorbitol. A small piece of real chocolate is much healthier.

Diabetes UK is a wonderful source of info and one that I often direct my patients to if they are newish diabetics

slummymummyof3

If you google GI News you will be able to find out the GI ratings of loads of foods, you can also sign up to a free monthly newsletter which is very informative. You can also look at previous newsletters. It may also be worth your while looking at David Mendosa's website. Diabetes.co.uk also has a forum where you can ask lots of questions etc - lots of advice on low carbing.

A book you might find useful is Dr Bernsteins Diabetes solution - you will read lots about this on the forums on diabetes.co.uk - it is the diabetics bible.

Butterfly_Brain

Have you tried your local Library Mine has a few cookery books for diabetics

mardatha

Is anybody in here diabetic or feeds one ? Need a cheap way to manage the OH diet now he's been diagnosed.

lickylonglips

frozen vegetables... steer well clear of fruit juices, dried fruit and severely limit fresh fruit to one small portion a day, and only then straight after a meal. get your vitamins from vegetables / salad instead.

for carbs try replacing potatoes / chips with couscous, wholeweat pasta, bulghar wheat, barley. cut portions of starchy foods right down. what most of us think of as a portion is probably 1.5 - 2 portions.

be careful with sweeteners as they trick your body into thinking you've had something sweet when you haven't, therefore you really crave something sweet.

check yoghurts. don't assume that low fat or "good for you" means little sugar... they usually replace the fat with sugar and sweeteners.

for breakfast, try porridge
for lunches, try baked potato with beans / spanish omelette with sweetcorn and peppers / couscous with mixed frozen veg and a little cooked chicken / wholewheat pasta with olive oil, garlic and chili / vegetarian chilli with rice / vegetable soup (made with frozen mixed veg and stock cube, herbs, etc.) with some lentils or barley to thicken

morganlefay

Good advice above. Don't panic - diabetics can eat what the rest of the world does (assuming it's not fried Mars bars.) There are some good diabetic cook books - Anthony Worral Thompson has written one, and Diabetes uk have some too (look on their website). There's a lot of help out there but I basically stick to a GI diet - lots of beans, pulses grains. But I eat smaller (than OH) portions of all normal foods too except sweet puds, where I go for fruit (except pineapple which I was told was too sweet - so I probably shouldn't eat mango either). But the days of diabetics feeling like lepers have gone and tho you have to eat sensibly and regularly no one needs to know if you don't choose to tell them, and you don't need to make it into a big, scary THING . Good luck !

mardatha

Ok, ta... It's a big scarey thing for ME more than him cos I hate bloody cooking LOL !

lickylonglips

yes, you definitely can have small portions of sweet things, but definitely restrict them to straight after you've had a meal including carbs as your body will already be working on processing that... don't, for example, decide half an hour after your tea to have something sweet....

mardatha

I hope I don't get it ..... life without sweeties isnt worth living !