On the Low Carb diet, are these foods OK for that diet ?

Apple Pie

Fish Fry

Maple Syrup

Honey

Milk.

Fruitcake ???

Sorry - I was out of town last night.

Ronaround, I have been at times in the range of what they call pre-diabetic and have also had extremely high blood pressure at the same time. Low carb eating helps with weight loss, drops your blood pressure and changes all kinds of things for the better. I have done blood work and then started Atkins induction diet and had blood drawn and tested again in six weeks. It was like night and day.

Like I said before on the Type 2 Diabetes thread, I know a bunch of people now who ate their way out of Type 2 and no longer need any meds for diabetes or blood pressure (which drops along with your insulin levels). These are people who had to take pills or injectable insulin before they discovered Atkins and other low carb diet approaches.

BernieB, stevia is a natural plant sweetener. Zim has grown stevia in our garden. Maybe you were thinking of Splenda? That's an articial sweetener.

Canvasback, I'm guessing you already know what some high carb foods are Carbs are basically sugars and starches - both of which translate into blood sugar after you eat. That includes obvious sugary sweets, many fruits and juices, starches like pasta, rice and breads, and starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes. It takes some study in the beginning to get a handle on which foods are high in carbs. Most low carb diets count "net carbs" (which are total grams of carbs minus grams of fiber) when reading food labels or books.

Low carb foods include meat, fish, poultry and seafood along with a whole bunch of vegetables, cheeses and even butter. You can Google the net carbs in any food. It might be helpful to buy a book to read about low carb dieting as well. Protein Power or one of the Atkins books would be a good start. All written by doctors who have treated loads of patients with diet. Most formal low carb diets start with a couple weeks of really restricted carbs to get your system on track. Atkins, for instance, starts out with two weeks of what he calls his "induction" diet, which allows you a total of 20 net grams of carbs per day. After doing that for a short time and looking up how many grams of carbs and fiber are in everything you eat, you get a pretty good idea of what you need to do.

Anyway, after you eat carbs, they turn into blood sugar. Your pancreas releases insulin into your bloodstream to get that sugar out and do one of two things with it: it either converts it to immediate energy if you are working hard and need immediate fuel, or it directs it into storage as body fat. After a lifetime of eating a diet too high in carbs and having an overabundance of insulin running through veins every day, we become resistant to our own insulin and it no longer works as well - so we need more to do the same job of processing out an overabundance of blood sugar. The more carbs we eat, the more insulin we need and the less efficient our own insulin becomes - we become insulin resistant. When we creep up to the point that our own internally produced insulin can no longer keep up with the job of processing our blood sugar, due to this insulin resistance, we become Type 2 diabetic. A type 2 diabetic can produce as much insulin as everyone else - it just isn't enough because it doesn't work right anymore. That should tell you what happens if you keep eating the same but adding outside meds to the situation. More insulin >>> more insulin resistance >>> more need for more insulin. It's a problem that keeps advancing.

What the low carb doctors have found is that if you make a sharp turn and really cut out carbs to an extreme for a short time, and then stay with a low carb diet for a while, you body readjusts. After less exposure to sugars and insulin, you become more sensitive to your own insulin and it begins to work efficiently again. Your system becomes more normalized like other people again. That is what happens in the people who end up getting off all of the diabetes meds through low carb dieting. They lose their insulin resistance. With a little education on carbs and the ability to monitor their own blood sugar, many people can live normal lives without added insulin or other meds - as long as they watch what they eat and not head down the high carb road again.

I hope that explanation sheds a little light on the subject!

Patrice do you eat any beans? I'm starting this and know that beans have carbs not sure if the fiber offsets it tho. It's interesting that you talked about severely cutting carbs to start, I tried that and almost became single as i was so cranky and felt miserable. I've cut out all refined carbs and have tried to stay under 50 total carbs A day but that's not net carbs. Thanks for your write up as i learned alot and its clearer then some of the things on the web.

Ps I did this inconjuntion with joining a gym and going at least 5 days a week

Check the total carbs and subtract the fiber for the beans you are eating and you'll know how many net carbs they have. Because of the carbs, I wouldn't eat beans if I'm just cracking down and starting out but I would work them in later. They're good for you and make for some nice recipes.

Nvwrangler, it would be interesting to find out how many net carbs you've been eating after you subtract the grams of fiber. Might be lower than you think!

I think it's time to bring this thread back to the top before I lose track of this in my backup threads. I can't believe it's been over a year! I have added some low carb foods and recipes to my collection, and I will gather those up and get some photos taken and added here. Some folks might need some inspiration!

Im glad you brought this back upstream, Chickie !

Lots and lots of good info on this.

Always works for good health for anyone .

Actually, I can add a quick photo of the ham and cheese and tomato omelet from breakfast ...


I'll get some new stuff out here for you interested folks!

I have been Type 1 since I was a young little guy. I could type for hours on Type 1.

All that being said. Being very active still at 50 plus. I limit my portions and my carbs at every meal. 60 carbs per meal, 20 for snacks. And as much protein as I think I can get away with.

Days of cheating because of strawberry shakes, peanut buster parfaits, beer. Well, that's what they make pumps for and the ability to bolus,LOL.

Since this is a low carb supper, I'll copy it here too ...

I stuffed a couple of chops with a mixture of lots of garden garlic, thyme and spinach in Parmesan and cream cheese and baked those on a cedar plank. I sauteed up some large julienne cut garden squash and dill in olive oil and added some sliced garden tomatoes.

Coloradocat, I hope you have it under control. Type 1 isn't something you bring upon yourself. It's something you have to manage for a lifetime as you well know. I hope you continue to feel great.

For the people starting out and getting Type 2 under control (and eventually eliminating it), a lot of diets/programs/plans start around 20 net grams of carbs per day to get insulin resistance turned around. It really works.

Thanks for posting, Patrice.

You're welcome, Run. I'm happy if you find it worthwhile.

I just polished off a pint of this.

These two flavors are pretty good. They aren't cheap, but for something decadent for only a few net carbs, it's a nice option!

A whole pint, Patrice? I bet that is 6 grams per serving, not six grams per pint! Food police!

I modified my diet that I was on. Having type 2 for as long as I have, it's getting harder to control. But I did the six grams of carbs a meal for a year and a half. Really didn't change my a1c at all, so I worked some carbs back in, and it hasn't hurt my numbers any. They are still too high, but as usual, I'm still searching for answers!

Edit..........It says it is....just wow! Never seen that brand before!

You guys are tough hombres. I would tip over dead on 6 gram meals. 6 grams aint even enough to kick your sugar up on a low,LOL.

Where'd ya find that!

Low-carb, high-fat is the best (& only) diet I've ever been on. Aside from Standard American, but I didn't feel too great on all that

That just appeared at our closest grocery store, and we're sure not on the cutting edge of what's new. I was surprised to see it, but I think enough people are looking for option like that now, that low carb and keto foods are showing up more in the mainstream.

My breakfast every morning was a banana, raw broccoli, and carrots. Found out the banana was bad news. Now, I just eat the broccoli & carrots. What other fruits are OK for a high protein, low carb diet?

Fruits are usually pretty high in sugar. The lowest are some of the berries. You may want to look up carbs and fiber in raspberries. I think those are some of the lowest in net carbs (total grams of carbs minus grams of fiber = net carbs).

Eggs for breakfast are a great option!