My wife and I will be staying in Florence and Paris for a few days at the start of September. My diet has to be OK for kidney disease as well as diabetes. Does anyone know of any restaurants in those cities that would be particularly accommodating? Any suggestions for eating outside of restaurants?
Much Thanks.
I visit Paris yearly. I have always found that my BG levels are much more steady there and I believe it is the lack of "junk" the French put in foods.
You cannot share plates in Paris, but their portions are much smaller (THANK YOU) than US restaurants.
I suggest cafes. You can order ala carte and keep it down to a salad, which gives more choices. I am unfamiliar with a kidney disease diet, but it is hard to control what they put on the food (salt?)
I lived in Italy for years and it is pasta and more pasta. It is hard, but again cafes seem to be the best choice. Also, homemade pasta is more easily digestible that the dried stuff....so better control on it.
OH, and have a really great time. Those are two of the most magnificent cities in the world.
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/europemainland
maybe you can get more ideas there from people who live there.
i was in paris, as spock reccomended, cafes are always ideal. i find the french and italian food much more healthier than the american. so it shouldnt be as much as a problem over here in europe to find healthy stuff that goes with your diet.
I haven't been to Florence and Paris in a while but a couple of years ago we spent about 10 days in Rome and Umbria (which is right around the corner from Florence) and didn't have too much difficulty. The food of central Italy tends to be simple - grilled meats, vegetables, etc. If you skip the pasta and pizza the dosing tends to be straightforward.
I lived in Paris for a year, a long time ago... I think it is pretty easy to order what you need in most cities/places.. I just don't order anything like pasta obviously since i don't eat it and switch out any carb things for non carby veggies and then for sauces you can ask if there is a lot of sugar or carb content etc. If you shop in markets there you can pick out fresh food daily for things like lunches too, that should make it easy to get what you need hopefully. I'm not sure what is required for the kidney diet, is it low sodium and protein? French foods tend to be fresh and have a lot of fats in them. Good luck!
Substituting items is frowned on in France. If it comes with potatoes and you don't want them, they will leave them off, but will charge to put something in its place. I was eating with a friend in Paris and she requested her salad dressing on the side...the salad was delivered fully dressed.
There are lots of small market shop and open air markets in Paris that will sell fresh things to eat.
yeah that was why I suggested markets or any little shops, I used to shop for fresh food daily there..I would still ask if I were him to substitute and explain why to them.. maybe it will make a difference...the extra charge can happen here too, for me, I will pay more for the veggies if I have to, usually I can get them to do it without or without too much of a charge if that is a problem.
as far as diabetic friendly restaurants I wonder if there are any? maybe you can research that.. from what I remember I didn't eat in any then and was unaware of my D then if it was affecting me- nearly everything I did eat came with a choice of french fries or veggies or just came with veggies... which are pretty popular there... the delicious baguette etc. will be hard to avoid though.. lol
I'm not sure if you eat lo carb or moderate or whatever but here is a list of vegetarian restaurants in Paris... maybe that would work for you? It could be high carb though due to lack of meat etc.
http://goparis.about.com/od/foodanddining/tp/Paris_vegetaria.htm
To all, thank you for your very helpful suggestions! Kidney diet means among other things low salt, low potassium, very moderate protein and no red meat. The potassium requirement knocks out a surprising number of veggies and fruits, such as spinach, broccoli, bananas, tomatoes, raw carrots, etc. There are enough remaining, though, to make the fresh food markets, veg dishes and veg restaurants attractive choices.
When we travel, we usually make lunch our main meal since restaurants are so much less expensive then and of course mid-day is a good time for a picnic. We have been to both cities before but I didn't have these issues then!
that's interesting about the potassium requirement... I have been supplementing that due to low potassium in my crisis and cramps but now I'm stopping that due to losartan which can increase potassium. I found out oj has a lot of potassium too. my father recently had low sodium and kidney issues due to bp meds and other issues.
having lunch out sounds like a good idea and then just make your own dinners... have fun! wish I was going to florence and paris too :)
and lunch is usually the main meal in France anyway...