Food ideas for sensitive stomach

Food
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I need some ideas, please! I have reactive hypoglycemia. (I also have pre-diabetic blood sugar numbers when eating normal amounts of carbs and occasionally numbers over 200… But my Endo is not addressing that at all.) My doctor wants me to eat 25 g of carbs or less per meal, which at this time I usually go over slightly. It is extremely hard to stay under 25 g of carbs, but if I get up in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 carbs, my blood sugar can shoot up over 200. After going over 200, my blood sugar then drops, sometimes below 70 (I am not on any meds). I have a very sensitive stomach due to having Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I’m very, very lactose intolerant… Two slices of pizza require two Lactaid pills, and I still have a little trouble (not that pizza is a good idea for someone with blood sugar issues, but just an example). I’m on a fairly limited budget, and don’t have a lot of money to spend on trial and error, so I would greatly appreciate any advice that you guys have.

First of all, what fruits are good for someone with blood sugar issues? Which ones do not raise blood sugar too drastically?

Secondly, foods that are healthy tend to bother my stomach, unfortunately. One thing I am interested in is finding (simple) recipes/combinations of foods that I could purée either into a smoothie or a drinkable soup. I think this way I would be able to have some healthier, whole foods, but still keep down some of the stomach issues. Plus, I work a 40 hour a week job and I’m often wiped out by the time I get home, so food prep is definitely not my favorite thing!

Would flaxseeds be a good addition to my diet?

My Endo suggested Greek yogurt… Any particular ones that you guys like?

And just a sidenote, if anyone has a good recipe for chicken salad that I could make using a ninja style blender, I would love it!

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Mushrooms, green beans, asparagus besides leafy greens are low carb. So are broccoli and cauliflower. Blueberries, blackberries have a tendency to least affect blood sugars. (berries overall) Goat yogurt is the easiest on the stomach as it has a different make up than dairy. People don’t usually react to goat yogurt as they do dairy. But you still could.

You can puree anything really. It’s just some things don’t taste the same. I remember pureeing lasagna for my brother when he had his jaw wired shut so he could drink it through a straw and it wasn’t the same at all.

I like a smoothie with almond milk, cocoa and spinach and ice. Or blueberry and mango, soymilk and ice. You can add a protein powder to it. You can add a pureed veggie to it. I always use a plant based milk. Unsweetened will have the least carbs.

Soups are a wonderful way to get whatever you want in a well cooked format which usually makes it easier to digest. There are a ton of recipes online, but pick your favorite kind and don’t be afraid to substitute foods. Cauliflower rice instead of rice, zucchini or other squash instead of noodles. Plant based milk instead of dairy milk. (unsweetened again would be better)

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Avocado - Just cut open, remove the pit and eat. Or modify it into a chocolate mousse or dozens of other low carb dishes full of nutrition.

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I love yogurt. Greek haas more protein and is thicker but I prefer the normal kind with whey still in it.
I like berries and bananas. But those have hig glycemic indexes.
But if you are eating unsweetened yogurt you might find that the protein in the yogurt really slows down the absorption. For me it works great. However with your carb limit I don’t know ant fruit that is going to make the cut.

Apples with peanut butter. Also a great choice for slowly absorbing carbs

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Not tropical fruits.
Temperate fruits like apples.

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chobani has a low sugar version.

https://www.chobani.com/products/less-sugar/

Your basically gonna have to eat meat. Is that gonna work for ya? Or, is it time to start insulin. This ‘no eating’ idea seems like a temporary fix, at best.

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Oh, sorry for any confusion…I do eat meat. I just need help with the other foods I mentioned in my post

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I feel like you’re trying to learn how to eat carbs without stressing your blood sugar too badly, because it’s one of the few things you tonette right now. Correct?

Do you bake, or think you would enjoy learning? I’ve long since accepted that I just do better with some carb in my diet, despite being diabetic. Nothing is happier to my stomach than bread. The number one thing they tell diabetics to avoid. Thankfully, beefing type 1 myself, I can bolus for it, but you still have some options…

Thanks to the pandemic and the weird shortage of yeast in the grocery store, I took to making naturally leavened “sourdough” bread instead. The quotes around sourdough are because naturally leavened bread doesn’t actually have to taste sour. The sour is by choice from using a very old starter and/or adding dairy to it. I’ve been absolutely in awe about the difference in how my blood sugar reacts to naturally leavened, slow rise bread vs generic white bread. If you give the yeast enough time, they actually digest most of the carb in the flour for you.

Not to mention flour and water are about as cheap as food can come…

If you’re not up to baking yourself, or not willing to learn, then it might be worth sourcing a good local bakery and asking about any slow-risen bread they have. Don’t buy Sourdough at the grocery store, it’s not the same thing.

In my opinion, a slice of bread with butter can make even a bland low-glycemic soup feel like a real satisfying treat.

Also, have you tried spiraled vegetable recipes? Even a starchy vegetable “pasta” can be eaten in moderate portions and still stay within your carb allotment. I like spiraling, too, because it makes a small amount of potato look like a mountain. It tricks you into being satisfied. An average potato has about 37 g of carb, a little over your budget, but not much. If you had a kitchen scale you could actually weigh out how much would be equal to 25 g of carb. (68 g of potato contains 25 g carbohydrate).

This is my favorite website for spiralizer recipes:
Recipe Index | Inspiralized recipes for everyone to enjoy!

She’s really amazing with lower-carb comfort foods. The recipe index I linked to has the option to sort by vegetable or fruit, so you can just look at the starchy, happy belly vegetables if you want
Personally I loathe zucchini noodle recipes They just don’t push the pasta button for me. But give me a pile of sweet potato noodles and I’m just in heaven.

I do actually have her spiraluzer, too, but you don’t need it to use her recipes. You can get a julienne peeler (looks like a regular potato peeler, but has lots of little extra perpendicular blades to slice each piece of peel into smaller pieces) at Walmart stupid cheap and still make “spiralizer” recipes. You’ll just never get any noodles longer than your vegetable.

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Hi, fellow EDSer here. Do you know if you have mast cell activation syndrome, MCAS, which is super common in EDS and usually the cause of related GI issues? If you do, a lot of the advice here and from your doctor may not be good for you, because you may need to eat low histamine. It’s hard to do that and eat low carb, but not impossible, but it may be a reason to consider asking for other treatment options besides diet.

For example, greek yogurt, or any yogurt, may be tricky since that can be high in histamines and may cause GI upset, but it might work for you and it may depend specifically on the cultures used. In general, I would look up low histamine diets and try to avoid anything cultured, aged, fermented, pickled, as well as tomatoes, strawberries, avocados, most nuts (esp walnuts and cashews, almonds may be ok) and peanuts, bananas, olives, any cured meats or significantly aged steak, aged cheese, any leftover meats, shellfish, fish that isn’t super super fresh (flash frozen is actually safest). No alcohol (esp beer/wine), and be careful with vinegar (I find white or apple cider is ok, but wine or balsamic is bad). Some folks can’t tolerate dark chocolate or citrus. For a lot of these, I know I can eat limited amounts (like a bit of avocado), but if I eat a lot I will regret it, and because it’s a levels thing, they also add up together. Some stuff is so bad though (fish sauce, fermented stuff, walnuts, strawberries) even a tiny bit is a non-starter. I didn’t realize until I did an elimination diet how much my symptoms were related to mast cell reactions to food. It sucks having to have a restricted diet, but having symptoms sucks more…

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Thanks for that info. When I started having more issues with my blood sugar, I thought oh my goodness, another dietary restriction! And all of the different disorders causing different restrictions is so frustrating. I have to be nearly lactose free, I’m already gluten-free, and now trying to eat low-carb, too…

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Yeah, I honestly used to be low-ish carb (not strict though) before my MCAS got worse, but then I had to give it up because eating both low histamine and low carb is just not doable for me. I can do it some of the time for some meals, but sometimes I really need to eat carbs to make it work. I’m T1, so I can use insulin to cover the carbs, but it has meant my A1c that was 6.4 is now back around 7… working on getting it back in the 6 range even with more carbs. I think the inflammation from the MCAS and EDS also causes blood sugar elevations sometimes too, just to complicate things.

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I was diagnosed type 1 as a kid, and had to go cold turkey on carbs until glucose was under control. Bagels and oranges were my downfall. :wink: Not sure if these suggestions work for EDS. Make sure your Endo explains how fats affect glucose.

Can you consider adding nuts - from peanuts to almonds to pistachios. Not super high carb, but good protein, quick snack. I also keep hard boiled eggs on hand to eat with some salt or to add to a salad. Frozen chicken can heat up quickly and is great with a salad or veg. If you really crave grains, try those with lots of fibre which should help with blood glucose. I often have barley or groats (also called kasha) with mushrooms and/or beans and/or onions. In spite of the carb counts the fibre helps keep glucose steady. Wild rice takes longer to cook, has a lovely nutty flavour and crunch; avoid plain white rice if you can. When i cook i make lots for leftovers and quick snacks. Grains aren’t super expensive, and reheat easily. Try quinoa too. (Not something i like, but many do.) Frozen fish can be reasonably priced, cooks fast and has gotten way better over the years. Easy to dress up with herbs/spices, a bit of mayo or olive oil, or even some panko bread crumbs to add a little crunch. At some point you may find that a slow cooker is helpful so that dinner (and leftovers) are ready when you get home or even Instant Pots (though they can be expensive). If i must eat out, i lean towards Japanese, Thai, Cuban and seafood eateries. Italian works if i steer clear of pasta, and Chinese too if i steer clear of white rice and heavy, sweet sauces. Good luck.

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Wow–you area warrior for looking at all these aspects of diet! You have received some super responses to your question and provided many of us with great information, too. I have a couple suggestions. See a dietitian if you can—they are great resources and can help you navigate some of your digestive issues, too; they can also provide you with helpful websites. Invest in a carb counting book or find an online source or an app that you like. My last suggestion is to search online for glycemic food indices. A glycemic food index will help you figure out the effect of various foods on your blood sugar—which foods have a lesser or greater affect on glucose. Combining whatever you can from these resources with all the help on this site may help you navigate through some of the issues you’re encountering. Good luck! (and thank you for your question—we all learn from each other on this site!)

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