My son has always had great control over his sugars. His highest A1c was 7.0, coming out of his honeymoon. Lately, as a typical boy, he is growing and constanly hungry. I try to have low carb snack options for him, but seem to be running out of ideas. Any suggestions would be helpful. He is on the injections so he has to take a injection, if he has significant carbs. A pump is not an option at this time, because of insurance. Thanks!
How about hummus with carrots and celery instead of bread or chips?
Joseph's Bakery has wonderful LC pita, lavash and tortillas - 5 carbs each. They freeze well. The tortillas and lavash (I use 1/2) make great rollups with meat, cheese, peanut butter, etc. They can be toasted to make pizza. Loads of options.
I love string cheese, 'pudding' made with ricotta cheese, an egg, sweetener and some berries. Smoothies with Greek yogurt or kefir with unsweetened cocoa and sweetener or whatever else he likes.
I/2 a small apple with some peanut butter spread on it; 1/2 a sandwhich or a small pita pocket--any kind of protein inside--tuna fish, egg salad, deli meats; a sugar free Jello pudding cup; crackers and cheese--use Stoned Wheat Crackers; a small bowl of peanuts in the shells--the action of cracking the shells open make them more interesting to eat--he may enjoy that; pistachio nuts in the shells--same thing. The direction I'm headed here is for more protein/less carbs. Adding the protein will help keep him feeling full longer than just carbs. These are all things that work for me.
I use nuts - especially almonds - as my go to snack. They're portable, relatively low cal and filling. I
Maurie
A local supermarket here (Raley's) has a grinder in their health food section where you can grind roasted, unsalted peanuts into your own peanut butter. I spread it on cold, crispy celery and it's wonderful. I think Adams' peanut butter is also made without sugar if you can't grind your own. Another thing I love is to take a half cup of cottage cheese and use a hand blender to mix in a servings of sugarless Jello. It makes a chiffon that tastes great and is quite filling.
I find a lot of recipes on Gluten Free Sites. Since they don't cook with flour most of theri recipes are fairly low carb. You may have to swap the sweetner for splenda. They have bread recipes, muffins, cookies and all sorts of snacks.
www.comfybelly.com
www.elanaspantry.com
www.lowcarbdiets.about.com
www.genaw.com/lowcarb/
I also like to snack on Hummus and veggies or low carb crackers, hard boiled eggs, cheese and deli meat or nuts.
Regarding a pump - they are really good for teens because you can have a lot more flexibility and control both with diet and while growing. If your insurance will not cover a pump or if you lack insurance, there are other options. Minimed/Medtronic offers an assistance program and some state health insurance programs will cover pumps for kids/teens. Please look into it, because there may be a way around some insurance issues.
As for snacks, some low-carb things that have worked for me over the years include nuts, lunch meats (but watch out with all the sodium!), beef jerky, almonds, walnuts, hard-boiled eggs, avacados, cheese (of just about any kind), and veggies with dip.
The key to low-carb snacking is finding things that have adequate amounts of protein and fat. In addition, he may find that if he's fairly active, he can eat certain carby foods without having to bolus (such as granola bars).
In addition, he will need to experiment because some people are affected by fat & protein and others aren't. Just depends.
The highest levels of aflatoxins were found in peanut butter ground fresh in health food stores, according to research by Consumers Union some years ago. I eat a lot of peanut butter, so I checked into it. Branded peanut butter is checked more carefully
Pork rinds!! I had never had them before, until a couple of weeks ago but they are pretty darn tasty!
All it takes to make great peanut butter at home is a food processor. I use organic roasted Virginia peanuts with no salt. Pulse, add peanut oil to get the consistency you want (hardens a little when cold). Salt and honey, molasses or sweetener optional. Refrigerate. No need to stir again.
Low carb protein shakes made w/ whole milk (14-15 g/serving). Whole milk cottage cheese (2-5g/cup). Greek style yogurt, 5-10 g/serving. Hard boild eggs. Deli roll-ups, sliced deli meal and cheese rolled up, all the pleasure of the sandwich good stuff and none of the bread. Fried bologna or hotdogs. Nuts, my favorite is almonds, available at costco for $13 for 3 lbs. Naked hamburgers with cheese and you favorite toppings. Meatballs in sauce. Tuna salad. Egg salad. Chicken salad. Cheese. Pickled Herring. Oops. I really must stop.
A key will be having prepared foods available that only require taking out and possibly heating in the microwave. I just made a batch of low carb chili, 6 lbs of meat, it will last for days. My son is 17, he can heat a serving himself.
ps. Costco also has cottage cheese in 3 lb containers.
Wow you made me hungry! :)