I am eating LC primarily to control my blood sugar. Yes, I am counting carbs and protein in order to bolus correctly. You are absolutely correct in that the protein makes me feel full immediately and the fat makes me feel full later. Walnuts are great snacks (better than cashews). OMGosh! I only realized when I compared equal grams of walnuts to cheddar cheese that walnuts are high fat/mod protein/ low carb; the cheese is 50/50 protein/fat/low carb
In addition to mastering the techniques of insulin injection, we have to become nutrition food experts!
Cashews, sadly, are really high in non-fiber carbs ;( I even eat peanuts in preference to them (for BG control), although I really love some cashews. My go to nuts are, in order of preference (by taste) and that don’t have a big impact on my BG: almonds; macademia nuts; hazelnuts; brazil nuts; pecans; about anything else. I used to eat walnuts by the truckload (we had about twenty trees behind the house growing up), and then I had an allergic reaction to them. Avoided them ever since.
And yep, cheese is actually ridiculously good for a LCHF diet, especially if you’re looking for protein. Most aged, natural cheeses have negligible carbs in an ounce, and are just about 50/50. I probably don’t actually eat this much, but my doctor (who is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist as well) recommends diabetic patients eat four ounces of cheese a day haha. She thinks good cheese is magic, and I’m not one to disagree with her…
For reference, the best cheeses for you, health-wise, are undoubtedly the blue and green moldy cheeses. Roquefort, Danish blue, gorgonzola, blue stilton, huntsman, blue and green cheddars… The fungi (various species of Penicillium) which give these cheeses their color and pungent taste produce fantastic cardio-protective and anti-inflammatory chemicals as well. It’s honestly the major theory on why French and Italian men eat what should be ridiculous diets (compared to what American nutritionists would suggest) and have very low CV disease: they eat an enormous amount of stinky cheese, which is great for the heart.
Interesting. My kids love those cashews and will basically scarf down three or more servings per day. But I actually don’t bolus for them…even though they do contain more carbs than other nuts, they seem to cause such a gentle rise in my son’s blood sugar that our openAPS can completely handle them.
Totally unconvinced on the blue/green cheese front. Or rather, I’m happy to eat them, unconvinced I can get my kids to choose those over cheddar
Well, until they become beret wearing, wine quaffing, Galois-smoking Frenchies I’m not sure we have the science to say it will actually keep their cardiovascular risk low, so you’re probably safe. About the time you send them off to an expensive liberal arts school, better stock up on some fine blue cheeses, though.
It’s amazing to me how varied responses can be to the same food. Most actual tree nuts don’t affect my blood sugar in any noticeable way, but peanuts and cashews (probably because they’re legumes) send me up, reliably (and unfortunately). Same with peanut or cashew butter. Not so almond butter (which admittedly has fewer carbs and more fiber). I have a similar issue with beans, but not lentils. My brother (also LADA), can eat just about all the beans or lentils he wants, so long as he cooks them with fat and his BG stays fairly flat. I can eat lentils in reasonable quantities without my BG going through the roof, but a serving of black or kidney beans with the same nominal carb content will send me soaring. Makes me sad
There was a fascinating study a year or two ago showing that people’s reaction to foods had almost nothing to do with glycemic index and was pretty much individual. So one person would spike 100 points from a tomato but a chocolate chip cookie would be fine, while another person would find that lentils spiked them more than white bread. this seems to be the heart of the Your Diabetes May Vary motto, but validated with science. Wish I could find that article, I think it was in the Washington Post about a year ago.
Wow, that would be interesting! Until I get an endo team set up in the new year, I’m seeing an MD metabolic specialist (specializes in Type 2 care, which I thought I was when I started seeing her). Metabolic specialists are experts in diet, lipidology, and obesity, which aren’t exactly my issues, but the diet information is fascinating.
In short, she has her patients (including me) initially go almost no-carb at all. Cheese, meat, oils, and green veggies are “Phase 1.” Sort of ultra-keto (only greens and broccoli). After 90 days and BG or weight loss stabilizing, you start adding nuts (Phase 2), then in “Phase 3” you add in legumes, pulses, root veggies (other than potatoes), and yoghurt, testing BG and weight to see if you can tolerate them. She entirely agrees with what you are saying: other than the no-carb thing (which obviously works for Type 2s sort of automatically), the other items (nuts, legumes, yoghurt, etc.) don’t cause consistent responses and need to be tested individually.
When I first saw her plan, my thoughts were “this is crazy…if lentils have carbs (starch and fiber), shouldn’t they cause the same response in everyone?” But I think now she’s right (which agrees with your article). I also tend to trust her implicitly now, since despite it losing her business, she realized I wasn’t a typical Type 2 and ordered additional testing which has demonstrated that I’m not, indeed, Type 2. The diet part is working great for stabilizing my BG, though!
Rose – COSTCO rotisserie chicken. No carbs. No prep. Rip the cover off the container and stand there in the kitchen with the girls pulling chunks off and eating it.
Chase it down with half an apple and you’re good to go.
This is not, of course, the intimately social, sit-down meal. Rather, it’s another arrow in the quiver. When you’re short on time and as busy as you’ve described, a dinner like this once or twice on weeknights is just fine, and meets one’s needs.
Hear, hear! I’ve been saying this for years because it is absolutely, positively, unequivocally (anecdotally) true for me. Nice to know someone has actually made an attempt to verify it scientifically.
I haven’t read all the replies so forgive me if this has been suggested. I like to cook a decent amount of chicken in the crock pot once a week and use it as I need/want it. You can warm it up and throw some BBQ sauce and cheese on it, mix it with veggies and some italian dressing, throw together some chicken salad, chicken soup, or even a quick chicken casserole. Obviously you might get tired of chicken this way, but it’s a start.
I’m leaving work after I finish this post to go buy me a ginormous hockey to put in my new crock pot! I’m thinking that one huge hockey should last the three of us at least 5 days or so…
You can throw a whole chicken frozen solid right in the crock pot-- sprinkle a packet of fajita seasoning over the top of it and a delicious dinner will await you when you get home from work. Prep time 2 minutes or less.
If you’re only going to own one crock-pot, a 5 quart seems to be the best compromise IMO… but big enough to barely fit a whole chicken. But for the man who has at least 2 of everything, I think a 4 qt round and a 7 quart oval is way to go. I’m a purist and don’t like any fancy controls just “low, high, off” on mine. I use them a ton…
Got me a 6-quart oval. Seriously considering adding a “Papa Bear” 7-quart and a “Baby Bear” 4-quart. I’ve always believed that, much like shoes, one cannot have too many slow-cookers.
My husband “cooked” dinner the other night with help from the grocery store: half a smoked chicken, beans slow-cooked with some smoked pork, and a steams-in-bag non-starchy veg. Yum!!
and the fat makes me feel full later. Walnuts are great snacks (better than cashews). OMGosh! I only realized when I compared equal grams of walnuts to cheddar cheese that walnuts are high fat/mod protein/ low carb; the cheese is 50/50 protein/fat/low carb
