Diabetes Talking » Diabetes Diet » Wanted: low-salt, low-fat vegetarian diabetic recipes
Wanted: low-salt, low-fat vegetarian diabetic recipes
Question:
I’m 29 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, which can be an indication of pre-eclampsia though (as yet!) I don’t have any other symptoms. Well, One condition I will NEVER have is gestational diabetes Thus I will tell you everythign I know about it in 30 lines or less…. Go to http://go.compuserve.com/diabetes Use a JAVA SCRIPT enabled browser (Applets not needed) and click on messages. Check out the message sections and choose the one that looks best to you (Sex and Pregnancy perhaps) Likewise check out the libraries In library 2 (News and Newcomers) is a file called T2INFO, there are three copies of it, TXT (Text, full file, no compression) ZIP (Winzip or pkunzip 2.04 needed) and EXE (Unzipps itself under dos, or windows) And that’s all I can tell you (membership in Compuserve is not expensive and with membership you can post messages on that page, not just read them) "Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business" Kennedy Family favorite sexual position: Defendant. Net-Tamer V 1.08X – Registered
Response:
Elizabeth, I’m mainly weighing in on this to suggest a systematic approach. I can’t claim to have all of the right answers, if indeed there are any right answers. Did your doctor or nutritionist give you concrete recommendations about the amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat you need to eat to control your blood sugar? I would encourage you to post these numbers if you have them; ask for a nutrition referral if you don’t. It’s a lot easier to come up with an acceptable diet if you have clear goals. Keeping a record of your actual diet can also be helpful in comparing the effects of various meals on your blood sugar. Do you test regularly? Some diabetics report being able to tolerate more carbohydrate than others. Hence, the ongoing debate about how restrictive a diet is necessary. Also, some carbohydrates are digested more quickly than others, and cause a higher rise in blood sugar. I would encourage you to read Rick Mendosa’s glycemic index page (http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm). Have you looked up the nutrition information for your current diet? The carbohydrate content of vegetarian food can vary quite a bit. Usually this information is available on the package or from your grocer. You might also try the National Nutrition Lab’s web site: http://www.nal.usda.gov (if memory serves). It may be difficult to get complete protein from plant sources with acceptable carbohydrate levels; you did say that you are ovo-lacto, didn’t you? You might try (unsweetened) yogurt with a tiny bit of fructose, a little vanilla, and a few chopped nuts. (Adjust the proportions to be palatable and fit your dietary requirements.) Good luck. Let us know how it goes. Darlene
Response:
[ . . . ] Can anyone suggest some nice things I could eat, or perhaps point me to a web site or a book of recipes?
http://www.rahul.net/cgi-bin/fatfree/recipes.cgi Lots of possibilities there. All the recipies are suposedly fat free and appear to be low sodium, low sugar as well. Alley — Bah Humbug!
Response:
Try getting a copy of "Better Homes & Gardens Family Favorites Made Lighter". If you are able to get a copy of it…take it to your physician and have him/her just acknowledge that they are suitable for you. I haven’t found one recipe in there that I don’t like yet. They are all lower fat/sodium. Good luck.
Response:
Elizabeth, my heart goes out to you … what a predicament you are in. I am going to say things you may not want to hear. The most important thing during pregnancy to prevent birth defects in your child and to assure that the pregnancy goes to term is to normalize blood glucose. That can be aided by the use of insulin. Many doctors recommend that. The other method is to crank your carbohydrate intake way down, to smooth things out. The decision is yours to make. If you feel that maintaining your vegetarian status is more important than these other considerations, here is one area where no one has a right to direct the course of your life. All I can do is tell you that what I have read says that it is vital to maintain a normal glucose range. I am telling you that YOU must make that decision. It is not my place or anyone else’s place to make that for you. But I also want you to know that you can’t have it both ways … if your diet is causing your glucose to spike, you are risking your child’s wellbeing. I would be negligent if I didn’t emphasize the importance of that. If you are unwilling to eat lean meat, eggs, low-fat cheese and other protein sources, then all I can do is hope for the best for you and your family. Susie
Response:
I was there 24 years ago. I did not understand anything that was going on and did not have any symptoms that I understood besides being tired. They finally put me in the hospital when my blood pressure reached 240 over 120. The point to all of this is that looking back, I now realize that the nurses aid at the hospital found the underlying cause–I did not drink enough water. 23 years later, I learned that if I force my water consumption to 1 liter of water per each 50 lbs of body weight (recommended by my Dr.) then 2 things happen. 1st I loose weight because my body quits retaining fluid–causing my blood pressure to decrease. 2nd the decrease in blood pressure helps decrease the blood glucose. I, too, was vegetarian when I was pregnant for economic reasons. We were in Hawaii and could not afford to buy meat. Since being diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes (May, 1998), I have learned that eating a lot of plain, steamed green vegetables, (especially asparagus) brings my bgs down. I avoid white and yellow vegetables as much as possible. I have heard that rice can cause bg to rise. Your Mileage May Vary. After my son was born, the doctors decided that it was probably the activity of the baby that shot the blood pressure up and the high blood pressure caused the blood glucose to rise. I was very lucky in that I delivered a very healthy baby boy. You may not be so lucky. Follow your doctors advice and take care of yourself FIRST. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m 29 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, which can be an indication of pre-eclampsia though (as yet!) I don’t have any other symptoms.
Response:
Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Hope everything goes well! I’m a bit confused though — how will cutting down on salt, fat and sugar severely limit your food choices? (Now if you had to cut OUT salt, fat and sugar, I could see where there wouldn’t be much left!) Just how much do you need to cut down? As a lacto-ovo vegetarian myself, it’s sometimes tricky figuring out what to eat in general, but not really too difficult to limit fat and sugar. (I find the salt to be the tricky part.) Lots of fresh veggies, beans (which will give you plenty of protein), whole grains (the fiber will definitely be appreciated in those late stages of pregnancy!), and low-fat dairy (skim milk, non-fat yogurt, non-fat cottage cheese, reduced fat cheeses) should all be okay! Not being diabetic, I’m not sure how fruits fit into your diet — are low-glycemic fruits okay? Can you use fructose instead of regular table sugar? You might want to check out the following pages regarding glycemic index values of foods: http://www.cruzio.com/~mendosa/gi.htm http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm Best of luck to you! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m 29 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, which can be an indication of pre-eclampsia though (as yet!) I don’t have any other symptoms. I’ve been ordered to cut down on salt, fat and sugar. Since I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian (and have been for 16 years so that’s not going to change) this doesn’t seem to leave a great deal that I can eat. Frankly, I’m at a loss for ideas! All I see before me is an endless procession of plates of brown rice and tofu… Can anyone suggest some nice things I could eat, or perhaps point me to a web site or a book of recipes? In case anyone is interested, here are some links to information about gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia: http://www.musc.edu/nursing/midwife/pregncy/preclamp.htm http://werple.net.au./~harcourt/aapecfaq.htm http://www.nih.gov/nichd/html/news/gesttoc.htm http://www.medstudents.com.br/ginob/ginob4.htm Thanks very much, Elizabeth (Alexander Mark due 2/11/99) Elizabeth Reid Steere Web: http://people.we.mediaone.net/elizrs/
– KC 196/182.5/135 Eating smarter since 8/8/98 — exercising since 9/15/98 (reduced calorie/reduced fat/increased protein/low-glycemic/high-fiber/vegetarian WOE)
Response:
Check into Dr. Ornsih’s cookbook, and diet. Sorry I don’t know the name, but it should help you. — claudia 550/370/157 A malcontent and proud of it! Low fat rocks! For Claudia’s Cooking Newsletter celebrating low fat, sugar free cooking and living visit http://cookingnewsletter.ecorp.net – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m 29 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, which can be an indication of pre-eclampsia though (as yet!) I don’t have any other symptoms. I’ve been ordered to cut down on salt, fat and sugar. Since I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian (and have been for 16 years so that’s not going to change) this doesn’t seem to leave a great deal that I can eat. Frankly, I’m at a loss for ideas! All I see before me is an endless procession of plates of brown rice and tofu… Can anyone suggest some nice things I could eat, or perhaps point me to a web site or a book of recipes? In case anyone is interested, here are some links to information about gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia: http://www.musc.edu/nursing/midwife/pregncy/preclamp.htm http://werple.net.au./~harcourt/aapecfaq.htm http://www.nih.gov/nichd/html/news/gesttoc.htm http://www.medstudents.com.br/ginob/ginob4.htm Thanks very much, Elizabeth (Alexander Mark due 2/11/99) Elizabeth Reid Steere Web: http://people.we.mediaone.net/elizrs/
Response:
I’m 29 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, which can be an indication of pre-eclampsia though (as yet!) I don’t have any other symptoms. I’ve been ordered to cut down on salt, fat and sugar. Since I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian (and have been for 16 years so that’s not going to change) this doesn’t seem to leave a great deal that I can eat. Frankly, I’m at a loss for ideas! All I see before me is an endless procession of plates of brown rice and tofu… Can anyone suggest some nice things I could eat, or perhaps point me to a web site or a book of recipes? In case anyone is interested, here are some links to information about gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia: http://www.musc.edu/nursing/midwife/pregncy/preclamp.htm http://werple.net.au./~harcourt/aapecfaq.htm http://www.nih.gov/nichd/html/news/gesttoc.htm http://www.medstudents.com.br/ginob/ginob4.htm Thanks very much, Elizabeth (Alexander Mark due 2/11/99) Elizabeth Reid Steere Web: http://people.we.mediaone.net/elizrs/