Controversial ? - Alternatives to desserts

3843 Views 17 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Daytona, Dec 8, 2011

Scarlet Phantom

Discussion Starter · Dec 7, 2011 (Edited)

I had quite an interesting chat with another fellow diabetic I've known for years... And now I'm curious to know your opinion on this. This discussion started when we talked about Christmas.

She low carbs and with great success I must say but states finding low carb solutions to desserts will only feed the need and craving for sugar. In other words, she thinks people who (for example) bake a low carb apple crumble are in denial, whether they like to admit it or not. They can find a low carb dessert and have really good BG but at the end of the day they don't rid their brain of the desire to have something sweet. That is the key to really manage diabetes.

I must admit... I never thought about this. I still don't know what to think of this!

And she really burst my bubble about Christmas

Can't wait to have your feedback!

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Insulation Tim

· #2 · Dec 7, 2011

I think that it has a lot to do with the individual. Are you addicted to sweets or just enjoy them. There's a big difference. All addictions are the same, you need to break the cycle.

I tend to be a little OCD and get addicted to various things; drugs, cigarettes, sports, alcohol, etc. For me, the key was just stop doing them PERIOD. After a period in time, the brain channels in different directions.

Now, if you have occasional cravings, I do not consider that to be an addiction so just moderate your usage.

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MCS

· #3 · Dec 7, 2011

I think its her own personnel battle with coping, not something I would do. I make and eat alternatives to dessert all the time. I find no desire to back slide into a bad habit of starchy sweet foods doing so.

A side note I made a dessert for our neighborhood Christmas party. Blueberry pie that everyone there loved.

large container of greek yogurt, warmed slightly, 2 small boxes of blackcherry SF jello mix, blue berries. Boil 1/2 cup of water, add the jello mix, add this at one time to the yogurt and stir till well combined. I then sweeten to taste, add the blueberries and pour into a pecan crust made from pecan meal, ertyhtitol, splenda, butter, egg white. Top it with a 50/50 mix of cream cheese/heavy cream, whipped and sweetened, with added crushed walnuts and blue berries.

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jwags

· #4 · Dec 7, 2011

I do make a lot of LC treats all year long, not just at Christmas. My take on it is the LC treats keep you satisfied so you don't cheat on something else. I am one who is just not satisfied eating meat, cheese and veggies. I do need a cookie or muffin or some LC bread once in awhile. I think it is the crunch and texture of certain foods I miss. I'm not sure what is wrong making a batch of cookies that keeps your bgs close to 100. I am one who could fast all day and my bgs would go up. So why wouldn't I want to eat some LC treats and have my bg stay stable. Since diabetes is for life most of us need to find ways to incorperate eating into that life. I know I have to eat differently but I don't want to deprive myself of food, either. I am now off to bake some of MCS's chocolate chip cookies.

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Shanny

· #5 · Dec 7, 2011

I have Linda's Coconut Cream Pie slated for today, and I don't think it's denial at all. I've never had an overactive sweet tooth, but I enjoy sweets now & again. If they don't mess up my BG, why not have them? When I first met the old woodchopper, he insisted he had to "suffer" when dieting. I thought it was hogwash then, and I still think it's hogwash. Don't cheat, but use the components we CAN eat, and make delicious nutritious desserts - by all means!

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Scarlet Phantom

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 7, 2011

Thank you guys! You are making me feel a bit better. For a long while I was in denial. To be told I'm still in denial because I like to have the occasional low carb treat or dessert was a shock to me. And of course I have no desire to slide back. I have no desire to feel sluggish, tired, and have the dragon mood back

Reactions: 2

jwags

· #7 · Dec 7, 2011

Quite frankly I think we have discovered the best of both world. We can have our cake and eat it too, all without raising bg or gaining weight. I am surprised the rest of the world hasn't caught on. After tennis yesterday we were sitting down chatting about what else , diets. One friend, non diabetic but overweight had tried a vegan diet. But after a week she totally gave it up. I suggested she try LC/HF. She insisted fat would make her fatter. No amount of convincing would change her mind. I told her I made a Coconut Milk, whey powder , peanut butter smoothie for breakfast with a good dose of heavy cream. She insisted I would get fat eating that way. My other friends looked at my fairly thin body and said you eat like that everyday. I said I sure do. Fat is not the enemy, carbs are.

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fgummett

· #8 · Dec 7, 2011

As a counterpoint: Dr Kurt Harris* has this blog post about Smoking Candy Cigarettes...

It seems pertinent and I tend to agree with most of it -- I don't personally have much use for "pretend" food substitutes when there is so much real whole food from around the world out there to choose from BUT I'm not judging those who feel the need... we each have our own ways of managing our lives

*He is currently on my "questionable list" since he has gone over to the dark-side of Stephan Guyenet and Carb[in]sane's world of attacking Gary Taubes's Carbohydrate + Insulin Hypothesis.

WV Mom

· #9 · Dec 7, 2011

I was going to answer giving my two cents worth, but then I reckoned that my opinion is only worth a penny, or maybe less, because I haven't been at this that long.

Right now I prefer small portions of the real thing or nothing. But a year from now, or 5, or 10, I may feel differently. I may get tired of limiting myself to a single bite of full-fat, full-sugar apple pie and decide to embrace a low-carb alternative. Hard to tell.

Whatever I do, it won't be a matter of denial. That's just silly. It will be a matter of preference and what works for me.

Strawberry

· #10 · Dec 7, 2011

I must admit to having a very active 'sweet tooth'. After I was diagnosed and started using insulin, I thought "Oh well, I will just take additional insulin for whatever dessert I want to have." That worked for a little while until I realized that more insulin probably meant additional weight added onto my already overweight body. Sadly it took me a long time to come to the conclusion that maybe I better use moderation when it comes to desserts.

I appreciate the kindness and generosity of people on this forum who share various recipes for low carb foods. I think it was jwags who posted a recipe for Blueberry muffins which I tried recently. My hubby (who is non diabetic) could not tell the difference between a regular carb and a low carb muffin. He keeps asking for me to bake the "muffin" recipe again.

IMHO I don't think desserts are bad, however if you are like me - you might want to exercise portion control. I used to think if one cookie was good then surely two or three is better

Regarding Christmas......I can remember my Mother would start her Christmas baking the day after Thanksgiving. It was not unusual for her to bake 15 batches of different kinds of cookies for family and friends.

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WV Mom

· #11 · Dec 7, 2011

Strawberry said:
I used to think if one cookie was good then surely two or three is better

Or the whole plate full, if you were me.

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Strawberry

· #12 · Dec 7, 2011

Ahh.......if truth were known I guess if I was skinny I would be tempted to eat the whole plateful too. At Christmas when my Mother would bake - the whole plateful always looked beautiful to say nothing of tasting wonderful. She was Swedish and always used butter, none of this oleo crud went in her cookies. Reminds me of one year when she went to her usual "hiding" place to retrieve a certain variety of cookie she had previously baked and guess what??? There were nothing but large crumbs in the cookie tin. My Dad, who was a cookie monster, had periodically raided the cookie tin for his snack every night when he would go to the basement to 'tend' the furnace. Oh boy...was she irate!!!

Reactions: 1

MCS

· #13 · Dec 7, 2011

I know what christmas is like in a swedish household. Lukefish, corve, cardomon rolls, snitzels, potatoe pancakes, etc. yea I remember

Strawberry

· #14 · Dec 7, 2011

Since both my parents are gone now, it is good to remember fond memories

jwags

· #15 · Dec 7, 2011

I think many of us associate Christmas with baking for weeks on end. When my kids were young I always baked the 2 weeks before Christmas. A few years ago my daughter took over the baking duties. Last Christmas she baked for several of our friends so we had cookies cooling all over the house. The smell drove me nuts. I still crave cookies. When I make MCS's cookies, my husband prefers them to the real thing, too. I have even pushed the envelope a little and eaten 5 or 6 and still saw no spike. Many times I eat them and my bg goes down. How can that be bad. I think the way we share LC recipes is great. I am one who needs to eat every 3-4 hours or I get a liver dump. Sometimes I am not really hungry but a cookie or two is just the right amount of food to trick my liver into being happy.

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Strawberry

· #16 · Dec 8, 2011

jwags said:
I think many of us associate Christmas with baking for weeks on end. When my kids were young I always baked the 2 weeks before Christmas. A few years ago my daughter took over the baking duties. Last Christmas she baked for several of our friends so we had cookies cooling all over the house. The smell drove me nuts. I still crave cookies. When I make MCS's cookies, my husband prefers them to the real thing, too. I have even pushed the envelope a little and eaten 5 or 6 and still saw no spike. Many times I eat them and my bg goes down. How can that be bad. I think the way we share LC recipes is great. I am one who needs to eat every 3-4 hours or I get a liver dump. Sometimes I am not really hungry but a cookie or two is just the right amount of food to trick my liver into being happy.

Sorry for my ignorance, but which MCS's cookies are you referring to? I was looking for cookies, but must have overlooked the recipe you like.

Shanny

· #17 · Dec 8, 2011

The one I like best is his http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-recipes/6915-pecan-chocolate-chip-cookies-2.html#post58592.

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Daytona

· #18 · Dec 8, 2011

I wouldn't say it's denial at all. If you are eating so much low-carb desert that you're still getting 50+ g of carbs a day, yeah maybe you should dial it in. But otherwise it helps you stay on track, fill you up and prevent feeling deprived.

The only reason I avoid low-carb substitutes (especially sweets) is that my body is dumb and likes to put on 2-3 pounds of water when I do. I think it's because I still get an insulin response even though the carb count is low? Just a guess.

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