[Michele1974]

I went to a dietitian the other day. If I eat any snacks in the day time they have to be zero carbs. Any suggestions? Does cheese count if it is zero carbs or is that considered a milk?

Also any suggestions for protein for breakfast? 1 oz

 

[jer.lawrence]

Eggs are a good source of protein, and zero carbs.

Cheese is usually 0-carb, so yes, I would think that would count. Some others that I enjoy are hard boiled eggs, pork rinds, beef jerky. Sometimes meat and cheese rolls are good.

Zero-carb is tough.. LOW carb is easier, as you can eat nuts, berries, veggies and dip.. but they all have a few grams of carbs.

Hope that offers at least a FEW options.

 

[Shanny]

Anything protein or protein/fat is fair game. It's how I play the game myself - everything handy for snacks is zero-carb. Cheese crisps, beef sticks, all sorts of cheese, hard-cooked eggs, nuts, olives, avocados . . . and don't avoid the full-fat dips . . . anything with mayonnaise, cream cheese and/or sour cream is going to be filling and very satiating. It doesn't take much! And OMG yes! Pork rinds!

 

[Shanny]

As for breakfast protein - there again, eggs & cheese! I make little one-egg omelets with a sprinkle of grated sharp cheddar and some bacon bits . . . I also keep breakfast link sausages cooked up & in the freezer so I can take out two or three & zap 'em in the microwave, to go with my little omelets.

 

[jsntay]

I went to a dietitian the other day. If I eat any snacks in the day time they have to be zero carbs. Any suggestions? Does cheese count if it is zero carbs or is that considered a milk?

Also any suggestions for protein for breakfast? 1 oz

Hello Michele1974!! So the dietician gave you a diet telling you what carb intake to allow for each meal and each day? I am thinking you could subtract some carbs from meals to allow for snacks as long as its within the daily allowance. But I am just going by what my dietician told me.

I am not on insulin though. (edited)

 

[DrJE Campbell]

Hello Michele1974!! So the dietician gave you a diet telling you what carb intake to allow for each meal and each day? I am thinking you could subtract some carbs from meals to allow for snacks as long as its within the daily allowance. But I am just going by what my dietician told me.

Here is a recipe you can try out. I hope you will like it.

A slice of deli ham rolled around some cream cheese with a thin slice of dill pickle or dill pickle relish, another version, add some roasted garlic and or chives to cream cheese....Pepperoni slices, (microwave for 30 seconds to crisp if you'd like) with cream cheese...

 

[Diabrarian]

Just a quick caveat to go with all the helpful suggestions here. 0-carb meat snacks can be high in protein but also jack up your cholesterol if you overdo them.

Meat sticks are especially culprits because you may not have the willpower to eat just one for a snack, and just two can be the equivalent of a square meal's worth of meat. They're heavily processed sausages so can also contain much higher levels of fat than a small breast or steak serving. Egg yolks of course as well; a single egg gives almost a day's complete worth of cholesterol.

I came into diabetes with elevated cholesterol levels and have to reduce them. But I was recommended to restrict meat products to lunch or dinner and resort to plants and dairy for snacks, jazzing up with herbs and spices. Every diabetic's needs are of course individualistic, so none of this may apply to you. Have your physician also go over your dietitian's plan so he's aware of your eating habits at your next physical.

 

[breezeonby]

Just a quick caveat to go with all the helpful suggestions here. 0-carb meat snacks can be high in protein but also jack up your cholesterol if you overdo them.

Meat sticks are especially culprits because you may not have the willpower to eat just one for a snack, and just two can be the equivalent of a square meal's worth of meat. They're heavily processed sausages so can also contain much higher levels of fat than a small breast or steak serving. Egg yolks of course as well; a single egg gives almost a day's complete worth of cholesterol.

I came into diabetes with elevated cholesterol levels and have to reduce them. But I was recommended to restrict meat products to lunch or dinner and resort to plants and dairy for snacks, jazzing up with herbs and spices. Every diabetic's needs are of course individualistic, so none of this may apply to you. Have your physician also go over your dietitian's plan so he's aware of your eating habits at your next physical.

An excellent reply. I have to watch my cholesterol as well. I really struggle keeping my saturated fat requirement down as well.

 

[jsntay]

Just a quick caveat to go with all the helpful suggestions here. 0-carb meat snacks can be high in protein but also jack up your cholesterol if you overdo them.

Meat sticks are especially culprits because you may not have the willpower to eat just one for a snack, and just two can be the equivalent of a square meal's worth of meat. They're heavily processed sausages so can also contain much higher levels of fat than a small breast or steak serving. Egg yolks of course as well; a single egg gives almost a day's complete worth of cholesterol.

I came into diabetes with elevated cholesterol levels and have to reduce them. But I was recommended to restrict meat products to lunch or dinner and resort to plants and dairy for snacks, jazzing up with herbs and spices. Every diabetic's needs are of course individualistic, so none of this may apply to you. Have your physician also go over your dietitian's plan so he's aware of your eating habits at your next physical.

Fat still confuses me alot and I think there is alot of hoopla about it. Just this week I heard on the evening news that red meat is now safe to eat, but not bacon, LOL. All I know is I had high cholesterol when diagnosed and trigs were very high, cholesterol 239 with 598 trigs, but now they are cholesterol 145 and trigs 90. My good cholesterol is low though at 38. I haven't had any changes in my diet as far as fat intake. I love eggs, meat and mayo, lol. Actually I think Metformin had something to do with it.

I do know even back in my diabetes classes when we talked about fat, they still only recommended of 2 eggs per week.

 

[Shanny]

Diabetics have to be a little leery of the current low-fat campaign, since fat & protein are the things that allow us to control our blood sugar levels. For many of us who don't use insulin, large quantities of carbs are not an option, so that leaves what? Protein & fats.

There have been multiple studies done which refute the notion that low-fat diets prevent high cholesterol & heart disease. And yet the low fat myth endures. Trouble is, when manufacturers start removing the fat from processed foods, they often - in fact usually - replace it with carbs, and carbs are trouble for us diabetics. Read your labels. And research the results of the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial and other similar studies.

Cutting Carbs out of the Diet is Recommended for People with Diabetes

Believe it or not, I still run into people whose doctors told them to cut fat out of their diet, not carbs, as if it were fat, rather than carbs that raises blood sugar.

Doctors still rarely advise their Type 2 patients to try cutting down on carbs to improve their blood sugars, though this is changing, and some doctors, who have several patients who have normalized their blood sugar with a low carb diet are starting to recommend carb restriction.

But even though he may not be an enthusiastic low carb proponent, your doctor should be aware that cutting as many grams of carb out of your diet as you can is a safe, effective way to lower blood sugars, and that all the recent research about low carb diets shows that they work and that they improve, rather than worsen, cholesterol levels. Your doctor should also know that the evidence now is that the low fat diet worsens lipids and doesn't prevent heart disease, so that there is no reason right now to prescribe a low fat diet for someone with Type 2 diabetes.

Source:

 

[Diabrarian]

Fat still confuses me alot and I think there is alot of hoopla about it. Just this week I heard on the evening news that red meat is now safe to eat, but not bacon, LOL. I love eggs, meat and mayo, lol.
I do know even back in my diabetes classes when we talked about fat, they still only recommended of 2 eggs per week.

Even for non-diabetics the evils of certain kinds of meat are sometimes a gross exaggeration. Pork and bacon in and of themselves are not bad for you. No meat is bad for you. I believe the claim that it's worse is because when you go through all of the healthy processes like trimming off fat and fat-less cooking, servings of pork and bacon still contain more sat fat than chicken or turkey breast. But who eats pork every day besides Homer Simpson?

Fat is only evil because of the amount that that's been encouraged by the general North American food industry. For diabetics who have to load up on other nutrients besides carbs, there's nothing wrong with more fat in your diet. It's only if you're willing to control your fat by choosing healthier fats and exercising that more fat makes a healthy impact. Otherwise we just jump back on the non-diabetic sat fat wagon getting obese on burgers and ribs and no exercise, jack up our cholesterol and develop heart disease faster than the diabetes could do it for us.

Don't we all love our eggs and meat! But if you consider two eggs a week, it's really not a lot of fat comparable to steak or sausages at breakfast, especially if you do whites only. Just two a week isn't bad by any means, hell you could eat an egg white every day if you really wanted and it would burn off easy with exercise. But two a week just encourages more diversity in your meals with other foods.

Dietitians' greatest fear with any patient, diabetic and non, is the lapse into eating the same meals every day when you're on a restricted plan. Sure it might be low-fat and 0-carb, but it doesn't encourage a diversity of nutrients.

As far as cholesterol goes, I'm a huge snacker and used to eat tons of meat and cheese for snacks. I "consoled" myself that it was only poultry and fish, but it was sometimes four times a day. Snacking more than meals is what led to my weight gain and cholesterol through the roof. So I compromised and moved my meat-fat, starch-carb, and animal-protein intake to meals, and restrict snacks to raw foods. It mostly means rabbit food and fruit, but the carb intake or GI are negligible with the right choices, eliminates processed foods, sugars are few and natural, nutrients abound, and I get more servings of fruit and veggies, where I was lacking most pre-diabetes. It's impossible for 0-carbers, but for low-carbers it's a great alternative to loading up on meat, cheese, jell-o and more artificially sweetened stuff than necessary. Combined with more exercise the pounds are flying off and cholesterol is lowering and not much glucose change.

Oh and make every single one of your snacks begin with a large glass of water. Make your brain think of it as meds, you have to have it. It works wonders for snacking.