Ethnic foods and while a diabetic

djones62511 · #1 03-17-2011, 01:41 PM

I struggle with what I can and cannot have. My friends are Spanish to it'd hard to not like rice. I am african american I live that FRIED CHICKEN. Oven baked will not do it for me. My Italian friend are old school. They make it all fresh. I need a lot of support. I won't even tell you that I am a nurse. RN. Funny right. I can't practice what I preach.

veridian · #2 07-24-2011, 08:40 PM

I'm black american as well and I miss all of the food that I thought was healthy and grew up on. It is these foods that are making us sick, making our kids fat, making us look horrible in spandex, and in the end it's killing us. If you must have that piece of chicken or rib or whatever it is keep your portions very small and no more than once a month. As long as you are otherwise eathing and living healthy a piece of chicken, mind you I said "a piece of chicken, meaning one piece should be ok. Keep in mind it would be better if you didn't eat meat at all. I know thats hard to do but I'm working on it. Don't head off to Churches and get a family box for yourself, lol. I'd say the best thing is to get away from that "slave food" as I call it, and eat healthy.

mpw · #3 11-12-2011, 04:27 AM

Awww I was raised on beans taters and cornbread (taters cut in small chunks with onions and bacon grease) lol with ham hocks in the pinto beans! I still love this at times but you know I was raised in Texas and that was our staple we didn't get sodas or sugar stuff but like on Halloween and 4th july, Christmas and Thanksgiving. And limited chicken was made for a large family so I don't remember eating fried chicken like here in Carolina, it was baked and stewed but we ate more cow than chicken . I lives threw it and was not Crazy over weight, We had chores to do and
Stayed active out side and a little tv on Saturday mornings, now it's not so. Now I need more exercise and can't find the time after work. Well I have gotten a little more sedentary but I really must not stay this way

angelic · #4 11-30-2011, 03:40 AM

I just found out I was type 1 and I'm Asian. I was born out in the rice fields and for this stupid disease to tell me I can't eat rice like how I was raised to... is so cruel ! I'm always hungry after I eat "low or carb'less" foods and can't seem to find anything that could void this emptiness. Why? All I ask is just let me have the rice or vermicelli noodles! It's not unhealthy .... ;(

dano · #5 11-30-2011, 04:14 AM

Why can't you eat what you want, in moderation, and bolus with insulin for the carbs? People with diabetes, most using the pump, do this for every meal. If you are not using the pump, you just need to find out or calculate the insulin to carbohydrate ratio (ICR) and insulin sensitivity factor (ISF), learn to count carbs and plug the numbers in to one of the specialty calculators or apps to determine the insulin units to take for your bolus injection. A really good Endocrinologist and a really good Nutritionist can help you with all of this.

Here is a link to Advanced Carb Counting that explains most of it.

angelic · #6 11-30-2011, 07:44 PM

Dano,
I just found out last week and pretty much new to this. I was too shocked to ask questions... so basically my Endo just told me to take insulin twice a day morning and night to hype up my pancreas for the time being? Then when I go back in two weeks he'd tell me exactly what's going on and work with me. I check my glucose 7 times a day and my blood sugar is still not normal when I eat rice or noodles (even if it was a small portion). I've did plenty of researching and have finally come to terms that I must not eat rice every day until I get my next medi dose information and maybe even go on a pump? Oh how I truly miss my rice and vermicelli! Hope for the worst and maybe there might be a miracle?

dano · #7 11-30-2011, 08:20 PM

angelic;

I am sorry to hear about the spikes from rice or noodles. One of the first things that we as people with diabetes have to figure out is what our body's like and don't like. We are all different and we all have to experiment with this. It looks like you may have found a couple that your body doesn't like. However, in time you may be able to eat some of the rice or noodles. Be sure to mention this to your doctor, keep testing and I wish you the best.

reeviint · #8 01-05-2013, 06:48 AM

If you must have that piece of chicken or rib or whatever it is keep your portions very small and no more than once a month. As long as you are otherwise eathing and living healthy a piece of chicken, mind you I said "a piece of chicken, meaning one piece should be ok. Keep in mind it would be better if you didn't eat meat at all.Des Moines Weight Loss

type1rachelle · #9 02-01-2013, 09:55 PM

I just discovered these Shirataki noodles - they're made from a Japanese root yam and are completely carb free... they're very similar to rice noodles - love them. Substitutions are helpful, so is being open minded and thinking in terms of eating to sustain your body, not so much of a social/pleasurable focus.

I will say, however, having diabetes is NOT about what you can and cannot eat. Maybe it's different if you're T2 or have weight problems, but if you're T1 and of a normal weight, I agree with dano - eat what you want! Just make sure you know how it's going to affect you... keep logs so you can see trends and remember what happened last time you decided to go for the pineapple fried rice for dinner. Everyone is different, but what a sad life to live if you have to cut out all the foods you love - just have patience and take the time to learn the timing and amount of insulin you need to cover the food you want to eat. Everything is fine in moderation - you're not going to be on your death bed wishing you didn't have that bowl of rice which shot your BG up to 300 temporarily before you got it back down again!

Also, you might want to research a drug called Symlin - I'm just now experimenting with it. It's supposed to slow gastric emptying and glycogen release from the liver when you eat.