Fruit

[cdncatlover]

What are the best fruits to eat besides berries?

[rocky]

Sometimes, on very rare occasions, I have a few pieces of guava or papaya. Otherwise, coconut is the best, if considered a fruit. 

[skb]

I put a slice of sweet lime or orange in my vodka just for the flavor. I don't eat it. In the raw form I haven't had fruit in more than a few years. I once tried berries. The large variety (don't know exact name). They're about 1-1/2 inch big. That shot my BG over 40 points, and I never tried that again.

[Shanny]

I have to go easy on berries too, but have found that strawberries have the lowest level of carbs. But since they're also much larger than blueberries or raspberries, the problem is portion size.

strawberries (sliced) 1 cup = 13g carbs
blackberries 1 cup = 15g carbs
raspberries 1 cup = 15g carbs
blueberries 1 cup = 21g carbs

The only other fruits I can handle are avocados & tomatoes.

[walkerwally1]

This is a question everyone has to answer for themselves.  What you may be able to tolerate may be a total disaster for me.  There is no substitute for trying and testing.  I have found that for me no fruit is OK, even in tiny portions so I stay away from fruit all together.  On the other hand many people find that they can safely eat different fruits, at least in small quantities. 

[Grammabear]

Since I have to dose insulin for everything I eat, I feel that an occasional 'Cutie' (which is a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange) is okay.  Generally they have about 9 carbs which usually gives me a very gentle spike.  I also eat berries in measured amounts.

[Vahit]

No fruit? But fruit is very good for people, right ? If you don't eat fruit how will you get all the vitamins and minerals? I have most of the fruits. At times when I am hungry during lunch hours, I have only fruits. That is the quickest way that I lose weight. For me this definitely works. I must admit, I am really confused. 

[Shanny]

Fruit may be good for non-diabetic people, Vahit, but you are diabetic now, and your life will need to change.

Sweet foods like fruit raise our blood sugar, and high blood sugar damages our bodies. Damage unnoticed at first, but eventually VERY noticeable, even up to needing dialysis for kidney failure after high blood sugar wrecks our kidneys.

Read this link on how to eat to your meter (remember me commenting about this earlier?). See at the bottom where it says you can use this technique to check how much certain foods like fruit will impact your blood sugar levels? This is how you must live now, if you intend to still have a long healthy life even with diabetes.

You are no long part of the general population who can do whatever they wish and suffer no consequences. You are one of us diabetics now, and unfortunately, we suffer consequences for some of our actions. But if we follow certain rules for managing our condition, we can still expect to live long healthy lives free from complications.

Edited to add:  Don't worry about missing important vitamins & minerals . . . the LCHF way-of-eating provides all the necessary elements for good health and is also a very good weight-loss plan. Right now your priority must be to get your blood sugar down and keep it down, because high blood sugar will sure ruin your health before anything else can hurt you. We are living proof that people survive and thrive without fruit and other sweet foods, so I hope you'll be able to make that leap of faith and find out for yourself how well it works.

[cdncatlover]

How do I satisfy my want of having dessert if fruit is a no-go?

[Timewise]

My meter tells me NO fruit and only a few berries....when I do have some berries usually 3-4 strawberries cut up with some Heavy Whipping cream and a touch of Splenda....

I also eat pieces of Chocolate Bars that are 85% Cacao.  I can have 2 to 3 squares without blowing up my BS!  It took me time to get used to eating low sugar chocolate, I started with sweeter Chocolate 70%, has about 7g of carbs per square. I ate 1 square.  When this started tasting good I shifted to 85% Extra Dark 5g of carbs per square. This stuff is really good, if you are craving Chocolate.   I got used to it within a few days of trying....now I could not go back to the sweet stuff if I wanted to....

One of the hardest thing about doing LCHF is you have to spend a lot of time finding recipes for things you like...I have a lot of desert recipes, to many to put on this post, but here is one of my favorites, just to give you a taste...

Finally, my wife make now carb cheese cake on special occasions...this is good and lasts a while.   Recipe below...

Cheese Cake-Low Carb                            
Ingredients:
•   24 ounces cream cheese, softened
•   1 cup extra-fine whole milk ricotta cheese (to refine, process in a food processor for 1 minute)
•   1/2 cup sour cream
•   1 1/2 cups sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
•   1/3 cup heavy cream
•   1 tablespoon no sugar added vanilla extract
•   1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
•   2 eggs
•   3 egg yolks
•   Special Equipment: 1 (8-inch) spring-form cake pan
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray the spring-form pan with nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside. In a shallow roasting pan big enough to fit the cake pan, pour about 1-inch of water and place it on the center rack of the oven to preheat.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat softened cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream and sugar substitute on low speed for about 1 minute until well blended.
In a separate bowl, using a wire whisk, mix heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, eggs, and egg yolks until blended.
Turn the mixer on medium speed, and slowly pour the egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture. Beat just until blended and then turn off; be careful not to over-whip.
Pour batter into the greased springform pan. Place pan into the heated water bath. Bake for 15 minutes, and then lower the oven temperature to 275 degrees F. Continue baking for 1 1/2 hours, or until top is light golden brown and cake is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Turn the oven off when finished cooking and leave the cake in the oven to cool for 3 more hours. (This will keep the cake nice and tall.) Then remove cake and refrigerate before serving. Serve chilled.
Total Time: 10 hr 15 min
Prep: 30 min, Inactive: 8 hr
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
________________________________________
Yield: 12 servings
Nutritional Analysis:
Per Serving-slice
Calories 299, Fat 28 grams, Saturated Fat 18 grams, Carbohydrates 7 grams

[cdncatlover]

Thanks for the recipe. 

[Shanny]

And you don't have to just reject things out of hand because somebody says so . . . do your own testing and find out what actually spikes YOU. Many of us have had diabetes long enough that we long since worked out a list of our 'safe' foods, and as long as we review them periodically, it works pretty well. But be sure you review your list occasionally, because sometimes things change and something we tolerated before will start spiking us. Equally important, continue checking some of the spikey foods, and you may discover that after you've been strict for quite some time, you can tolerate something now and then if you don't overdo it.

[Timewise]

Thanks for the recipe. 

No problem, this is only one of many!  This cheesecake freezes well and keeps well in the fridge after you make it....but it is worth it.   One of the hardest parts of going to LCHF living, is developing a broad comprehensive list of foods and recipes that you like and will eat.   I did it by searching on this site and other diabetic websites and on the Internet.....lots of options and lots of really good stuff!  But you have to find what works for you...I will share one more with you below.......................my meter told me on these the blueberries blew up my sugar, so I substituted pecans....and the work perfect and are yummy too!

Low Carb Blueberry (Pecan) Scones
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375
   
In a large bowl sift together:

1 cup of Almond Flour
2 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour
¼ teaspoon Sea salt
¼ cup of granulated sweetener (We use swerve if you use your favorite one be sure to adjust measurement based on the sweetener used)

In a Separate bowl beat together:

2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Then add to the dry ingredients stirring until a batter is formed.
Fold in ½ cup of Blueberries (or Pecans)

Drop 6 equal mounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and back for 18 minutes until nicely browned.  Cover with melted butter when served...
Enjoy!

[cdncatlover]

And you don't have to just reject things out of hand because somebody says so . . . do your own testing and find out what actually spikes YOU. Many of us have had diabetes long enough that we long since worked out a list of our 'safe' foods, and as long as we review them periodically, it works pretty well. But be sure you review your list occasionally, because sometimes things change and something we tolerated before will start spiking us. Equally important, continue checking some of the spikey foods, and you may discover that after you've been strict for quite some time, you can tolerate something now and then if you don't overdo it.

I discovered that raspberries don't spike for me. 

[Vahit]

Thank you very much for your responses. The whole carb theory is setting in and makes sense. I'm willing to give the Eating to Meter system a go. Thank you so much.

Have a nice day, everyone.