Small amount

[Sadmia]

What is a small amount? Some advice says diabetics can have small amounts of sweet treats, occasionally. But how much is a small amount. 50g plain chocolate, one wrapped quality street, half a square of fudge? One maryland cookie? How much is small??

The whole damn dietary advice relys on small/ medium/ large /portion size, but there is no real accurate measurements. 😱

[BadHare]

You need to work out which portion sizes suit your health conditions & lifestyle. which won't be the same as other people's. How much protein do you need? Are you eating a minimum 5 large servings of fresh fruit & vegetables? How much carbohydrate can your body convert to energy rather than store as fat? Are you eating healthy fats, or getting adequate micro-nutrients for your body to function properly?

70% cocoa chocolate is good for us. I've read 15g a day is a healthy dose. I eat one bar a week, which is 75g, to 100g.

Medjool dates are a sugar fix with benefits: organicfacts.net/medjool-da...

[Sadmia in reply to BadHare]

That's just it, I have no idea the answers to the questions posed, but thanks for the chocolate. I figured also that cocoa will work, as long as I don't go mad with the milk. If I add cinnamon, that would be good too I have read somewhere.

[BadHare in reply to Sadmia]

If you're making big dietary changes, it'll take a while to work out what will suit you best. Try to fill up on non-carby foods as much as you can. I eat lots of pulses & vegetables as I'm vegetarian,, & gain too much weight if I overdo starchy foods. Usually I only eat small portions of wholegrains, or small baked potato, sourdough, etc, & have the odd naughty treat on a fortnightly or monthly basis when I'm out.

Stick to wholemilk, as there is higher sugar content in semi & skimmed milk. The fat in wholemilk takes longer to digest which makes it more filling & lowers its GI.

I've been enjoying golden milk made with turmeric, cinnamon & lots of nutmeg, too. It's lovely for winter evenings. healthunlocked.com/healthye......

[benwl in reply to BadHare]

Are you including pulses as a non carby food? It's not quite clear from your post.

Pulses do contain carbs and quite a lot of it.

[BadHare in reply to benwl]

They do, benwl , but they're low Gi & a source of plant protein. We need some grains combined with pulses to get the full range of amino acids, though I have these in small portions with lots of vegetables.

[Sadmia in reply to BadHare]

I have always wondered about milk, especially since the homogenisation, and reduction of size of fat molecules. I had full fat gold top when I was a child, the top being used as a treat on fruit or porridge, the rest as a drink. Surely the fat would be absorbed slowet or passed through as a larger molecule...... Not as unhealthy as it would appear.? Law of unintended consequences.

[BadHare in reply to Sadmia]

Homogenisation also alters the protein molecules. I'm not sure what the long term effect that has on us, but prefer my food as untampered with & filling as possible. I make kefir, & it ferments & grows best when it gets the creamy top of the milk. Turmeric & vitamin D are also amongst things that best absorbed with fatty foods, so I add coconut flour to my golden milk mix.

We've been told quite a lot of hogwash for the past 40 years with regard to what's good for us, & conned into buying unhealthy processed rubbish.

[Hidden]

Hi Sadmia,

I find sugar rather addictive so I just tell myself no sugar. Even if you say no sugar you are getting plenty because it is in everything! Some of the more current dietary advice is even telling people to limit high sugar content fruit in favor of vegetables. It seems like the diet and nutrition world is all over the place with advice. Find what works for your body that is backed by science.

Let us know how you are getting along!

Karen

[Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd]

Hi Sadmia,

Just some simple calculations to help you figure out small / big stuff.

1. Lets say in a day your dietary calories needs are 1600 calories.

2. Diabetic should take 40% calories from carbs = 640 calories from carbs

3. Every gram of carb gives 4 calories, so total carbs you need /day = 640/4 = 160 grams carbs

4. You can divide it into 40 grams carbs per meal = 40 gm x 3 meals = 120 gms of carbs

5. Plus 40 grams consumed in two snacks i.e 20 grams per snack.

...

Now come to practical implementation

100 Grams banana has 23 grams of carbs.

100 grams of apple has 14 grams of carbs.

100 grams of cadburys chocolate has 57 grams of carbs

You can read the labels of the goodies which you want to eat to know how much carbs are there in a particular item. If its not listed, you can refer to Myfitnesspal for details.

As a thumb rule any sweet piece that you eat can be upto 20 grams carbs.

So its no more about small / med / big because that never can be defined.

For diabetics the exact count of carbs is important.

Hope this helps. If you have more queries please feel free to ask.

[Sadmia in reply to Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd]

Thankyou that is so informative and simple to understand, just what I needed to know.