What food to eat or avoid

[Dorsetgirl17]

Been recently diagnosed with pmr and on 20mg Pred which thankfully has kicked in.. My question is is there a dietary fact sheet not sure if I am eating the right things. Is bread a no no?

[Hidden]

Hi, certainly white bread, pasta rice etc are generally a no no on low carb diet but I eat wholewheat seeded breads made with sourdough, rye flour, pumpernickel. Here is a link or 2 explaining low carb approach. The reason we suggest it is because pred spikes your blood sugar. If you eat carbs too then your blood sugar spikes evrrytime. Reducing carbs can h see lp stop weight gain and steroid induced diabetes and stop you feel g rubbish when your blood sugar is up and down as it is with carbs. You don't have to join the diet Dr site and pay... We just use it as general. Advice so you build your own menus up.

dietdoctor.com/low-carb

ditchthecarbs.com/guide-to-...

[Dorsetgirl17 in reply to Hidden]

That makes a lot of sense, thank you for your helpful links

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Scoopitup has spoken about bread so I won't repeat it. She has also provided two really good links for info.

However, many people find that reducing their carbohydrate intake drastically does help them avoid or minimise the weight gain that is so common with steroids. It also reduces the risk of developing steroid-induced diabetes. How little carbohydrate you need to eat varies from person to person but to lose weight I personally have to restrict carbs a lot and do eat a lot of vegetables which are low in carbs, no fruit, which is relatively high in carbs, and no processed baked goods, rice or pasta except as a special treat very occasionally. And I do notice a difference after I have strayed from my usual eating pattern or low carb and had more than usual - like over xmas and when visitors come and want pizza (I live in Italy )

[Dorsetgirl17 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for replying, fruit is going to be a big one to give up are you not allowed any and what replaces it?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

You are "allowed" anything you like - but you have to decide if you want to do low carb or not and then how much carbohydrate you need/want to cut down to. If you look at the dietdoctor site you can see very easily from the pictures that if you choose to restrict yourself to (say) 50g of useable carbohydrate a day you could have a bit of fruit or a lot of above ground veg. Which is what I do.

Sugar and simple carbs have to be perceived to be not very good for us - it is your choice if you want to follow that idea and how you follow it. However you look at it, fruit has fructose as the sugar and it is carbohydrate.

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

I also found the fruit an issue as i used it to stop me eating the usual junk i fancied. At the beginning of my pmr journey i didnt give up carbs and basically ate anything i wanted despite advice on here. I put on two stone!! I still eat fruit but limit it along with watching what veg i eat. I have stopped eating white bread most of the time and only have the odd slice when stressed!! But even this is an improvement because i would have had three or four slices at a time before pmr. I havnt been very strict but have lost half a stone now so cutting carbs does make a difference.

[Dorsetgirl17 in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Thank you for replying, don’t think I could forgo fruit all together but it sounds that have to limit intake

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

Definitely limit but no need to give up.completely. Have a look at what carbs fruit has and decide from there which ones to either cut back on or swap for others that are lower in carbs. YBB

[Highlandtiger in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

Just what YBB said......

Some fruit are surprisingly low in carbs and some are frighteningly high and I can never remember which is which. The websites Scoops gave you are good and are my go to place to check. I would find it hard to give up fruit completely but if you choose well you can still have some.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Highlandtiger]

Berries good, apples and bananas not so good!

[Highlandtiger in reply to PMRpro]

Cherries are the ones that confound me and I always need to check......better than grapes and worse than berries from memory......? 🍒 🍇 🍓

[Hidden in reply to Highlandtiger]

Cherries have a low gi so my favourite in season and don't seem to make my blood sugar rise. I love to get passionfruit and put it in my Greek yoghurt. Yummy.

[Highlandtiger in reply to Hidden]

Excellent. Cherries are my favourite too! Yum! I can quite happily give up bananas!

[Koalajane in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

If you like fruit then berries are the lowest in carbs so blueberries, raspberries, strawberries etc

[SnazzyD]

I have gone by the rule that if it has been to a factory for much more than packing, it’s out. No padding carbs other than what’s found in veg (not potato or maize or rice, pasta etc). Lots of good fats. No salt. But I did allow myself a bit of very dark choc and two glasses of wine a week once below 20mg. I’m now on 0.5mg and still have virtually no carb unless I go out because it’s a way of life and I think my body has changed to tolerating it less well.

[Dorsetgirl17]

Thank you for replying yes the factory rule makes sense