There seems to be endless controversy surrounding the diet that is best for diabetics.  I read several forums but post mainly in one, with the odd comment elsewhere if I feel particularly strongly.  The main bone of contention seems to be whether or not to low carb and denigrating the advice so often given by NHS professionals to eat “starchy carbs with every meal”.  It causes endless dispute in online forums to the point that people argue and flounce and leave and get a tad nasty. 

 I subscribe to the “eat to your meter” brigade.  In other words “if a food doesn’t spike you then it’s fine, if it does then either don’t eat it or limit it”.  My meter is my best friend.  This is true of all diabetics, including those like myself on insulin only, but perhaps more so for Type 2 diabetics who have to rely to a greater degree on their diet for control.  So, after six years of listening to the same old stuff, why have I suddenly seen another aspect of the issue and why have I been moved to write about it?

 Perhaps because of a minor storm in a teacup that blew up fuelled by a DAFNE graduate who maintained that they could eat whatever they want whenever they want.  It wasn’t so much that statement that grated, because after all, that’s the whole premise of carb counting and DAFNE in particular.  No, it was the further presumption that those of us who like to have tight control live like a bunch of monks, getting excited about a lettuce leaf and denying ourselves any pleasure whatsoever in food, or indeed life!  It came as a bit of a shock, if for no other reason than I consider that I have always been something of a gourmet and that I recognise that I’ve never eaten better than I have since diagnosis.  My diet is so eclectic, embracing every cuisine from Britain to the Far East by way of Europe and every continent between.  The world provides my menu.  I like nothing more than trying out new recipes and new ingredients.  I look forward to planning a week’s meals, or more properly a weekend’s meals, when I have the leisure to experiment and the time to prepare things.  I can then freeze half the finished result to eat during the working week.  The only difference in being diabetic, as far as I am concerned, is that I look for ways to adapt the recipes to lessen their impact on my BGs.  It’s surprisingly easy, a tweak here a tweak there and hey presto, a diabetically friendly meal. 

 Our social life revolves round entertaining and being entertained.  I have yet to hear a single comment (other than “yum”) about the recipes that I have adapted to suit my diabetes.  Yes, I will cook Fillet Steak au Poivre with sage and garlic roast potatoes, buttery leeks and asparagus and no one ever notices that I only have one potato.  I will follow it with “not too carby chocolate cake” that has no flour in it, uses 85% cocoa solids chocolate and has most of the sugar replaced with Splenda. I will get nothing but praise from the non diabetics eating it.  I serve it with fresh Raspberries and thick crème fraiche.  No, it won’t affect my cholesterol badly, because in fact it’s carbohydrates that raise your triglycerides, and note, how many carbs have I actually eaten?  Another night I may do a home cooked Indian buffet, or a Thai version of a seafood feast.

 As far as I am concerned a diabetic diet is healthy, extremely interesting and delicious, it fits in with my social life and isn’t in the least bit restrictive.  If we eat out I have become skilled at choosing an option that’s good for me.  We don’t eat out often because of the expense and because frankly, it’s cheaper to cook a lovely meal at home, but when we do we ensure we eat in a place which offers good food rather than junk.  If we are entertained then I will take onto my plate the things which suit and a limited amount of those that I am aware will raise my BGs.  I do not make my hosts feel embarrassed.  If necessary and what is on offer is totally unsuitable, I’ll give myself some extra insulin and keep my fingers crossed.  After all, how long will it affect me for?  I will also make mistakes and I will forgive myself for those mistakes, get my BGs down as quickly as I can and move on.  I will not let it stop me from living my life and yet… I WILL control my diabetes.

 BUT there is another side to the coin.  In this country today the majority of people have almost been brainwashed to think that “eating well” = “eating what’s convenient to me and what I have developed the taste for”, so they aren’t prepared to experiment.  So many people think that they are condemned to a diet of lettuce leaves because all they currently like are pizzas, pasta dishes, take aways and fast food and now they are diabetic and denied their “lovely food”.  Of course the diet they have followed is poor, but how do we change their tastes, how do we get across to them that the diagnosis isn’t terminal and that it may just be a conduit to a new adventure in tastes?  I do not know….suggestions on a postcard please?