Food suggestions
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Food suggestions
| Mon, 11-17-2008 - 6:52am |
Spouse has diabetes and gout (no beans) his cholesterol has now gotten out of control and his diabetes is not under control. I cannot eat nuts or seeds and have problems with raw vegetables. We had been eating meat and salads and vegetables this doesn't seem to work.

Not all vegetables are equal.
1 - steam the veggies or cook them into a casserole or soup. That way you get cooked veggies (since you specify that raw veggies are a problem for you but don't say anything about cooked veggies) and your hubby gets low carbs and you both get the vitamins from the veggies which is important. You say you're having salads but that doesn't sound like it would work for you. What kind of salads? What kinds of vegetables? If you're counting the baked potatoes as vegetables, that's out. Baked squash is a better option (for example). Oh, and if you're throwing on lots of salad dressing, that's a problem too - many of the commercial forms have high fructose corn syrup or other sugars, in addition to tons of fat and sodium. Go for a homemade olive oil and vinegar dressing.
2 - make mix'n'match meals. For instance, serve sunflower seeds on the side as a topping for a salad.
3 - aim for whole grains. Oatmeal, for instance, when the portion is controlled (for carb measuring) is great for helping to lower cholesterol and is very soluble fiber-wise (sounds like insoluble fiber is your issue).
4 - be sure you're getting low fat items for the animal products in your diet - lean meats, Smart Balance-like margarines with plant sterols (for cholesterol help)
On the whole, though, you really NEED to see a dietician/nutritional counselor who can look at both situations and come up with options that work for both of you.
(BTW I thought gout was related to thyroid and iodine issues, how do beans play into it? Just curious...)
--Deb
Hi and welcome to the board.
I am chiming in a little late in this discussion but I do have some comments that I want to make. Gout is a metabolic disorder that is passed via the mother's genes. It is also a marker for insulin resistance. Before we had the tests that we have now for diabetes we used to measure the uric acid to tell what was going on with a person.
At this point, I think what is happening is that your husband's diabetes and metabolic syndrome aren't under control and he needs to see his physician soon but not immediately. Now this just my humble opinion. Does he have a visit with his doctor scheduled anytime soon? It is my experience that when the diabetes gets under control the uric acid level drops into the normal range. So This is why I think it is important for him to see his doctor.
Susan,
Look for the carbs and try to keep them at 30 grams for most meals. Then add in your veggies. 2 cups of veggies (not starchy veggies!)