Hiking with Diabetes
- Thread starter Baldy
- Start date
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
I take it your target is to keep the blood sugar level so that it's doesn't spike / drop?
You could have a nosey of the keto/low carb thread, which has a lot of food talk.
I sometimes use protein powder with MCT (coconut oil) powder, which is low carb.
Other options for breakfast are granola made with nuts & seeds, with full fat milk powder.
Eggs based dehydrated meals are usually low carb.
Biltong, smoked/dried sausages, nuts & seeds, cheese, dark chocolate.
There are also some keto bars, though I find them expensive and not that great. Internet is full of low carb/keto bar recipes.
I think mugshots would work, but you could up the fat/protein with olive oil and dried meat.
Making stir fries, stews and omitting the rice/pasta/noodles/potato, and then dehydrating them and reheating the bag.
Robb Wolf wrote a book: Wired to eat, which is about individual response to carbs, which might be helpful to read to find out what carbs you can eat 'safely' and that would help with your meal planning.
You could have a nosey of the keto/low carb thread, which has a lot of food talk.
I sometimes use protein powder with MCT (coconut oil) powder, which is low carb.
Other options for breakfast are granola made with nuts & seeds, with full fat milk powder.
Eggs based dehydrated meals are usually low carb.
Biltong, smoked/dried sausages, nuts & seeds, cheese, dark chocolate.
There are also some keto bars, though I find them expensive and not that great. Internet is full of low carb/keto bar recipes.
I think mugshots would work, but you could up the fat/protein with olive oil and dried meat.
Making stir fries, stews and omitting the rice/pasta/noodles/potato, and then dehydrating them and reheating the bag.
Robb Wolf wrote a book: Wired to eat, which is about individual response to carbs, which might be helpful to read to find out what carbs you can eat 'safely' and that would help with your meal planning.
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
CGM, continuous glucose monitor. They are handy and you can wear one for 14 days. A bit pricey though, last time I checked.
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
If he gets it through NHS, it might be cheaper.
Most CGMs available for public are around £100, when I checked last time. I don't have diabetes, but I have monitored my glucose & ketones over the years for extended periods with blood samples, but it gets annoying after a while.
Teepee
Thru Hiker
The Ketogenic and low carb diets have gained popularity for controlling insulin resistance/pre-diabetes and diabetes type 2.
Anectdotally, my uncle completely reversed his type 2 diabetes back in the 80's on a low carb diet. My dad reversed his pre-diabetes and I have
reversed my pre-diabetes.
Personally, I started on keto and now cycle between low carb, intermittent fasting and ketogenic. I also cut out all processed foods completely and won't eat anything with preservatives in. It's all proper food. Bread and wheat got binned too, along with milk.
It was a real eye opening experience at first finding out just how much crap food I used to eat and is sold in supermarkets. Whole aisles in the supermarket are now(happily) skipped.
Opposite to what I feared, it's actually made my pack meals vastly easier. Also, lighter and smaller. Snacks are now not needed and I'll run all day on no food quite happily.
Staples are easily swapped for dried veg. Dried meat, eggs, ,berries, fish, nuts, quality fats, cheese, dark chocolate are all on the menu.
Anectdotally, my uncle completely reversed his type 2 diabetes back in the 80's on a low carb diet. My dad reversed his pre-diabetes and I have
reversed my pre-diabetes.
Personally, I started on keto and now cycle between low carb, intermittent fasting and ketogenic. I also cut out all processed foods completely and won't eat anything with preservatives in. It's all proper food. Bread and wheat got binned too, along with milk.
It was a real eye opening experience at first finding out just how much crap food I used to eat and is sold in supermarkets. Whole aisles in the supermarket are now(happily) skipped.
Opposite to what I feared, it's actually made my pack meals vastly easier. Also, lighter and smaller. Snacks are now not needed and I'll run all day on no food quite happily.
Staples are easily swapped for dried veg. Dried meat, eggs, ,berries, fish, nuts, quality fats, cheese, dark chocolate are all on the menu.
AmateurHiker
Trail Blazer
Impressive. I am gluten intolerant so no bread/wheat and probably milk intolerant but struggle to give up the milk. Love my tea and cappuccinos too much with milk. Have tried alternatives. Can’t find a herbal tea I like.
The hard part is finding anything to eat at cafes on a hike. Do you just take everything with you?
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
If the cafe does breakfast, just have bacon, eggs & salad or veggies.
Teepee
Thru Hiker
Herbal teas used to taste watery, always disappointing. After a year of no sugar and artificial flavour enhancers, they started tasting really good and full of flavour.
I couldn't drink black coffee either, now don't even fancy coffee with cream in. It's all black. Black tea too, I love it all now.
Yes, everything gets taken.....but that's not new. I've never been a cafe person. I can quite happily sit there watching people scoff cake down and not even fancy eating it.
Milk was interesting. I've always liked it. 6 months into keto, I had a white tea. The stomach cramps were terrible, felt ill and bloated for hours. A few repeats afterwards and it did the same thing every time. Other dairy is all fine but milk is now rather unappealling.
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
Sometimes the issue is with the type of protein in the milk. There's A1 and A2 and some people are better with the one than the other.
Robert P
Thru Hiker
It is probably difficult to be too specific, as it will depend on whether Type I or II diabetes, how it is being managed and how well controlled.
Personally as someone with Type II diabetes, well controlled by diet and exercise only, I’ve eliminated adding salt or sugar to my food, avoid sugary foods and try to find foods with low glycaemic index (GI). I only just made it into the diabetes category so what works for me may not be appropriate for others.
For backpacking I may be a little more relaxed about what I eat, due to the level of activity. A lot of purpose made backpacking meals have a lot of sugar so if using these I do check before buying. Carbohydrates and fats tend to be very high too. I tend to use supermarket pasta and sauce packets, supplemented with Tuna or foil packs of olives. The packets are probably not great, but may be a bit better than the commercial freeze dried meals. Wholemeal pasta would be good but it would need to simmer for too long. For snacks I typically have eg oatcakes, cashew nuts, 90% cocoa chocolate, cheese, pepperami. There is probably too much fat here really but difficult to find non sugary non perishable snacks. Most snack bars and porridge sachets have shocking amounts of sugar. I avoid dried fruit (high GI).
edh
Thru Hiker
I'd consult a professional nutritionist.
AmateurHiker
Trail Blazer
Deep down, I know it’s getting over that hurdle, like I did with gluten. Just hate black coffee - so bitter. Interestingly when I’m ill I can’t drink milk at all. Hmm, maybe this year I bite the bullet. Argh!
Odd Man
Thru Hiker
If the coffee is bitter, than it's not great coffee or done incrrectly generally. I don't really drink coffee much, but when in Italy or Spain, I'll have espresso because there it's usually strong but not bitter. Many places in the UK, I have to add sugar to make the espresso pleasant, which means the coffee is not great or it's burnt. This obvs is not about instant coffee, which I don't drink at all.
Teepee
Thru Hiker
On a related note, coffee is quite useful for decreasing liver damage (related to insulin resistance/type 2) from year of eating the wrong/too much food/alcohol.
https://hrjournal.net/article/view/3696
https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/wp...h-benefits-of-coffee-BLT-report-June-2016.pdf
https://hrjournal.net/article/view/3696
https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/wp...h-benefits-of-coffee-BLT-report-June-2016.pdf
Run_Hike_Meat_Repeat
Section Hiker
#carnivorediet
Hd8ekownio24ugh5
Thru Hiker
For what it's worth I'd seek out a Dietician over a nutritionist. Not quite the same thing. Good luck.Done
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WilliamC
Thru Hiker
Maybe it's because I haven't had my morning coffee yet, but this article appears to be written rather confusingly.
However, it seems to show that black coffee had a negative effect if you drink it on an empty stomach after a poor night's sleep and then drink a sugary drink half an hour later.
Maybe miss out the sugary drink?
What happens if you got a good night's sleep?
What happens if you drink milky coffee?
Baldy
Thru Hiker
Type 2
Recently diagnosed but doing well so far as regards the obvious stuff.