Dealing with doctors over your diabetes diet

Q: But doesn't this way of eating cost more?

A: It can actually work out cheaper! Carbohydrate foods such as potato crisps or bread and jam tend to be more readily available for snacks than meat and cheese. This can be a problem when you are eating what you are used to, and when well-meaning friends press such food on you. Sweet and starchy foods are also cheaper to buy as far as bulk is concerned. But you have to eat a lot more of these to supply the nutrients your body needs.

Eating this way can actually cost less. For example, at the time of writing, three peppers — one red, one yellow and one green, which is how supermarkets seem to sell them — cost the same as six extra-large eggs or six duck eggs. The better value in the eggs is demonstrated below:


                 Peppers   Eggs
Energy       150 cals    480 cals
Protein       5.7g        43.2g
Carb          35.4g       3.2g
Fat              0.0g       28.8g
Calcium      61.5mg    170.4mg

In other words, in energy terms and the length of time you can keep going until you start to get hungry, you would need to spend over three times as much on peppers as you would on eggs. And, as well as the nutrients listed, the eggs will also provide all the other nutrients your body needs.

And there is another aspect: Do you spend good money on slimming clubs and magazines? You would be better advised to spend that money on good wholesome food. It need not cost more than the membership fees. And by eating properly, you will not get hungry and are much less likely to snack on sweets — which will again reduce your costs.