TOPIC: I have a few questions

I have been trying to do the cycle diet for about a year off and on and feel like overall I eat healthy.  I have a few questions though because I am trying to start trying to follow the diet plan more consciously. For the past 2 months I have had terrible back aches, cramps, water weight gain, and low blood sugar about 2 weeks before my period. Which lately my cycle tends to be about 40-45 days long.  A typical  day of eating of mine includes  the following.. ( I have Celiac Disease)

Breakfast-  Rice Chex, Soy Milk, Blueberries, Flax meal, weak coffee- Multi-vitamin

Snack- whole natural almonds

Lunch- something like Pacific low sodium soup, flax and veggie chips hummus , carrots. One dove dark chocolate. Or something like an omelet with spinach and a piece of brown rice gluten free toast

Snack- apple- yo-plus yogurt

Dinner- Fish or chicken, risotto or rice and vegetable or fish tacos with corn tortillas, black beans, fat free sour cream.

Do you have any recommendations?

About the flax and fish oil supplements is it okay to eat the flax meal instead?

Is it too much to take a calcium supplement and get 3-4 servings of calcium?

Is one bite size dark chocolate a day okay? It doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup

Other than the snacks every 3-4 hours is there anything else you would recommend to help control low blood sugar? It tends to be worse right when I am about to start my period

[user=444]laurahill87[/user] wrote:

I have been trying to do the cycle diet for about a year off and on and feel like overall I eat healthy.  I have a few questions though because I am trying to start trying to follow the diet plan more consciously. For the past 2 months I have had terrible back aches, cramps, water weight gain, and low blood sugar about 2 weeks before my period. Which lately my cycle tends to be about 40-45 days long.  A typical  day of eating of mine includes  the following.. ( I have Celiac Disease)

Hi Laura, Good job for posting on the board, I hope it wasn't too difficult to do. I see you figured it out without a problem. I'm going to answer your questions in blue next to your food listing and move it into the blog section for more privacy in case you want to continue listing your foods and reactions with blood sugar and/or have more questions. 

Breakfast-  Rice Chex, Soy Milk, Blueberries, Flax meal, weak coffee- Multi-vitamin - The rice chex is very high on the glycemic index alone, adding unsweetened soy milk, blueberries and flax will help bring the GI levels down a bit, but you will have a better insulin response if you 1) choose a GF rice bran cereal, or whole grain GF cereal not as processed as rice chex. You're better to leave the Rice Chex in the follicular phase and go to omelets and verified GF oatmeal in the luteal phase- if you don't have a problem with oats. 2) Go for the unsweetened soy milk, you can add your own non-sugar type sweetener like stevia or agave.

Snack- whole natural almonds, I would add a few carrots with the almonds. for more vitamin A, C and fiber.

Lunch- something like Pacific low sodium soup,(add mixed vegetables to the soup) flax and veggie chips (what brand of veggie chips are these? some are not as healthy depending on how they're baked or fried and the oils they use, many use the same partially hydrogenated soy oil as potato chips)hummus , carrots. One dove dark chocolate. Or something like an omelet with spinach and a piece of brown rice gluten free toast. One piece of dark chocolate if fine, I'd maybe move the omelet with spinach to breakfast.

Snack- apple- yo-plus yogurt -this is good, just make sure there's not a lot of sugar in the yogurt....switch to plain and add your own non-sugar sweetener and fruit.

Dinner- Fish or chicken, risotto or rice (make sure this is brown rice- white rice and risotto are again fairly high on the glycemic index depending on how long you cook them) and vegetable or fish tacos with corn tortillas, black beans, fat free sour cream.

Do you have any recommendations?

About the flax and fish oil supplements is it okay to eat the flax meal instead? No, not really, you need a good combination. Many celiacs are short on the enzyme that converts ALA in flax to EPA the essencial fatty acid the brain needs, so it's best to add a fish oil capsule with dinner or food so you don't belch up plain fish oil. yuk.

Is it too much to take a calcium supplement and get 3-4 servings of calcium? Yes and no, it depends on how much is in the calcium source food. It needs to be a good source like your yogurt, a full cup of fortified soy milk. Most yogurts are a little short of the 300mg per serving so read the label.  Also you want  D3 instead of D2. From what you've written here it only looks like you're getting about 600mg so an additional calcium supplement of 400-600mg a day would be good. But be sure you're getting additional vitamin D3 as well.

Is one bite size dark chocolate a day okay? It doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup Yes, not a problem.

Other than the snacks every 3-4 hours is there anything else you would recommend to help control low blood sugar? It tends to be worse right when I am about to start my period. Yes, it seems higher estrogen levels increases insulin action and yes, you can watch the GI levels of all the foods you're eating and stay with more of the low to mid range. I have a handy link somewhere around here to a couple of food lists. I'll find it for you. Of course you'll need to avoid the gluten containing foods..
 

You might want to move a bit of your hummus to the times when you start to feel low blood sugar. Be sure and include more high nutritional vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, zucchini. And more nutritionally packed GF grains like quinoa, amaranth, and sorghum. These are all excellent sources in many B vitamins too.

I like this website, there are others but this one does a pretty good job explaning blood sugar and the low glycemic diet.

http://www.lowglycemicdiet.com/gifoodlist.html

ok I will consider eating a different cereal like Bob's Red Mill mighty hot cereal. Its made of buckwheat, corn, and brown rice.

Do you know any other cereal options are good? Is enjoy life granola okay? It has maybe 5g of fiber is it better in terms of GI level? I love cereal!! Unfortunately I am allergic to oats:(. So even the gluten free ones don't work for me.

The yo-plus yogurt says gluten free on it and has pro-biotic and 16g of sugar 110 calories, and 3g of fiber is that okay?

The brand of veggie and flax seed chips are Trader joes they are made of corn, flax, spinach, tomato powder, and sunflower or corn oil. I believe they are baked not fried.  They claim to have 500 mg of omega3's per serving and 3g of fiber.

Thanks so much for your help, I feel like I have so many questions!

[user=444]laurahill87[/user] wrote:

ok I will consider eating a different cereal like Bob's Red Mill mighty hot cereal. Its made of buckwheat, corn, and brown rice. Good choice

Do you know any other cereal options are good? Is enjoy life granola okay? It has maybe 5g of fiber is it better in terms of GI level? I love cereal!! I like Perky's flax and brown rice. You'll be okay with the sugar added cereals in the folliclar phase when you don't have a problem with low blood sugar. Stay away as best youcan from added sugar in the luteal phase. Even though your cereal has added omega 3's it's still proably ALA, not EPA/DHA.

Unfortunately I am allergic to oats:(. So even the gluten free ones don't work for me. Okay, sorry about that.

The yo-plus yogurt says gluten free on it and has pro-biotic and 16g of sugar 110 calories, and 3g of fiber is that okay? If you love this yogurt, save it for the follicular phase. Sixteen grams of sugar is quite a bit of sugar, plus when you add another 11-12 grams of carbohydrates from dairy the carbs add up to a fairly good insulin shot. Switch to plain GF yogurt (which has natural occurring pro-biotics) and add a non-sugar sweetener and berries and you eliminate the sugar and add a bit of fiber.

The brand of veggie and flax seed chips are Trader joes they are made of corn, flax, spinach, tomato powder, and sunflower or corn oil. I believe they are baked not fried.  They claim to have 500 mg of omega3's per serving and 3g of fiber. Try holding off on these chips...I hope you're not eating them on a daily basis. Corn oil and sunflower oil are high in omega 6, which could be the reason for your cramps, pain and possible depression. Omega 6 from soy, corn and sunflower oil needs also to be limited, especially in the luteal phase. A few sunflower seeds are fine, but not the oil. Look for veggie chips made with olive oil or even canola oilm which are lower in omega 6 and actually have a better omega3 profile. We eat entirely too much processed foods made with corn oils which is why we should balance it with more EPA/DHA omega 3's for better health and brain actvity.

Thanks so much for your help, I feel like I have so many questions!

You are so welcome....you just need to be more aware of what your foods are made of. They sound healthy when they add what's supposed to be good for us.

Read through a couple of these articles for better brain knowledge

Omega 6 and depression

How much omega 3 in fish

What are omega 3's , why are they important

 

Now Im so confused at what I am suppose to eat. Is Enjoy Life Granola considered okay? It has some sugar but good fiber.

As for the yogurt I dont love the yoplus. I just thought compared to regular yogurt it had less sugar. For instance the plain fat free yogurt from kroger has 17 grams of sugar for a cup. Do you have a brand you reccomend?

I do eat the chips on a regular basis it says on the bag how many grams of omega-3's that it has. Are omega 6's not good?

Could you give me an example of a days worth of meals. I have the work book but as for lunch goes I'm kinda lost.

[user=444]laurahill87[/user] wrote:

Now Im so confused at what I am suppose to eat. Don't worry, it takes a little while to get things straight in regards to reading the nutrition labels and knowing which brands are better. You're first goal is to avoid "added sugars" in the luteal phase in order to avoid insulin spikes which then lead to low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. When you read the ingredient list if the second or third ingredient is sugar than you know there's probably too much sugar in it. Plain yogurt is better than yogurt that has added sugar. Stonyfield Farms plain yogurt has 10 grams of sugar in a 1 cup/8oz serving. That's about 8 grams per 6 oz serving compared to the 16 grams in yo-plus. You only need to avoid added sugar the week prior to your period or the late luteal phase. It sounds like your insulin control is better before the late luteal phase, I'm not saying to avoid added sugar all of the time....however if you're showing signs of hypoglycemia now than you will probably want to have a fasting blood sugar test done to make sure you're not developing diabetes. You're probably aware multiple autoimmune diseases are very common in people with celiac. 

Is Enjoy Life Granola considered okay? It has some sugar but good fiber. yes, it's good! I'm sorry I didn't answer that question...in a hurry I guess.

As for the yogurt I don't love the yoplus. I just thought compared to regular yogurt it had less sugar. For instance the plain fat free yogurt from kroger has 17 grams of sugar for a cup. Do you have a brand you reccomend? Yes, Stonyfield farms plain is also certified gluten free.

I do eat the chips on a regular basis it says on the bag how many grams of omega-3's that it has. Are omega 6's not good? Please see the articles I posted links for you....good question with several answers but there are different forms of omega 3's not all are created equal, especially for anyone who happens to be pre-diabetic or celiac. There are also different forms of omega 6 which we are much more prevalent in US processed foods. We eat entirely too many omega 6's compared to the better forms of omega 3- EPA and DHA. Your chips may be what's causing you problems. Cut back on them. Again the omega 3 they are advertising on the label is ALA from flax, but there's really not that much of it.

Could you give me an example of a days worth of meals. I have the work book but as for lunch goes I'm kinda lost. I'd be more than happy to do this for you. Please order 1 private consult and I will e-mail you new menu plans tailored to your individual needs based on a GF and low glycemic luteal phase diet.

Thanks, I will stay away from the veggie chips that seemed to be a healthy option but aren't.

Mary's gone crackers don't seem to have any bad oils in them. I just like to have something to eat with like tuna salad or chicken salad.

I know most gluten free bread products are high on the GI level sometimes I make my own bread with bob's red mill gluten free wonderful bread mix it has brown rice flour, fava bean, and corn starch I know its probably higher on the GI but I usually just eat a piece at a time and with some protein which hopefuly helps.

Is this recipe better than the mix in terms of nutrition. I was thinking about trying it in my bread machiene would you replace anything like the starches? The flour blend includes brown rice, sorghum, and bean flour.

[*]1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour [/*]
[*]1/4 cup potato starch [/*]
[*]1/4 cup cornstarch [/*]
[*]1/4 cup flax seed meal [/*]
[*]2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum [/*]
[*]2 teaspoons active dry yeast [/*]
[*]1 teaspoon salt [/*]
[*]2 eggs [/*]
[*]2 water  or milk [/*]
[*]2 tablespoons honey [/*]
[*]2 teaspoons vinegar [/*]
Also I found my notebook for menu ideas! Thanks for offering to send me some I think I am starting to see I need to limit the high GI carbohydrates especially right before my period. And stay away from those chips;)

Is gum with aspartame ok to chew? I usually cannot eat anything with aspartame because it gives me a headache but I noticed sugar free gum contains it would you think the small amount in the gum could trigger problems?

Hi Laura,

The recipe you posted looks fine for gf bread. I do like a higher mixture of sorghum though. The bean flours are good too but kind of heavy. Do the best you can on getting a healthier bread, it's one of those last things that seem to come together. Quinoa and hemp flours if you can find them also make for higher protein (lower glycemic) breads. Might take a little getting used to though.

Is gum with aspartame ok to chew? I usually cannot eat anything with aspartame because it gives me a headache but I noticed sugar free gum contains it would you think the small amount in the gum could trigger problems?

Stay away from aspartame just for that reason. You might have a problem with many artificial sweeteners for that matter so be careful and watch for reactions. I haven't looked at gum for a while to see which ones are using aspartame, some are switching to other artificial sweeteners and xylitol. You may want to look at "truvia" made from stevia. Or any other sweetener made from rebiana. Coke is coming out with a new diet cola with rebiana that may be okay for people who react to aspartame. Stevia has been used for a very long time with very few problems.

I just wanted to update you I am feeling a lot better. Of course due to the holidays I haven't been perfect, but I have mostly been on track. I have noticed so far I am feeling better. I have started eating more omeletes and hot cereal for breakfast rather than the Rice chex. And I have tried to limit the chips that we talked about earlier.

I found some bars at the store the other day I didn't know if you would reccomended them to say keep in my purse for a snack or meal when I can't eat if there are no gluten free options. They are called think thin protein bars have you tried them or heard anything about them? I was going to get your opinion before I purchased any.

here is a link to there website http://www.thinkproducts.com/thin-chunky-peanut-butter.php