D.M. Becherer's Journal, 20 October 2018

Try liquorice tea, it's naturally sweet. Holland and Barrett do a fennel and liquorice one x 

Chai & chamomile are my favorites. They help keep me & stomach calmer. But I'll have to try that one , sounds good. My neighbor suggested stevia, says it's safe for diabetics because it doesn't cause blood sugar spikes or trigger migraines. That it's an herb, so it's safe. Is this info correct? Anyone tried this & know if it's true ? Or is it just another artificial sweetener?  

stevia is very strong tasting so you use less, but will not spike you if others don't. you can also try monkfruit in powder not granular form(the granular form does not melt well). just watch for fillers. since your neighbor has it try hers I have used it for years. 

I use Lakanto munk fruit and it doesn’t effect my sugar levels at all. I have tested before and after drinking it and it has no effect. It taste like regular sugar to me and I have had no side effects as all. 

I totally stay away from sorbitol -- its a laxative for my body. But stevia has never bothered me. 

Sorbitol is actually used as a laxative. 

I like Stevia, some people don't care for it. Aspartame triggers migraine headaches for me. Splenda taste good to me but I was told it causes issues with weight. 

I don't care for Stevia in hot drinks, but use it in baking, ice creams, etc. For hot drinks I like xylitol or erythritol, but both do have laxative effects if I use too much. My WOE is keto, so I use heavy whipping cream to my coffee and don't need sweetener with that. 

I have same problem with honey. (Only honey & stevia in our kitchen). I just can’t survive with NOTHING sweet; I even avoid bananas, pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, & melons - all have too many sugar carbs to keep blood sugar under control. 

Ok the stevias not bad, I think I can deal with it. I may still try monkfruit. Thanks for the help. I don't go back to my diabetic doctor til mid December, I definitely would have been cranky without coffee & tea. My A1C was 8.2 last time but my sister & her 3 kids were down . Every time I turned around it was lets get pizza, Chinese, or sandwiches. I admit I buckled , it was the only way to keep the peace. If I said I didn't want to go then my sister complained that I wasn't didn't want to spend time with her & kids. It would stress my mom & upset the kids so I went. If I tried to order separately then I was being picky & setting bad example for the kids by not eating what everyone else was. Same if I didn't want to eat a sandwich. My sugar levels are running a lot more lower numbers now. Hopefully Decembers A1C shows that I'm trying. I still have really bad days where I eat out with other family but nothing like before. I try to eat fairly good at home, but I haven't quite figured out the LCHF diet yet. Most of my carbs come from fruit or vegetables , & I still go over. Part to most of the time I can hit my protein, have trouble with the fats though. 50-60% fats, 35 % protein, 5-10% carbs. What do you eat to get that much fats?  

Bread has an immediate negative effect on my diabetes. I have had to skip fruits altogether to keep the carbs down, and the veggies I eat are mostly greens. Check Dietdoctor.com for some menus and recipes to help with Keto, and ways to increase the fats. When I started Keto June 1, my A1c was 8.5. It was 6.2 in September, and so far in October it is 6.7. For nearly 3 weeks while my sciatic nerve was killing me, the glucose readings were high, which is why the A1c went up. From my experience, I would suggest a daily vitamin and pay attention to getting magnesium. I am not a nutritionist, nurse, or doctor, so I am just speaking for how my body reacts to Keto. Every body is different, so you need to be tuned in to what your body tells you as you experiment with your way of eating. Best wishes for success! Social eating will get you every time, but sometimes you have to go with the flow! Then buckle down the next day. 

I love spinach, celery, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, eggplant, carrots. But I also eat a lot of onions, tri colored peppers, & tomatoes. So the menus & recipes will be helpful. Will take time & getting used to. Doctors have spent years telling me no butter, mayo, avocados, salad dressings its not healthy. Now it's you need to eat this stuff & ignore everything from before listen to the now. But they don't explain how to, just expect you to know. Thanks so much for directing to this site. 

it is pretty easy once you figure things out. fat is your friend as long as you are not eating carbs, just a totally different way of eating.  

D.M. Becherer, partly it's understanding the macros in various foods. I eat whole, unprocessed stuff as much as possible; and less than 1/4 of my plate is low-carb veggies. I use olive, coconut and avocado oils; butter; heavy whipping cream; and the fats in meats and fish. I avoid soybean and canola oils. Nuts are a great source of fats, especially pecans, macadamia, and almonds; peanuts and cashews are technically not nuts and have ore carbs. For a 140 lb woman, I was told to eat 11 to 13 ounces of protein foods, which translates to about 77 g protein daily; you may need more or less.