Low carb, low cholesterol, low time. What to eat?

March 13, 2007 11:00 AM

One person has high cholesterol. The other has type 2 diabetes. Both have no more than 30 minutes to cook and eat together. What do you recommend for breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

I should add that one hates fish, and both like spiciness/heat.

Yes, I intend to continue looking through the vast landscape of cookbooks, recipe databases and health communities. But AskMe food threads rarely disappoint, and I'm hoping you all will have some inspiring ideas, even in the face of this juxtaposition.

posted by gnomeloaf to food & drink (20 comments total)

Sounds like my parents. I don't live with them, and so I don't know what they eat on a day-to-day basis, but I know my mom's been getting a lot of recipes from the South Beach Diet cookbook lately. Check out The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less.
posted by amro at 11:15 AM on March 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oatmeal for breakfast?
posted by gramcracker at 11:19 AM on March 13, 2007

Salads, especially with a bunch of toppings available so each person can choose their own.

Actually, my wife and I generally make our own separate dinners and then eat them together. Inefficient in time, but very efficient in yumminess (and theoretically very efficient in health, though I in particular am not too good on that front).
posted by DU at 11:23 AM on March 13, 2007

I definitely recommend looking into either South Beach diet or Weight Watchers Core diet guidelines just for some general guidelines as to a way of eating that would be beneficial for both of you. Put the emphasis on whole foods, whole grains, lots of vegetables, lean protein, etc.

My 10 minute breakfast is sprouted-wheat toast topped with a little bit of light butter and a soft-boiled egg (you could use egg whites if you are concerned about the cholesterol, but high cholesterol isn't really caused by the cholesterol in your food) and a piece of fruit. Other quick, healthy breakfasts are lowfat cottage cheese topped with berries and a tbsp of chopped walnuts or almonds, or a slice of toast with peanut butter and some fruit.

Lunches should be easy - salads topped with grilled chicken and dressed with a homemade olive oil & vinegar dressing; soups with whole grain toast on the side; sandwiches made with whole grain bread and lean cold cuts.

My basic dinners are usually either some dhal (lentil) soup, turkey/veggie chili or fried rice made with brown rice and grilled chicken and lots of veggies. You could also use a crockpot to make quick, easy & healthy dinners - you can combine chicken breasts or boneless pork chops with a variety of vegetables and lowfat soups to create a ton of dishes that are based on lean protein & complex carbs without being high in fats or simple sugars. You could also make quick burritos with whole wheat or low carb tortillas and filling made out of lean ground meat (or chicken or turkey or veggie crumbles), light cheese, brown rice, beans, fat free refried beans, veggies, salsa, or whatever else you like.
posted by tastybrains at 11:37 AM on March 13, 2007

I'm kind of talking out of my ass, since I don't know much about diabetes, but from my understanding, the general rules for a healthy diet (complex carbs, "good" fats, etc) work well for both a diabetic and someone with high cholesterol.

If you search my posting history, you may think I work for them since I recommend them so often, but I swear I don't: EatingWell magazine has great, healthy recipes. They have a diabetic cookbook, and their website and magazine list nutritional profiles for each recipe such as "diabetes appropriate" and "low cholesterol". Some of their recipes are "Healthy in a Hurry", and are supposed to take less than 45 minutes.

I wouldn't let the fish-eater suffer because of the fish-hater. One of my favorite quick dinners is steamed fresh veggies and grilled, seasoned fish or chicken. So defrost a chicken breast for the fish-hater and a tilapia fillet for the fish-eater, and you're good to go.

It would be especially convenient if the person that liked fish was also the person with high cholesterol, since a nice fatty fish can help lower the bad stuff and raise the good stuff.

And while I'm generally not one to try and make someone eat something they don't like (and God help you if you try to make me eat an olive), as a former fish-hater and current fish-lover, I have to say that it's possible that they just haven't had a lot of good fish. I hate anything fishy tasting, but now I have fish (mostly salmon or tilapia) at least once a week.
posted by amarynth at 11:50 AM on March 13, 2007

Oh, and also it might be helpful to track what you eat using something like Sparkpeople or Fitday (both free). That way, you could say, "Well, I'm supposed to limit my blah to under x grams a day, and for breakfast, lunch and various snacks I've had y grams, so now I can eat this totally yummy thing for dinner without worrying about it."
posted by amarynth at 12:02 PM on March 13, 2007

Anne Lindsay is for you! Her recipes are designed for "heart-healthy" and diabetic eating. Each recipe is symbolically coded for the number of servings it contains, and nutritionally analysed. The everyday cookbooks have lots of quick and easy methods in them. My grandmother used them to cook for my diabetic grandfather, and I used them as a teenager helping out my single-parent mom. Good for health and easy-peasy.
posted by carmen at 12:19 PM on March 13, 2007

Make sure that the diabetic person is tested for proper kidney functioning before starting low carb diet such as the South Beach diet, or they could wind up with kidney failure real quick.
posted by Manjusri at 12:33 PM on March 13, 2007

black beans -- can be made spicy, find a recipe that appeals to you;
brown rice, sweet potatoes (good companion for the beans), or whole-wheat bread;
fresh boiled kale with a nice vinaigrette.

You can make all this in large batches ahead of time. Kale freezes well, even.
posted by amtho at 12:51 PM on March 13, 2007

Another vote for South Beach Diet, although I would pick up the main volume instead of (or in addition to) the recipe book - it fills you in on the principles of eating heart healthy, instead of just giving a bunch of examples.

Some specific ideas: lots of chicken; it stores easily after roasting or baking it in bulk. Lots of beans, of all sorts. Try replacing rice with quinoa, potatoes with sweet potatoes (although those are never gonna be quick), white bread with wheat in whatever recipes you already have.
posted by rkent at 3:23 PM on March 13, 2007

Although I had neither of the aforementioned problems, I had great success with the GI diet. It addresses both issues. It's pretty easy to follow, and easy to stick to. Has some nice recipes too.

I love homemade museli: rolled oats, fruits of your choice, some ground flax and skim milk (sub in soy or whatever milk substitute if you want). It's quick and cheap. You can add nuts and seeds if you want, but those can add a lot of calories.
posted by glip at 3:54 PM on March 13, 2007

Having a subscription to Cooking Light gets me more inspired to try new, light recipes. The website has recipes, too, but the subscription means that I get regular new ideas.
posted by theora55 at 4:07 PM on March 13, 2007

Type II here.

Have you tried the exchange program? It requires a bit of foreplanning (perfect for a Sunday morning, but it works wonders for laying what you should be eating and how much.

Crock pots are great cooking good food when you don't have a lot of time. Put a whole frozen pot roast or chicken (or beef) in it, cut up some veggies to cook with it and go about your day. Come home to ready made meal. Add a piece of bread for a starch and you're good to go.

Stir frying with a Wok also works well, though it requires bit more prep time for cutting stuff up (I do it in the morning before going to work). Pop everything in the wok for 15 minutes and it's done.

Hotdogs made from chicken or turkey good for snacks or meals, with a salad or cooked veggies.

Eating out--
Chinese food is good, as long as you don't eat all the rice that goes with it. Just a handful is good and most take out places are willing to spice it up on demand.

Subway works well for lunch, plus they've started selling apples as a side item.

Wendy's: a small cup of chili, a plain potato and a side salad is $3. Pour the chili over the potato and add hot sauce, YUM. They sell good salads too, but avoid their dressing, which is loaded with fat and instead add your own.


Some of the Chunky soups are surprising low in fat and cholesterol. Check'em out.

Back to the exchange list. I don't know how calories you should be eating each day or whether you guys can drink milk, but here's some stuff from a 2,000 calorie diet that's broken down into 40% carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat

Breafkast
1 starch - slice of whole wheat toast OR 1 4oz bagel or 1/4 cup of grape nuts or 1/2 sugar frosted cereal or 3/4 cup of plain, unsweetened ready to eat cereal or 1/2 cup of Shredded wheat

2meats- 2 fried eggs or 2oz of lean meat (any meat)

1 fat- 6 almonds (or cashews) or 10 peanuts or 1/2tbs of peanut butter

Free food: Coffee or tea.

Total of 30 grams of carbs .

It'll continue on with a midmorning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and late night snack. It takes more though and effort, but it can fit in what you're looking for.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:59 PM on March 13, 2007

For breakfast, I recommend:

1 cup Kashi Go Lean! cereal
1 cup skim milk
peaches or banana
coffee

I buy frozen peaches already sliced in bulk at the local food coop and top my cereal with them. Fast and delicious!
posted by kellygreen at 5:18 PM on March 13, 2007

Make sure that the diabetic person is tested for proper kidney functioning before starting low carb diet such as the South Beach diet, or they could wind up with kidney failure real quick.

No, they will not.
posted by docpops at 8:57 PM on March 13, 2007

Yes, they could. In point of fact, my father did. He was subsequently informed by his nephrologist that this was likely a contributing factor to his condition.
posted by Manjusri at 10:40 PM on March 13, 2007

My wife and I are the same combination.

No commercial diet plan is necessary. Just watch what you eat. Concentrate on eating slowly. Use small plates and small forks and spoons and practice rigorous portion control.

We improvise, using a non-stick pan, olive oil instead of butter and plenty of spices. Smoked paprika works wonders, So does a clove of garlic, sliced thin and sizzled briefly, not to mention a tablespoon or two of chopped fresh herbs. Finish off a meal with an apple and a small piece of cheese.

The body regulates its cholesterol level, and the high-cholesterol person needs to have it evaluated by a doctor and get on appropriate medication.

Is the diabetic partner on insulin? If so, ask your doctor about fast-acting products such as Humalog (which, unlike regular insulin, requires a prescription). I inject a small dose before meals (and, of course, watch what I eat). Current needles are so thin that you feel no pain at all. There are also relatively fast-acting oral medications.
posted by KRS at 4:26 AM on March 14, 2007

Manjusri, South Beach Diet's and other protein rich diets are not going to induce renal failure in someone unless they have extraordinarily tenuous kidney function from the start. These diets are more than anything a way of weaning persons from their carbohydrate cravings and introducing them to more lean sources of protein and fats.

My answer was more an objection to the inflammatory and hyperbolic tone of your comment.
posted by docpops at 7:34 AM on March 14, 2007

No, it wasn't. It was a false statement on a medical subject. That you read too much into my post is a feeble excuse.



"If you have kidney disease, physicians caution against eating high levels of protein, which can cause further damage to your kidneys, possibly leading to kidney failure."

"In people with mildly impaired kidney function, a high protein diet, especially one that is high in animal protein, such as meat, may quicken the decline of kidney function."

"Many Diabetics May Not Know They Have Kidney Disease."
posted by Manjusri at 3:29 PM on March 14, 2007

Cholesterol is a scam. I recommend the book "The Great Cholesterol Con" at http://www.thegreatcholesterolcon.com/ . I know the page looks like a get-rich-quick scheme, but it's really good stuff. Lots of reviews at amazon.
posted by realpseudonym at 1:59 AM on March 16, 2007