The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes

Dining out can be problematic for any kind of diet, but a low-carb diet can be especially challenging. If you desire to have a fighting chance at estimating accurate carbohydrate counts – and restraining yourself from carby splurges –  you’ll require a few tricks up your sleeve.

Review the Menu on-line in Advance

If I’m invited out to eat with someone, I do my best to investigate the restaurant they suggest to see if I’ll be capable to eat there. If you have the time, look up the restaurant online and review their menu to make sure they grant low-carb options.

If the restaurant in question don’t seem to offer a good option, don’t hesitate to let your friend(s) realize that you’d prefer a different choice. Don’t let peer pressure sabotage your diet!

Download an App for Low-Carb Eating Out

There are now many apps devoted to low-carb eating and nutrition tracking. You can use apps to find restaurants that will cater to your diet, to find the best choices at chain restaurants, and to track your carbs (and other nutrition inputs) throughout the day. Check the iPhone app store and Google Play, because new apps are developed all the time, and old ones are constantly adding new features. You can even use some apps to estimate the carbohydrate exultant of foods just by taking a pic of the plate!

Ask the Staff for Help

If you didn’t get a chance to inspect the menu online, you can explain your dietary issues to your server and ask their help to find something that’ll work. Sometimes the chef is willing to slightly modify a dish to make it more acceptable, as well. While some dishes cannot be amended, substitutions (like more veggies instead of potatoes) should be easy for the kitchen. Starting the conversation congenially (rather than confrontationally) means you’re more likely to be treated well and have your needs met.

Beware the Hidden Carbs

It’s comparatively easy to identify the most obvious carb-heavy foods: the big sweets and starches, such as potatoes, rice, pasta, bread and dessert. But carbs hide in other foods, sauces, and condiments, and when you’re eating out, you can’t know what a cook has added to achieve the desired flavor.

For instance, ketchup, marinara and many other sauces contain sugar or white flour. Chinese restaurants (in America) are notorious for coating foods in a sweet cornstarch slurry. And low-fat products  often replace the fat with sugar, to maintain flavor. Salad dressings are a prime culprit of hidden carbs. Even nuts have carbs, to varying degrees.

Ask for the Nutritional Information

Restaurants with multiple locations are much more likely to have nutritional information available. It’s a great idea to look this up before you arrive, as the information is easy to find on the internet, but may be unavailable at the restaurant itself. (It’s also often listen on gigantic PDFs that can be difficult to view on a smart phone.)

It can be harder to get that information in smaller establishments, or in buffet-style restaurants where portions are not controlled. You may be capable to get an ingredients list, at least, so you can look for things like rice flour or high fructose corn syrup, or other likely sources of hidden carbs.

Say No to Pre-Meal Bread

Decline the bread before the server sets it down on the table – if you’re dining with men and women who don’t mind, that is. If others do want bread, you’ll have to do your best to ignore it. Bread tastes great, but is it really how you want to spend your extremely limited carbohydrate count for the day? Is it worth the insulin you might need to inject, if you have diabetes? To keep low-carb, it’s an easy decision: pass on the bread.

Beware the Appetizers

Sweet, crunchy, and almost inevitable fried, the appetizer menu at most restaurants is a minefield for people avoiding carbs. Tread very carefully!

It’s also easy to inadvertently load up on carbs, even if you’re choosing the lowest-carb options at every stage of your meal, simply by eating too much. Consider not having an appetizer next time you eat out, in order to reduce the number of carbs in your overall meal.

Entree

When it comes to the entree, focus on the protein and the veggie. These are the two most important areas of your plate, so make sure your chosen restaurant has acceptable options.

Pay attention to the menu’s description of how the dish is prepared, cooked, and served, because again, many of the sauces that are served with entrees are loaded with carbs. Fried options are also going to be very carb-heavy, due to the flour in the breading.

Your best bet is to ask for your entree to be steamed, grilled, or boiled, and ask for the sauce to be served on the side. This gives you more control over how much (if any) you consume.

Also, consider asking for the “a la carte” option. Many restaurants will allow you to buy an entree without all the sides, but the servers won’t usually offer that as an option.

Sides

Sometimes the menu of sides can be pretty pathetic. Don’t you hate it when all you see are potato options and broccoli? It’s often the only green vegetable available as a side item.

When you’re hunting for acceptable sides, look through the whole menu and see if they’re serving something with another dish that’s not listed as a side but would work as a low-carb option, such as mushrooms with the steak. Try asking for that as a side.

Some restaurants are starting to realize people want more healthy options and are offering a wider variety of vegetables as sides.

Dessert

It’s really difficult to find low-carb dessert in a restaurant.

Beware the allure of “sugar-free” and “no sugar added” dessert options. Such a dish may still be loaded with carbs in the form of flour and other ingredients.

Try just having fruit for dessert, or split one of the more decadent options with a friend or partner. These are both ways to reduce your total carb count and still enjoy dessert.

It may be a pain, at times, to be a low-carber in this incredibly carb-focused society, but with a little effort, you can find delicious and satisfying ways to stick to your low-carb diet while eating out.

Photo Credit: Adobe deposit Photos and Crocodelicacy (Pixabay)

Diabetes Daily

The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes