Living with Type 1 Diabetes & Coeliac Disease - part 2

Here's part 2 (of 3) of Sally's story about managing coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes...

Easy GF sandwich alternative

In my last post I spoke about having the ‘double whammy’ of type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease and how it has inspired me to become a dietitian to help others to manage similar conditions. I discussed the importance of understanding how to carbohydrate count (this is something I didn’t fully appreciate until becoming a dietitian!) to improve your diabetes control. I also discussed how I manage my breakfast on a day-to-day basis, so now I’ll share some lunchtime tips with you.

For lunches away from home it is especially important to be organised and have planned to know whether there will be gluten free (GF) carbohydrates available, or be prepared to have a carbohydrate free lunch such as grilled fish/meat and salad. This is an option that I often take when in doubt of the GF quality of where I am eating. In this case, as there is no carbohydrate being eaten, I just don’t take any insulin with the meal.

When it comes to taking my lunch with me, I used to enjoy gourmet sandwiches before I needed GF, and now I find sandwiches to be a poor option due to both quality and size of GF breads for sandwich purposes. So, instead I make up batches of Mediterranean flavoured risotto cakes and savoury muffins with low-fat, high fibre tasty ingredients. These can be frozen (12 in a batch) and therefore make packing a lunch very easy. I tend to use the Melinda’s brand of gluten free pre-mix muffin and risotto cakes and adjust them with the low-fat/tasty ingredients. For instance I use a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in place of butter, I use low-fat cheese options and I try to add high fibre ingredients to lower the GI and improve the texture of the finished product.

Melinda's GF muffin & risotto cakes

My friends are often envious of my tasty and filling morsels. My diabetes tip with the Melinda’s brand is that I have found them to overestimate the carbohydrate/serve on the nutrition information label. The risotto cakes label lists 41.6g carbohydrate/serve (nearly 3 carbohydrate serves), however in my experience it’s closer to 30g carbohydrate/serve (only 2 carbohydrate serves). You will need to be careful, as with all foods, to be familiar with how the product affects your BGL to avoid unnecessary high or low fluctuations in your BGLs.

Editor's note:

Thanks Sally, and great tips on how to make gluten free pre-mixes healthier with a few modifications to the ingredients list! Next week is our last week with Sal, where she'll talk about how to manage hypos and will give you some final take home messages. Stay tuned!