# Beans on toast!



## lucy123

Hi 

A probably silly question I know but I had beans on toast for tea last night after playing tennis for 2.5 hours. After tennis I was 5.9 and quite pleased with it.

I then had 2 slices granary bread with low fat spread and half a tin of heinz low salt baked beans at around 7.30pm

By 9pm I had a corker of a headache (have had them in the past and always thought they were migraines - but now am associating with when sugars are higher). i also felt quick sick and nauseous.

I tested again and was 12.2 (never been that high). It stayed at this level then a few hours later dropped to 10.3 and then 9.9 I fell asleep. This was about midnight. This morning I was 5.9 - lower than normally.

Is this associated with beans on toast - is this not a good thing to have - I thought I was being good, and am doing everything possible to keep figures down low.

Any ideas?


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## Caroline

Might be the beans. Some have quite a lot of sugar in them. Beans will make some people spike and others not.

I hope you feel better.


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## richardq

I eat quite a lot of beans on toast, and it never seems to cause me any problems, in fact I've just had some for lunch with a poached egg.  

The dietician said that baked beans are excellent, so I would think that something else would be a factor here.

I was 7.3 before lunch, so will retest shortly and let you know.


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## lucy123

Thanks _ i never knew that.
We learn every day.


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## AlisonM

I think baked beans have quite a lot of sugar in them. It may have been that. My idiot doctor suggested rinsing off the sauce! But what's the point in that? If you can find a low sugar version maybe you could try that.


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## Northerner

Hi Lucy, beans on toast are normally considered a good meal. It sounds like the 12.2 was the peak of your blood sugar, which is quite high in relation to your pre-meal level, but then it took a while to drop and didn't drop back to your pre-meal level, which you might normally expect.

It's hard to say why this should happen. I'd suggest repeating the meal, testing at the same times afterwards, and see what results you get. If they are similar then it may be that this is a meal you need to avoid as it 'spikes' you. If the results are OK, then it may have been due to other factors - possibly an after effect of the exercise ( my levels often rise in the hours after exercise, then fall back to normal later). 

I'm afraid there is a lot of trial and error that goes on, particularly to begin with - even then things don't always 'behave' as expected!


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## Caroline

Beans do have a lot of good points too, they are high in fibre and count as a portion from the five a day fruit and veg. I try to get low salt low sugar one where I can for my self.


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## richardq

7.3 before lunch, aprox 1/2 can heinz baked beans on 2 slices wholemeal toast with light sunflower spread and a poached egg.

9.2 70 minutes later.  Will have another look after another hour.


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## lucy123

Thanks Richard for testing for me.
Thanks to the rest of you all too.
Northerner I like the trial and error idea - not really thought of that - how silly of me.

You know what I shall rant about now though - if I had never tested I wouldn't have known why I had a cracker headache and other symptoms and may now find out beans on toast doesn't help my sugars - and my nurse says I should NEVER test!!  AArgh


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## richardq

7.2 again two hours after lunch.


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## lucy123

sorry for being thick here Richard - so what does that tell  you?


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## KayC

lucy123 said:


> You know what I shall rant about now though - if I had never tested I wouldn't have known why I had a cracker headache and other symptoms and may now find out beans on toast doesn't help my sugars - and my nurse says I should NEVER test!!  AArgh



I feel exactly the same.  
Because I was diagnosed with T1 first and then changed to T2, I still have test strips on prescription. (Soon to be taken away, maybe?)  Without experiments, how can I know what to eat and how much to eat????
Beans on toast doesn't have much effect on me. Perhaps it's because I eat dry one without a lot of sauce...


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## richardq

As far as I know, and I'm sure someone will correct me on this when I get it hopelessly wrong, the insulin that I took at luchtime is matched quite well with the lunch that I had, and therefore my body is processing the sugar at a sensible rate.  The matching with insulin isn't very helpful to you as a T2, but the figures tell me that the meal didn't release the sugars really quickly which would be more helpful to you as a T2.


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## richardq

I don't think that I explained that very well at all... with a bit of luck, someone will come and explain the whole situation a whole lot more clearly.


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## sofaraway

Yeah you are right Richard it means that your dose of insulin for lunch was correct, type 1's aim to be below 9.0, 2 hours after meals, thats whats in the NICE guidance.

It might have been the bread that spiked you Lucy, maybe trying with 1 slice of bread and seeing how that works out.


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## newbs

Hi, although baked beans do cause my blood sugar to rise I have more of a problem with some granary breads so would advise you to maybe try different types as some have a lot more sugar in than others.  Wholemeal bread works a lot better for me than granary (although I do prefer granary).  1/2 tin of baked beans isn't a lot so wouldn't think would affect your levels that much.


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## simonrudd

KayC said:


> I feel exactly the same.
> Because I was diagnosed with T1 first and then changed to T2, I still have test strips on prescription. (Soon to be taken away, maybe?)  Without experiments, how can I know what to eat and how much to eat????
> Beans on toast doesn't have much effect on me. Perhaps it's because I eat dry one without a lot of sauce...



Can i ask why your test strips maybe taken away?? i thought self testing was a good idea??


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## richardq

granary breads often contain caramel and caramalised grains, along with wheat flakes that are allowed to ferment slightly to change starch to sugar and make the loaf sweeter.  Even though they are 'wholemeal', they can make your BG level rise more quickly because they have more quick acting sugars.


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## lyndasw

richardq said:


> granary breads often contain caramel and caramalised grains, along with wheat flakes that are allowed to ferment slightly to change starch to sugar and make the loaf sweeter.  Even though they are 'wholemeal', they can make your BG level rise more quickly because they have more quick acting sugars.



I didnt know that about granary bread.  Wholemeal makes my BG level rise quickly too - white is an absolute no no think I might have to give up bread at this rate


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## Northerner

lyndasw said:


> I didnt know that about granary bread.  Wholemeal makes my BG level rise quickly too - white is an absolute no no think I might have to give up bread at this rate



Wholemeal bread has a similar GI to white bread, so should have a similar effect on levels. I think the terms wholemeal and wholegrain are often confused. Wholemeal is generally regarded as a healthier alternative to white bread because more of the nutrients are retained, but it is still highly refined. Wholegrain bread has much of the starch locked up in the grains, so this takes much longer to break down into glucose and should have a smoother profile. However, as we all know, there are no hard and fast rules, only guidelines and we may react quite contrary to expectations!

Here's another poem 'Low GI bread' 

http://diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/05/low-gi-bread.html


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## KayC

simonrudd said:


> Can i ask why your test strips maybe taken away?? i thought self testing was a good idea??



Because I've found out that many (or all?) T2 people don't have test strips on prescription, from some posts I read on this forum.
I wondered why I'm still supplied with them, and now think that it's because my diagnosis used to be T1.  I'm still under the care of a big hospital so my local surgery,who supplies tablets and equipment, haven't been informed that I'm T2.
That's my guess, anyway.

btw Simon, we've found you here!!!
HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR DOCTOR????????!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry this is the first time I shouted at a person I don't know well!


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## simonrudd

thats really weird - my surgery prescribed test sticks and lancets to me - i've only had a couple of refills so far but i hope they don't take them away - i'm only just starting to get the hang of self testing


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## KayC

simonrudd said:


> thats really weird - my surgery prescribed test sticks and lancets to me - i've only had a couple of refills so far but i hope they don't take them away - i'm only just starting to get the hang of self testing


Hi Simon, I'm still a newbie, so please don't believe what I said.....It would never happen to you!  If my GP says he is not giving me test strips any more, I will firmly tell him that I need them to take good care of myself.


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## lanzlady

I love beans on toast but was told by my GP not to have them as a small
can contains 6 teaspoons of sugar! had to laugh Alison about rinsing the sauce off them has your GP tried them like that


Lanzlady


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## richardq

My dietician said that baked beans were great... (which is fine by me!) sauce rinsing never mentioned!


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## lanzlady

Hi Richard,

isn't strange how the medical profession can be so different in their advice I haven't touched them since Jan this year maybe I will give them a try again 
and then test.



Lanzlady


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## Emzi

Beans and toast is always a winner for me, i do find that after any exercise my bloods go sky high and then drop after and i usually need a piece of fruit before bed to make them level again 

Em


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## richardq

It is very strange how asking different parts of the NHS seems to give you different answers.  I confessed to mashed potato (about the worst form of carbs for spikes apparantly) with sausage and beans, and the dietician said that was fine, as the beans were so low GI that it would compensate for the mash...


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## Jill

Emzi said:


> Beans and toast is always a winner for me, i do find that after any exercise my bloods go sky high and then drop after and i usually need a piece of fruit before bed to make them level again
> 
> Em



Why do the experts recommend exercise if it increases blood sugars?  I thought it was supposed to lower it.  I'm so confused with all this.


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## Northerner

Jill said:


> Why do the experts recommend exercise if it increases blood sugars?  I thought it was supposed to lower it.  I'm so confused with all this.



What can happen is that stress hormones like cortisol and adrenalin can be (depending on the exercise intensity and type) produced during exercise which cause the liver to release glucose and raise levels. However, the cells of the body become more insulin sensitive because of the exercise, so more of the glucose is taken up, which causes levels to fall again! Also, the liver will seek to replenish its stores of glucose after depleting it during exercise so this removes more glucose from the blood.

The net effect of all this is that exercise generally lowers levels and (for those pumping or injecting) less insulin is needed.

If you try exercising when your levels are too high, you may not have enough insulin to process the glucose, so it can rise higher (usually for those on insulin).

It's complicated!


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## Jill

Northerner said:


> What can happen is that stress hormones like cortisol and adrenalin can be (depending on the exercise intensity and type) produced during exercise which cause the liver to release glucose and raise levels. However, the cells of the body become more insulin sensitive because of the exercise, so more of the glucose is taken up, which causes levels to fall again! Also, the liver will seek to replenish its stores of glucose after depleting it during exercise so this removes more glucose from the blood.
> 
> The net effect of all this is that exercise generally lowers levels and (for those pumping or injecting) less insulin is needed.
> 
> If you try exercising when your levels are too high, you may not have enough insulin to process the glucose, so it can rise higher (usually for those on insulin).
> 
> It's complicated!



Northener - once again I'm indebted to you for your help.  Yes, it is complicated but you have explained it very well for me.  Thank you.  Jill


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## WHT

lanzlady said:


> I love beans on toast but was told by my GP not to have them as a small
> can contains 6 teaspoons of sugar! had to laugh Alison about rinsing the sauce off them has your GP tried them like that
> 
> 
> Lanzlady


EXACTLY!!! LOL! I love beans on toast with cheese and poached egg. Now I don't do the toast and instead have polenta, beans and mushrooms.


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## JimBear

When I am carb counting, I only count half the carbs for baked beans (essentially, the sugar in the sauce), as the carbs in the beans themselves take a long time to release and I end up hypoing if I count the full amount.

The bags bread comes in should have the nutritional info on them, but if it's a baker's loaf, you should be able to contact them and ask them for the nutritional information. I have done that with the supermarket bakery to find out what the carbs are in their split tins (white bread), but I prefer the pre-packed granary loaves for sarnies. I don't weigh the brown bread as it's about right per slice, but the white I always weigh each slice (before toasting!)


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## Drummer

Beans on toast are just too many carbs piled on too many carbs for me - I saw that you have medication - but beans on toast is not a meal I would ever consider having even if there was nothing else to eat.


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## Hepato-pancreato

Beans on toast & whiskey for our Prime Minister after a hard Brexiting!!!


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## KARNAK

Beans on toast my BGM he say High .


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## Matt Cycle

Beans on toast with brown sauce.  Delicious.   You can make your own beans in tomato sauce and it's up to you what you put in it.  I don't do that myself I just open a tin.


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## Caz73

Can I also the question about exercise.  Went out for a jog Sunday evening (first one since diagnoses 6 weeks ago) felt great as have lost over a stone came back showered and tested and bloods where 10.1 after being a consistent level of btn 5-6 for the last 2 weeks.  I thought exercise is meant to lower them? When I go out walking my bloods are low so not sure why they were up after my jog?


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## DatGuyRhodesyYT

Caz73 said:


> Can I also the question about exercise.  Went out for a jog Sunday evening (first one since diagnoses 6 weeks ago) felt great as have lost over a stone came back showered and tested and bloods where 10.1 after being a consistent level of btn 5-6 for the last 2 weeks.  I thought exercise is meant to lower them? When I go out walking my bloods are low so not sure why they were up after my jog?



THE ANSWER TO EXECRISE IS DO SOME


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## Drummer

Caz73 said:


> Can I also the question about exercise.  Went out for a jog Sunday evening (first one since diagnoses 6 weeks ago) felt great as have lost over a stone came back showered and tested and bloods where 10.1 after being a consistent level of btn 5-6 for the last 2 weeks.  I thought exercise is meant to lower them? When I go out walking my bloods are low so not sure why they were up after my jog?


No - exercise releases glucose for the muscles to absorb as they use up their own supplies/
A higher level of fitness and a more in balance metabolism, perhaps resulting in lower insulin resistance will, in the end mean that the glucose is sucked out of the bloodstream fasterso the higher levels aren't 'caught' by the testing - but at the moment I suspect that it is just a matter of keeping on doing things to become more like those little ancestors of ours who were very active, travelled around/ran away quite a lot and did not have a fridge full of food on hand.


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## Peatie58

KayC said:


> I feel exactly the same.
> Because I was diagnosed with T1 first and then changed to T2, I still have test strips on prescription. (Soon to be taken away, maybe?)  Without experiments, how can I know what to eat and how much to eat????
> Beans on toast doesn't have much effect on me. Perhaps it's because I eat dry one without a lot of sauce...


How long were you type 1 before they said you were type 2


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## Peatie58

Just been busy bloods 4.0 knew they were going low had beans on toast will retest in 2 hours still hungry brown bread and 57 beans ,which is something I never would have eaten, busy so fast food feel like I’ve never eaten so much rubbish since I’ve been on insulin 34 days I miss my puddings


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## Peatie58

Peatie58 said:


> Just been busy bloods 4.0 knew they were going low had beans on toast will retest in 2 hours still hungry brown bread and 57 beans ,which is something I never would have eaten, busy so fast food feel like I’ve never eaten so much rubbish since I’ve been on insulin 34 days I miss my puddings


Just done bloods 9.0 after 2 hours think that’s ok


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## silentsquirrel

Peatie58 said:


> How long were you type 1 before they said you were type 2


KayC's post was in 2010, and I am not aware that she has been on the forum in recent years, so I doubt if you will get a reply!


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## Peatie58

never looked at dates ,but I won’t be eating them for dinner again anytime soon just done another reading 3.6 start again so much to learn. Many thanks


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## everydayupsanddowns

Peatie58 said:


> never looked at dates ,but I won’t be eating them for dinner again anytime soon just done another reading 3.6 start again so much to learn. Many thanks



Sounds like you are finding it tricky in the early weeks @Peatie58.

I suspect your readings may have been influenced initially by the sugar in the sauce, (jumping from 4-9 is quite a leap) but then as the insulin continued to work carb count of the beans may have fooled you, because (depending on the individual) some of the carbs in pulses may not be absorbed. 

Are you carb counting and varying your doses to match different meals?


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## Peatie58

Not doing any carb counting, just learning but had quite a lot of hypos spoke to nurse, now reducing insulin on 6 nova rapid 11 glargine took rapid down to 5 (after reading ) but was scared to go lower waiting to see doctor   (37days) I had been ill for about 8 months thought it was my thyroid got taken into hospital,  dka not that I knew what that was again learning so now praying I have type 2 so reducing insulin breakfast see how it goes thanks for replying


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## everydayupsanddowns

Peatie58 said:


> Not doing any carb counting, just learning but had quite a lot of hypos spoke to nurse, now reducing insulin on 6 nova rapid 11 glargine took rapid down to 5 (after reading ) but was scared to go lower waiting to see doctor   (37days) I had been ill for about 8 months thought it was my thyroid got taken into hospital,  dka not that I knew what that was again learning so now praying I have type 2 so reducing insulin breakfast see how it goes thanks for replying



Sorry you’ve got such a wait to see your HCPs 

It may be that your remaining islet cells have perked up a little with the support of the insulin you are injecting. 

If you are worried about hypos, it might be helpful to begin to get your head around the relationship between carbs and insulin (and activity... and illnesss... and and and...). 

Diabetes UK have some information to get you started here: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-t...ts-of-carb-counting/learn-about-carb-counting

Or you could take this online education course from Bournemouth’s diabetes service called ‘Bertie’, which is very like the popular 5-day DAFNE course
http://www.bertieonline.org.uk/


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## Peatie58

Thx so much will look into Bertie, have so much to learn


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## Bodegit674

Try freezing your bread overnight then use when defrosted, freezing bread lowers Gl is 31 per cent lower,please google this before you do this to get all available facts.


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## Drummer

Bodegit674 said:


> Try freezing your bread overnight then use when defrosted, freezing bread lowers Gl is 31 per cent lower,please google this before you do this to get all available facts.


Unfortunately this does absolutely nothing for my levels - I think all these 'more difficult to digest claims' simply encourage my gut to prove them wrong.
I do from time to time buy Livlife bread, but it is vary rare and since I got the waffle maker and can make 'chaffles' now. Try a bacon 'chaffy' and you might never even think about beans on toast again.


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## Bodegit674

Drummer said:


> Unfortunately this does absolutely nothing for my levels - I think all these 'more difficult to digest claims' simply encourage my gut to prove them wrong.
> I do from time to time buy Livlife bread, but it is vary rare and since I got the waffle maker and can make 'chaffles' now. Try a bacon 'chaffy' and you might never even think about beans on toast again.


What is chaffles


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## Drummer

Waffles made from cheese and eggs, with a few minor additions, They can be used hot, to make a low carb bacon butty, or cold as sandwich wraps.
If you search online for chaffles you should get a considerable number of hits.


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## rebrascora

Gosh, reading through this thread from the beginning, the naivity of those early posts is quite shocking (10 years ago I know but still) .... all talking about sugar.... sugar in the beans, caramelized sugar in the granary bread .... it is like they are ignoring the elephant in the room in that the beans themselves are rich in carbs, the sauce is rich in carbs and the bread is rich in carbs.... Beans on toast is a very carb rich meal and not at all surprising that it spikes peoples BG levels!


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## Ditto

Plus Type 1s chatting along with Type 2s as if it was all the same ailment! We tend to self-segregate now I think when it comes to foodie advice.


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## rebrascora

Ditto said:


> Plus Type 1s chatting along with Type 2s as if it was all the same ailment! We tend to self-segregate now I think when it comes to foodie advice.


Yes, it didn't help with clarifying the situation at all did it. Interesting to see how the forum has morphed in the way it operates as well as the change in ideas about carbs, particularly for the likes of myself who is relatively new to diabetes and the forum... I am not being in any way critical and in fact I am sure that the sharing of information through the forum has resulted in much more knowledgeable approach to Type 2 diet and how to tailor it.... 
Makes you wonder how the advice we currently share will be perceived in another 10 years though!


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## Paulbreen

Half a can of hienz baked beans has 25.9g of carbs so not terrible bad 2 slices of granary bread will have 35-40g of carbs so combined it’s a pretty hefty carb meal in simplistic terms


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## NotWorriedAtAll

I was reading the early posts and my eyebrows were shooting up higher and higher!
Baked beans have a definite effect on my blood sugars and I know even half a slice of 'ordinary' bread sends my levels into the ten - twelve area! Both together and I dread to think where I'd be.

I am glad knowledge and experience has moved forwards since then - this forum has been massively helpful for me and it makes me very anxious to think of people not having good information to help them make the right decisions for their situations.

I'm still trying to keep to below 20g a day and probably hitting around 25 - 30 unless I am super strict.

That said - I do enjoy a couple of slices of toast and happily I can have them now since I started making my own fibre based yeast bread and they don't have much of an effect - maybe move my levels by around 1 - 1.5 depending on what I have with them and no effect at all if all I do is have them with butter.

I've been experimenting today with making keto-friendly candied citrus peel so I can make a keto-friendly Christmas cake. So far so good. It is a little bit bitter because of the pith but I think that will disappear when I add it into the cake mix. 

I have another delivery of clementines arriving tomorrow from Spain and I am looking forward to making clementine cake and some clementine marmalade using stevia. Also getting some stevia powder as it turns out that is the secret to making keto chocolate that doesn't taste like poison. If that works I will make some chocolate covered almonds, ginger, strawberries and clementine segments for my Christmas treats.


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## Veenorthants

Drummer said:


> Waffles made from cheese and eggs, with a few minor additions, They can be used hot, to make a low carb bacon butty, or cold as sandwich wraps.
> If you search online for chaffles you should get a considerable number of hits.


I have never heard of these, I need to go and buy a waffle maker


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## trophywench

I must also do this, cos they sound really lovely to me,  since we already have a waffle iron you just put straight on the gas but I gave up making em years since cos we were both eating far too much sweet stuff at the time!


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## NotWorriedAtAll

This is a bit of a hack for making waffles without using a waffle iron/waffle machine.

I already had this as I bought it to use in my halogen for roasting and cooking bacon and I'd cut it into a few pieces as it is a big sheet and I use it in my oven and I use pieces of it for making polymer clay beads as well.

It is a silicone sheet. I had a small rectangular piece left over from when I cut this up for my halogen and I cut it into two smallish square pieces and put them in my halogen to heat up to 230C then I made a keto batter mix using egg and almond and coconut flour and a bit of vanilla and xanthan gum and baking powder.

Then when the sheets were pre heated I removed one from the oven turned the one so the bubbles were upward and poured batter mix onto the sheet and then popped the other sheet bubble side down on top. I then put the lid back on the halogen oven back on and left it for five to ten minutes.

Then I carefully removed the top silicone bubble sheet off the top and let the halogen cook it all a little bit longer to get a nice brown surface and then gently lifted the bottom sheet out and I had a waffle!

I repeated the process until all the mix was used up and it worked fine!






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