Are Ryvita good carbs or bad cards?

They are 6.7g per crispbread and only 0.1g of fat for the 34 calories.

While it does not mention this is the BSD book, many people on the forum have looked into the science behind the BSD and similar programs, so realise that the secret to success if you have a lot of weight to loose is to monitor levels of carbs, protein and fat. Following a formula of low carb, 0.6 to 0.8g of protein per kilo of target weight, and the rest of the calories coming from healthy fat works while the old Calorie In/ Calorie Out myth doesn’t.

Now how many carbs. Some people find that staying under 50g of carbs works for them, others find that they need to stay under 20g of carbs a day to loose weight.

There are recipes shared on this forum in the past for ways of getting that crunch that you may be missing, and recipes on other websites for making low carb crispbreads that come in at around 1g of carb per portion.

Thanks JGwen

I was going on the principle of refined carbs bad complex carbs good and was wondering what the carbs in Ryvita are.

If I start trying to monitor variables then I won’t stick to it, so I am simply cutting out bread pasta and rice at the moment and wondered if I should add Ryvita to that list

I have been successfully on this plan for 3 years and still eat the occasional Ryvita. As JGwen says it is 6.7g carb per slice but hardly any of that is sugars so it is classed as a ‘good’ carb choice unless you are going to cut out carbs completely i.e. no brown carbs like rice or pasta. My blood glucose is within normal range with half the amount of medication I was on at the start. Maybe if I cut out the 2 or 3 ryvitas per week my BG will go even lower but life is for living not for obsessing. Even a carrot has 10g of carbs per 100g and tomato has 3.5 g per tomato so cutting out carbs completely is impossible although there are some who refuse to eat carrots and tomatoes. You also have to think about getting lots of nutrient from your diet but you also have to enjoy what you are eating. You have to decide how you want to live if you make this diet part of a healthy lifestyle. As you say, if you have to cut out every little thing that contains the ‘c’ word, you wont stick to it.

Thanks for that – perhaps just an occasional one then

David, there is a difference between going on a ‘diet’, reaching a goal and then going on to maintenance where you increase certain things. A few more calories, some treats, maybe even adding in some carbs, maybe gain a little and go strict again. As diabetics our goal is to get our BG to normal or as near as possible. When we reach that goal there is no going onto a maintenance plan, we are on this diet for life so we might as well enjoy it. Dont think of it as a hardship or even a diet. As diabetics we have to watch everything we eat every day, this is just another way of doing that but a way that brings good results. That is not to say that this diet is not taken seriously by others without diabetes. Gwen for instance, has lost absolutely masses of weight and is a credit to everyone here. We are all doing this for different reasons but I can relate more easily to your goals.

I pretty much agree. However making changes requires a shift in mindset. It helps me to think of going onto a new eating plan (or diet). I recognise that I will have to exercise more willpower than I have in the past when it comes to eating.
My hope/expecttion is that this change will give me short term benefits in terms of weight loss and blood sugar control and then that I will be able to keep this up up longer term as I learn better eating and drinking habits.

That is pretty much what will happen. Just keep on keeping on…

Hi David,
You will see the WoE phrase (Way of Eating) very often on this forum. – With time it gets easier.

It may help to remember that our mixture of gut bacteria changes to reflect our eating patterns. Research shows our gut bacteria do have the ability to signal to our brain to encourage us to eat the type of food they can digest. – Which means that the bacteria which need you to eat carbs for their survival will be behind the urges to step off the wagon. – The longer you ignore that little voice urging you to feed then, the more their numbers will reduce and the less they can nag you.

Hi David I’m a Type2 in remission and a Ryvita addict!
I’m afraid this WOE is very much trial and error as we are all individuals and react differently to carbs. I eat Ryvita linseed and nigella seed which are 38 cals a slice with 0.6 g of fat, 5.2g of carbs(0.2g sugars) but 2.1g of protein so maybe a little high for some people. I have to say I have two maybe 4 times a week.
My blood sugars were never very high but I was taking metformin. I’ve also been following BSD for three years and I no longer take medication. I probabably eat a moderate carb diet, I’ve not counted for ages, but I manage to keep my HbA1c in the low 5’s.
The argument is that you need to bring your weight down by 10%, if you are overweight, and eat fewer than 50g of carbs a day to stabilise blood sugars at a ‘normal’ level. Weight loss, per say, needs a different formula and differs vastly person by person.

I am very much an occasional user when it comes to Ryveta but had been having some recently. I think I will restrict myself for a while as I try and do the initial weight loss thing. Thanks for the reply

David you have nothing to fear from the odd Ryvita here and there! Sometimes it’s best to ‘give up ‘ a food, that could become obsessive, for a while then you really do lose see the ‘taste’ for it .

DavidKnight: There are various ways of ‘classifying’ carbohydrate-rich foods. You are, understandably, muddling your terms and concepts a little!

1. Complex carbs = starches. The other group of carbs here are simple = sugars
2. Refined carbs = white and processed, eg. white sliced bread. The other group of carbs here are wholegrains BUT these can still be processed, eg. brown sliced bread
3. High glycaemic index (GI) or low glycaemic index (GI). A measure of how much the carbs spike the blood glucose (tested on a group of people).

Rye crispbreads are complex/ starchy and wholegrain, somewhat processed (in that there is no Ryvita tree) but not overly so. They are rich in minerals and fibre so are nutritious

Wholegrain rye is moderate GI. This is related to how (not overly) processed it is AND to the natural chemical structure of the starches. For comparison barley grains are low GI and wheat products are moderate or high GI.

Putting this all together, a sensible portion of Ryvita = ‘good’ carbs for most people. But some who are type 2 diabetic or insulin resistant do find that Ryvita spike their blood glucose = ‘bad’ carbs for those individuals.

If you eat protein-rich foods and/ or fat-rich foods with carbohydrate-rich foods you slow the rate of digestion. This reduces the spike in blood glucose, effectively making a ‘bad’ carb into ‘okay’ or even ‘good’, or making a ‘good’ carb into ‘really good’!

HTH and hope it did not confuse you more.

Hi Firefox
Thanks for the comprehensive reply. I am unfortuantely easily confused!
First up I am Type 2 Diabetic. However I normally have ryveta for breakfast with protien. One of my quick and easy ones is a tin of mackeral a bit of mayo and a crispbread. Less often a pack of kippers with 2 crsipbreads.
Sounds as if these are in the OK occasionally group?
David

JGwen: Calories in v. calories out to achieve and maintain a healthy weight is most certainly an imperfect model. BUT that is not – and never was to my knowledge – independent of the other mainstream healthy living guidelines.

Other official guidelines are supposed to work together to create a diet that is properly balanced and very varied. Macronutrients (fats, proteins, starchy carbs, fibre, low sugar) as well as micronutrients (minerals, vitamins, essential fats, phytoantioxidants) are all considered.

When I worked in lifestyle healthcare I found that barely anyone knew what the healthy living guidelines were, let alone followed them. The general public was – and increasingly is- cherry picking/ mixing and matching ‘diets’. Not getting healthier, not getting slimmer for very long, then blaming mainstream healthcare!

Dr MMs and Dr CBs books are not so prescriptive on macronutrients because that comes at the expense of micronutrients, at the expense of proper variety, at the expense of other aspects of health and wellbeing. 🙁