Hello, I’m just embarking on this and reading through the recipes. So many of them seem to sneak in cans of beans, chickpease and pulses, which I can’t bear. I’m also unclear how this fits with the general rubric of quality protein, fats and vegetables. Would it be OK to ditch the pulses and up the vegeable/protein/fat quotient for satiety? Also, the early chapters hail the benefits of vinegar but have been surprised to see recipes for leaves dressed with oil, but no vinegar. Is there a reason for this? Would it OK to sneak some in? General guidance very welcome. Thanks!

vinegar is zero carbs and zero calories so go for it just dont use the flavoured vinegars. Some people swear by the fermented food for good gut bacteria like kimchi or sauerkraut which are very much vinegar based but I cant stand them so not bothered. You dont have to eat pulses, lentils, chickpeas etc, they are just a good carb substitute without the damaging carbs, but still high, so just leave them out. As long as you are getting enough calories and satiety.

Just to be clear on vinegars and flavoured ones. Malt, white wine, sherry, red wine vinegars are safe i.e. 0.75 carbs per 100g. Vinegars like Balsamic, raspberry, are around 18g per 100g. Some of the sweeter vinegars like blackcurrant are around 63g per 100g. We have a vinegar factory near us and I was shocked when I looked on the back of the bottle – however, dont panic as you would never have 100g or 100ml of vinegar on your food. Another type are the reduced vinegars which can be as high as 80g per 100g – they are the ones they make patterns on your plate or little blobs. As you can tell I have just been through my cupboards for this information. To be safe I make my dressings with oil and lemon juice.

I have replaced all vinegars (and growing up in UK I’m addicted to malt vinegar as THE vinegar) with apple cider vinegar. Healthiest by far … if I’m feeling unwell I even take a s hot of it.

A warm welcome to the community, tesslate 🙂

sunshine-girl, this is quite an interesting post about vinegars. I’ve learned something new today, so thank you for
rummaging through your cupboards! I used to have a friend who was from Montreal, and she used to routinely
put malt vinegar on what you call “chips”. What is malt vinegar derived from? Enjoy your first day in the pool!

Allie

Thank you all for your thoughts and research – very helpful!

Tesselate – reading your post reminded me that I have a bottle of Bragg organic Apple Cider vinegar in a cupboard which I have completely forgotten about. I had bought it for the health benefits. Must open it and use it tomorrow.

Hi, Krysia! I use Bragg’s too. Esnecca gave me a great tip last Autumn. Combine it with sparkling water! I actually
enjoy the taste, and precede meals with it. Sounds kind of crazy, I know….It has been used for ages here by farmers
as a health tonic. The old adage is that if you like it, you probably need it, and if you are repelled by it, you probably
don’t! Probably just an old wive’s tale, but curious, nonetheless. Adding a good shake of cayenne pepper is suppose
to be beneficial too 🙂 Suppose to aid with acid reflux, too.

Allie, it think the clue is in the name, malt vinegar made from malt. It is a by product from the brewing industry. Although it is in fact maltose which is a sugar there are no calories not carbs no nothing in it. The vinegars known as wine or sherry or apple etc are also a left over from brewing of wine, sherry, cider etc and have any sugars / carbs filtered out. However, here in our part of France we have Le Moulin des Cepages (Google it) where they take the wine and add flavourings like blackcurrant, apricot and my favourite, pineapple. These are high in sugars but when you think of how much you would use it is negligible – one tablespoon of balsamic is 22 calories and 2g of carbs.

Allie, just read my post again and I am so sorry if it came across as sarcastic or condescending. It wasn’t meant that way, just making a play on words. Sorry.

sunshine-girl, you’re a wonderful friend to this community, and I appreciate the time you take to answer my questions
re T2D, so I can better appreciate what you all must do to manage the condition. I took no offense in the least 🙂 I’m
delighted to learn new things here every day, and know that I ask A LOT of questions! Sincere thanks,

Allie