Food choices for diabetics?

[mauiedin87]

Having been on 15 cruises before, on other cruise lines, we know there is always some sort of "spa" menu available. Other diabetics on Holland America, please tell me about your experiences! Does the Maitre D' make suggestions? We have booked "fixed seating" so as to always have the same waiters which might help.

[callmedeb]

Having been on 15 cruises before, on other cruise lines, we know there is always some sort of "spa" menu available. Other diabetics on Holland America, please tell me about your experiences! Does the Maitre D' make suggestions? We have booked "fixed seating" so as to always have the same waiters which might help.

 

I am diabetic and I order off the regular menu with no problem. I just stick to low carb to control my blood sugar.

 

Cheers,

 

Deb

[sail7seas]

You should have no difficulty following your usual diabetes diet on any HAL ships. Lots of fresh salads, veggies, low carbs.........

 

Same as when you are at a restaurant or grocery store at home, you make good choices for your personal needs. You certainly can find a grilled salmon, fresh tossed salad with or without dressing, vegetable and tea/coffee on every dinner menu, every night. Grilled chicken breast, steak, veggies, salad, low carbs......

 

No help needed from anyone. I'm sure you know what foods you should and shouldn't eat and can order accordingly with no difficulty.

 

Enjoy. :)

[kyriecat]

My husband is diabetic and has never had a problem with finding food that he can eat on any cruiseline, includig HAL. You can usually request a substitution of something. For example, if the steak on the menu looks appealing but it comes with a rice dish, you can request vegetables or a small salad instead of the rice to cut back on the carbs.

 

HAL generally offers at least 1 sugar-free cake and 2 sugar-free ice cream selections at dinner. One word of caution on the ice cream - if it doesn't taste "right" then it might be the regular ice cream. My husband ordered sugar-free chocolate ice cream one night. I think he was served the regular because he started feeling poorly shortly afterward and his blood sugar level had spiked way up. He was able to get his sugar level back under control but made a comment he thought the ice cream tasted a little too sweet that night. It could have been something else that he ate that caused the increase, but the ice cream was the only thing obvious.

[Himself]

I am a diabetic and I have no problem so long as I behave. I usally order with sauces, I avoid dressing on my salad. A caution: They have "no sugar added" desserts and Ice Cream. "No Sugar Added" does not mean "sugar free"

[dfish]

As a diabetic who is tightly controlled through diet and exercise, I have been able to find plenty to eat on HAL ships. I will often ask to leave the sauces off if I suspect they have hidden sugars in them. I also will ask them to leave off the starch and give me double vegetables. I skip the no sugar added desserts because they often contain just as many carbs as the sugary ones. I did have the cheese platter a couple of times for dessert.

 

They do have the Greenhouse Spa selections on the menu, but I have found that while they may be lower in fat and sodium, they are sometimes high in sugars.

 

If a salad comes with a dressing that sounds too sweet, you can substitute. Your waiter will be more than happy to work with you.

 

I also compensate with a little more exercise.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Debbie

[donswife]

Check out the yogurt parfaits in the Lido buffet at breakfast: plain Greek yogurt and fresh, unsweetened berries with just a sprinkle of granola. I had one almost every morning before I hit the gym, then went back afterwards for a veggie omelet.

[lvz2cruz]

Our son is type I and is on a plan where he eats whatever he wants, counts the carbs, and doses accordingly. On the cruise he got so much exercise he skipped his lunch shot a few times and still needed simple sugars in the afternoon.

Remember to keep sugars and glucagon when going ashore.

[DavidPatrick]

To Kyriecat if your husband is a diabetic you should learn which foods will kill him. There are two ratings for foods know as Glycemic Rating and Glycemic Load. Glycemic rating has been around for years and is a 1 to 100 rating on how quick food is turned into glucose in the blood. The supposed good cutoff is a rating of 55. Sugar is rated at 65 so is not to bad. Where as Flour is rated 91 and Potoes are rated 94. I get angry each time a restaurant has posted a sign sugar free cake, when the sugar is just a waste of calories, but the flour in the cake will kill you. Glycemic load is a new rating that takes the glycemic rating and factors in roughage such as in Carrots. Carrots have a high glycemic rating but a low glycemic load because the roughage cannot be digested.:) And by the way Yougat is a milk based food and milk is just another carb that will kill you. We always make the wait staff get us real cream for our coffee after dinner. Cream is a fat and fat does not raise your blood sugar at all.

[wander]

There will be plenty of choices available for your husband at meals, just choose wisely. I have no problem getting the right foods, only a personal problem of "behaving"myself. For example - do I want one of the great rolls before dinner, save it for dinner or eat the potatoes that come with dinner. Or, do I want to skip both rolls and potatoes/rice and have a ice cream for desert. (They do have at least one low sugar ice cream each night in my experience.) Will power is my problem. They provide many fine options.

[goodearth]

If you know how your body and meds work just practice monitoring techniques, do your daily routines, and enjoy the cruise! You can exercise, you can ask for food modifications, and you can enjoy someone else cleaning it up!

[mauiedin87]

Thank you to all of you who responded with great suggestions! You've been very thoughtful and helpful. I appreciate each and every one of you who took the time to respond.

[robertmnch]

:confused:I put a Post on this site on Wednesay and somehow it got pulled! I'm a Type 2 Diabetic!

 

All I was suggesting was one thing that a HAL employee helped me with my Diabetic Diet!

 

A Maitre D' was able to get me a Dinner Menu 24 hours in advance! I was able to select my Food Items such as Carbs, Proteins, Sugars, and Calories, etc. Now I could decide more intelligently what I could eat for Breakfast and Lunch!

 

After 16 years as a Diabetic, I no longer need an "early menu" as I have pretty much been able to decide what I need to eat for Breakfast and Lunch and still enjoy Dinner!;)

[maxout]

:confused:I put a Post on this site on Wednesay and somehow it got pulled! I'm a Type 2 Diabetic!

 

All I was suggesting was one thing that a HAL employee helped me with my Diabetic Diet!

 

A Maitre D' was able to get me a Dinner Menu 24 hours in advance! I was able to select my Food Items such as Carbs, Proteins, Sugars, and Calories, etc. Now I could decide more intelligently what I could eat for Breakfast and Lunch!

 

After 16 years as a Diabetic, I no longer need an "early menu" as I have pretty much been able to decide what I need to eat for Breakfast and Lunch and still enjoy Dinner!;)

 

Your Post was not "pulled" it's in this thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1430123

[ironin]

Never mind

[startwin]

I'm diabetic and have never had problems with food choices on any of my cruises. I avoid the carbs, sugars, and just make sensible choices - with an occasional splurge! But you can balance it out. There is always something good on the menu that I can eat.

[dfish]

While there are plenty of good choices available, if you are newly diagnosed or new to the cruise line, or simply unsure, ask. Diabetes is a patient managed disease and it is better to ask than to guess. I have been surprised many times in restaurants all over with what I thought were safe choices that turned out to be not so safe. A lot depends on what your meal plan is, what your goals are and what you already know. The help is there is you want it and don't be afraid to ask for it. As one poster said, yes, you know what you can eat and what you can't, but the menu does not always describe the hidden sugars in your selections. A good doctor will tell you that Diabetes patient A is not the same as Diabetes patient B or C or D. A good saying that we have is Your Mileage May Vary. Don't be shy if you have any question concerning the menu.

 

Debbie