Food suggestions for 7 year old vegetarian kid

Food & Nutrition Support
1

Hello All,

My daughter diagnosed almost 3 weeka ago with T1D. We are trying to figure out options for snacks which we can give at home and school between meals. Any suggestions/recommendations are great

Thanks.

2

Hi @Kalpesh.gupta . Many it must vegetables are naturally low in carbs, and I find a graphic from eatingwell dot com that you may find helpful. Of course the number of carbs depends on the portion size but if it is small enough she might not even need to take any insulin to cover it - your doctor will advise you on that.

3

Are you looking for carbohydrate free vegetarian snacks? I tend to snack on things I like and if it has carbs I just take insulin with it. When you get good at it ( using insulin) then snacking for a kid with diabetes is the same as snacks for a kid without diabetes.

4

Thank u guys. Right now its 3 week and her insulin is still all over the place and we are giving her more than 1 unit per kg. So i am trying to see if we can figure out some snacks which help to give less insulin for now until things get better

5

I thought there used to be lists online of “free foods for diabetics” but most of what I found using that search was recipes.
Many people are following a ketogenic diet now - eating very few carbs - and there are websites that give you lists of foods. One is
perfectketo dot com/low-carb-food-list-printable/
Don’t focus on the term “keto” - it’s different from keto acidosis and I’m just using the website for its low carb recommendations. If you are curious about keto discuss it with your doctor.

IMG_0180
IMG_01801284Ă—2778 390 KB

2 Likes
6

Hi - T1D for 65 years, since 12 yo. How about: celery and peanut butter, nuts, carrots, cucumbers, cheese. Like others have said, when you get more comfortable with your child’s insulin dosing, including carbs might necessitate additional insulin. Good luck to you and your child - this will be a journey.

1 Like
7

@Kalpesh.gupta, if your daughter, and your family, have been following a vegetarian food regimen for a while, and are healthy and consuming good nutrition, why go about disturbung what is working “just because” your daughter in now living with diabetes. The advised diabetes management the last 40+ years is to balance food consumption [especially carbohydrate count] with insulin, not trying to beat back a prior insulin dose with foods.

It is hard to find foods that do not have some carbohydrates and you are experienced with combining foods to gain sufficient protein, and know the source of necessary fats so let her continue what is working and favorable for her.

8

While seconding others’ suggestions to go with fresh veggies and nuts, I personally have found that berries and mandarin oranges have very little effect on my blood sugar. If I have any insulin on board, I don’t need to add extra insulin to cover those, especially if I am at all active. You could pair veggies with a little container of sugar-free dressing for dipping–vegan ranch or some kind of vinaigrette.

Another option would be vegan jerky–make sure you get ones that don’t have added sugar (or only 1-2 grams per serving at most). These are usually made with seitan, tofu or mushrooms and so have zero blood sugar impact. Even if they had a bit of beans in them, it would be such a low carb count as to not matter (at least in my experience).

On that note, perhaps dried soybean snacks or roasted chickpea snacks would work. Again, these have very little blood sugar impact, especially soybeans.

9

Not really sure if you were looking for snacks for lows or non carb snacks. People have suggested the obvious, & being vegetarian can make it a little more challenging. Some of the things I used for my son when he was low was marshmallows. He loved them they are fast sugar, & they were the one thing I could get him to eat if I had to wake him up for a low. graham crackers & peanut butter if he got too low, & needed some protein. Regular snacks definitely vegies & nuts, are no carbs. Cheese sticks(there are more varieties now too.

10

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions. We are definitely going with nuts.
Also as someof you mentioned, trying to keep thingsnormal.

1 Like
11

Since you are vegetarian you probably are more familiar with nutrition overall than are most people out families that are diagnosed. Wishing you all the best as you adjust.
By the way, it’s not too early to check out summer camps for kids with diabetes. Many or most have a minimum age of 8 but some do take 7 year olds if you’re ready to let her go this year.
https://diabetes.org/tools-resources/get-connected/camp/find-a-camp

12

Snacking was always interesting with my daughter when she was newly diagnosed. Popcorn was a favorite as a before bed snack it is a long acting carb and a very low carb snack per cup and we were able to sleep through many nights. Also pickles are a favorite we found. Im sure you will find out over time what will work and not.

2 Likes
13

Try nonfat yogurt - most containers have less than 10 carbs.

14

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into this

15

I agree with you Right now She is loving popcorn and thats what we are feeding her.

16

Thanks. Yes that is our next task.

17

I’m pretty sure I messed up with the long acting carb :rofl: it should have said complex carb which is the proper term, sorry for the confusion. You are doing great :+1:

1 Like
19

thanks for the suggestions. we are getting better