Low-Sugar, High-Protein Hacks

Low-Sugar, High-Protein Hacks

I am having to learn all new recipes to feed someone with a total gastrectomy: low sugar, but also high protein, and--because he's only a little kid--the food has to taste pretty normal, not "health nutty" or he just won't eat it. My crew of six kids is not going to eat brownies made of black beans or ice cream made of avocado!

Meanwhile, sugar alcohols, which are what is used in almost all commercial "sugar free" products cause gastrointestinal distress for those with a gastrectomy, so I use them only very sparingly. 

Additionally, our son has to eat a low oxalate diet to avoid kidney stones (another consequence of a gastrectomy), so I cannot overly rely on almond flour for protein (which is what almost all high protein commercial products use), as almonds contain very high oxalates. When he eats what oxalates he can, he has to take supplementary calcium simultaneously with the meal, and he always has to drink a very high amount of fluid every day as part of the protocol.

Last, and probably least problematic, Thomas's loss of gallbladder means that too much fat cannot be absorbed. Fried foods make him very sick, so he has to avoid those (but shouldn't we all cut back on fried foods?).

The above is a challenge to be sure, so here I share some recipes and products that are working for our family!


Feast Days of St. Nicholas (Dec. 6) and St. Lucy (Dec. 13)

Low Sugar Gingerbread Cookies by Teaspoon of Spice: These taste wonderful and one can taste the subtlety of the spices more because there is less sugar than Americans are accustomed to in our cookies. They freeze well, too.

Sugar Free Cinnamon Rolls by The Sugar Free Diva: I have long served cinnamon rolls in lieu of lussekatter. This year I will be trying this recipe and substituting Carbalose flour to make them low-carbohydrate as well.


Holiday Recipes (Thanksgiving, Christmas)

Sweet Potato Casserole by Mary48 on AllRecipes: I have used this recipe for years but now use 1/4 cup white sugar (instead of 1 cup), and then reduce the topping to use 1/2 cup brown sugar (instead of 1 cup), 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (instead of 1/2 cup), and 1/6 cup butter (instead of 1/3 cup).

Healthier Pumpkin Pie by Sugar Free Mom: I made this recipe at Thanksgiving but still used a Pillsbury crust. It certainly did not taste as yummy as a sugar-laden pumpkin pie, but most of my kids loved it.

Low Sugar Apple Pie by The Spruce Eats: I made this recipe at Thanksgiving, but still used a Pillsbury crust. The recipe calls for a single crust to cut carbs, but I felt that would dry out the apples terribly, so I used a double crust and just removed the top crust after baking from Thomas's slice.

Healthy Nutella from Chocolate Covered Katie: We made this from scratch for a long time before we discovered Peanut Butter and Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams. It has half the sugar as commercial Nutella!


Miscellaneous

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Naturally Sweet: I double the number of cookies per batch, so Thomas is having a half-sized cookie to make the sugar and carbs be low enough.

Molasses Spice Cookies from Naturally SweetI double the number of cookies per batch, so Thomas is having a half-sized cookie to make the sugar and carbs be low enough.

No Sugar Added Apple Butter from Detoxinista: We use this as a condiment in small amounts, like putting jelly on a sandwich.


Products We Like

Food

Dannon Nonfat Light and Fit Greek Yogurt: We've tried many yogurts for Thomas to try to find something he finds delicious and this is finally it!

Yummy Dino chicken nuggets: These have 9 g fat per serving, in contrast to a typical example like Tyson chicken nuggets, which have 15 g fat per serving.

When buying deli meat, such as ham and turkey, I avoid any of them sweetened or "honey roasted."

Bread products generally should be 100% whole wheat and I check labels for sugar content. Also helpful are Mission Carb Balance Tortillas and Arnold Keto Bread.

Magic Spoon cereal: These are "classic" sweet junk cereals that have been revamped as keto. I wish Thomas liked them more, but after buying the variety pack, he seems to like only the Cookies and Cream flavor. These are extremely expensive, but have 0 g added sugar, 4 g net carbs, and 13 g protein, which is a far cry better than typical cereals on the market.

Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal by Quaker: Contains 4 g sugar vs 13 g sugar. Sweetened with both cane sugar and monkfruit.

Lactose-free milk: Those with a gastrectomy often become intolerant of lactose, so we just switched over to lactose-free milk to reduce milk sugars. The unexpected benefit is that lactose-free milk is ultra-filtered, causing it to have 13 g protein per cup versus 8 g protein in typical milk. We like the Fairlife brand, as well as its Core Power protein drinks.

Candy and Treats

Smart Sweets candies: We bought the sampler pack and agree that the Sweet Fish (like Swedish Fish) taste the best, as well as the Peach Rings, but others are perhaps not worth it. They are sweetened with stevia, monkfruit, and allulose.

Blue Belle No Sugar Added ice cream: So far, this is by far the most normal tasting ice cream we have found. It still contains 6 g sugar per half cup and is high carbohydrate. We have tried numerous "keto ice creams" and not found them yummy enough. We just wish Blue Belle made more than one flavor!

Koochikoo Lollipops (No Sugar Added): These are sweetened with tapioca fiber and I just love something that is not sweetened with artificial sugar alternatives. (Reviews of the lemon drops and peppermints are not as good, so we haven't tried those.)

Lily's Sweets chocolate products: These are sweetened with stevia and taste like high-quality, regular chocolate. They remain something Thomas could eat only in tiny quantities (e.g., 2-3 squares of chocolate).

When baking, we use Lily's chocolate chips or mini regular chocolate chips and then we use a mere fraction of the chocolate chips called for.

Moringa Hot Chocolate by CocoRinga: This is like a wonder product! It tastes like the most delectable hot cocoa, yet it contains 10 g protein and only 2 g sugar (0 g added sugars), plus tons of vitamins! It is high in vitamin C, which Thomas has to avoid (because of oxalates), but he could have this as a rare treat.

Yasso  Greek yogurt bars: These typically have 100 calories, 16 g carbs, 13 g sugar, and 5 g protein. They have more protein than most types of ice cream.

Milano Dark Chocolate cookies by Pepperidge Farm: These are conventionally baked, but Thomas can have one cookie because it contains only 7 g carbs and 3.5 g sugar. Not all the cookies in this series are acceptable, but this one is and we just love getting to eat something conventional and not special.

Condiments

Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ Sauce No Sugar Added: This uses allulose and sucralose and it tastes most normal to us after our trying numerous brands.

Heinz No Sugar Added Ketchup

Rao's Marinara Sauce: Contains 4 g sugar per half cup versus 8 g sugar in Classico or 9 g sugar in Prego.

Publix Lower Sugar Preserves: I prefer jam, jelly, and preserves to made me with real cane sugar, so I like this option which uses cane sugar, but much less of it.

Smuckers Sugar Free Fruit Spreads: These are sweetened with Splenda and offer a very wide variety of fruit flavors.

Polaner Sugar Free with Fiber fruit spreads

Skippy No Sugar Added Peanut Butter: We've tried many types of peanut butter. Contains 2 g sugar, 0 g added sugar, and 7 g protein. (In contrast, regular Skippy Natural contains 6 g sugar, 3 g added sugar, and 7 g protein.) It's on my list to try Skippy Protein, which contains 3 g sugar, 2 g added sugar, and 10 g protein (supplemented with pea protein).

Dark Chocolatey Dreams by Peanut Butter and Co.: This is a substitute for Nutella and is simply peanut butter with cocoa added. It contains 7 g sugar compared to Nutella's 21 g sugar.

Canned Whipped Cream: I took away maple syrup for pancake and waffles days, and my new substitute was whipped cream. It contains less than 1 g sugar for 2 tbsp whipped cream, yet it feels so luxurious! I see Reddi Whip offers a no sugar added whipped cream, but I don't feel tempted to try it because the regular kind is so low in sugar. For special holidays, I make homemade whipped cream and add extremely little powdered sugar to sweeten it.

I evicted syrups from the pantry because nobody knows how to use them sparingly (e.g., 1/2 teaspoon for an entire pancake or waffle breakfast). That said D'Vash Date Syrup contains 6 g sugar per teaspoon and real maple syrup contains 5 g sugar per teaspoon.

Sweeteners and Ingredients

Whole Earth Stevia Leaf and Monk Fruit sugar alternative: This has little aftertaste and we use it to sweeten Thomas's herbal tea.

Carbalose flour: "Carbalose flour from Tova Industries is the base ingredient in top selling low carb baking mix CarbQuik. Use Carbalose flour as a wheat flour substitute – it behaves like wheat flour, because unlike similar products, it is made mostly from wheat, yet it lacks most non-fiber carbohydrates. . . . When used instead of normal flour, Carbalose low carb flour can reduce the Net Carb count by as much as 90%. . . . Carbalose low carb baking substitute is made through a unique process and contains Enzyme-Modified Wheat, as well as Plant fiber, Wheat protein and some unique conditioners, enzymes, and emulsifiers. Carbalose flour does not contain any soy protein, sugar-alcohols, dairy, animal-originated, trans-fatty, or saturated fat products."

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