The Best Sugar-Free Low Carb Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can a diabetic eat at Thanksgiving dinner? ›

Non-starchy veggies should fill half of your plate (plus, the veggies will add festive color to your meal!) and lean protein, like turkey or plant-based proteins, should fill one quarter. Finally, fill up the last quarter of your plate with carbohydrates (carbs), such as mashed potatoes or whole grains.

Eating a carbohydrate-rich breakfast followed by a substantial lunch and a small dinner — the so-called "three-meal diet" (3Mdiet) — promotes weight loss and significantly improves glucose control in type 2 diabetes, a randomized, controlled trial suggests.

Without carbohydrates to build up glycogen stores, or muscle fuel, muscles will run out of gas. And when you don't have the energy to work out, muscle loss can occur. This is especially true since carbs are necessary to renew and repair muscles.

If you're unfamiliar with a keto diet, here's the quick explanation: It's extremely low in carbohydrates and high in fat. Meat, including turkey with skin, is fine to consume, but other Thanksgiving staples aren't. Mashed potatoes are off limits, along with bread stuffing, rolls, sugary cranberry sauce and desserts.

You Might Feel Dizzy and Have Headaches

It will switch to breaking down fat into ketones, an alternative to glucose. This puts the body into ketosis, or a state with elevated ketones, which have side effects such as dizziness, weakness, fatigue and headaches.

“For people with diabetes, it's different. A Thanksgiving meal with all the usual trimmings can raise their blood sugar to a very high, unhealthy level.” Depending on their individual needs, people with diabetes should try to consume 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal.

A six-ounce serving of turkey has only six grams of carbohydrates and roughly 185 calories and 30 grams of protein, this will not cause a drastic spike in blood sugar by itself, the beverages, sides and desserts are the items we really want to focus on for optimal blood sugar control which brings us to our next topic.

Stuffing can pack a calorie, fat, and carbohydrate wallop. The main ingredients in dressing are bread and butter. Understandably, if it's your favorite side dish and you look forward to it all year, by all means, take some, but try to keep your portion in check (about 1/2 cup).

Can diabetics eat turkey stuffing? ›

For diabetes-friendly stuffing:

Use whole-grain bread. Add generous amounts of chopped vegetables (such as celery, carrots, onion, and cauliflower), nuts, and pumpkin, chia, or sunflower seeds. 6.