Do you experience frequent urination, blurry vision, or excessive hunger? Learn about these and other common symptoms of high blood sugar… Read More “High Blood Sugar Symptoms: Causes, Signs, and Taking Control”
The post High Blood Sugar Symptoms: Causes, Signs, and Taking Control appeared first on Diabetes Self-Management.
The aim of diabetes treatment is to bring blood sugar (“glucose”) as close to normal as possible. What is a normal blood sugar level? Find out here… Read More “What Is a Normal Blood Sugar Level?”
The post What Is a Normal Blood Sugar Level? appeared first on Diabetes Self-Management.
Many of us rely on blood glucose testing to stay in control of our sugar levels. But meters can be funny things: there may be times when the readings they provide are inaccurate. Modern meters…
A new systematic review has found that girls with type 1 diabetes have it much tougher than boys. The work, which reviewed many previous studies with data from tens of thousands of patients, showed that young girls with the condition tend to have poorer metabolic control and experience more diabetic complications. The differences are stunningly comprehensive, and will hopefully spur the development of targeted treatment efforts to erase sex-based inequities.
The study was published on February 14 in Diabetologia. Previously, the lead author shared the results in a presentation at the 2022 European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
Multiple studies of type 1 diabetes and life expectancy have found that women experience premature death earlier than men. And a 2015 review referenced in the EASD presentation found that women with T1D had a 40 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality, most notably a nearly doubled risk of fatal cardiovascular disease.
But we didn’t know if the difference in metabolic health reached all the way back to childhood. Silvia de Vries of Amsterdam University Medical Centers partnered with colleagues to find out. They combed through the medical literature, identifying 90 studies with data that could help illuminate the answer.
The results are jaw-dropping:
Girls with T1D had higher average blood sugar (6.4 mmol/mol, about 0.5 percent on the A1C scale more familiar to Americans), both at diagnosis and later, during treatment.
Girls were more likely to experience diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), both during and after diagnosis. DKA incidents were also more severe, on average.
Girls used more insulin.
Girls experienced a higher rate of vascular complications, such as nephropathy.
Most studies showed that girls with T1D had a higher body mass index (BMI) than boys.
Most studies showed that adolescent girls were more likely to have unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Girls experienced a higher rate of co-morbidities, including thyroid disease and celiac, two autoimmune disorders common in people with T1D.
Girls reported a lower quality of life, and greater rates of diabetes distress.
The analysis also showed that boys were more likely to experience hypoglycemia than girls, a likely consequence of their lower overall blood sugars.
What is the possible explanation for these disparities? Is it genetic, behavioral, or cultural? Do girls receive lesser care?
Unfortunately, the new study was not designed to answer the question of why girls have it so much tougher — its intent is merely to highlight the existence of these disparities, and assess their scope. Future study will be required to explain the differences. “We strongly believe that identification of these differences is a very important first step and to also be aware of risks in young females,” de Vries stated.
In her presentation at the EASD conference, De Vries offered some light speculation as to the reasons behind these inequities:
Girls and boys exhibit differences “in body composition and fat distribution,” which might lead diabetes to behave differently in each sex. The fact that girls have higher glycemic levels and higher rates of DKA at diagnosis suggests that these metabolic differences might be present from the very first days of the disease, before puberty in many cases.
Parents and caregivers may be slower to seek treatment for girls than for boys. There could be something about the physiology of boys that just makes the early symptoms of acute hyperglycemia more noticeable. Or the same symptoms might be interpreted differently by adults — a “treatment bias” that might lead to parents or doctors (or both) giving less effective care to girls.
Physiological differences are magnified during puberty, a period of intense hormonal changes that bring significant glucose management difficulties to adolescents. But we do know that girls experience more insulin resistance during puberty, perhaps because testosterone is associated with improved insulin sensitivity. Puberty, of course, also inaugurates the menstrual cycle, a monthly blood sugar management challenge.
Behavioral and cultural differences could play a role in diverging outcomes. Girls are far more likely than boys to experience mental health issues during puberty, which is likely to affect glycemic management. For one example, girls are overwhelmingly more likely to suffer from “diabulimia,” an eating disorder exclusive to type 1 diabetes. (Transgender or non-binary children with diabetes may face an even greater struggle with some of the same issues.)
“We also think that psychological causes are very important,” de Vries explained. “Boys and girls differ in disease-related attitudes and behaviors. We already know, for example, that quality of life scores are lower in girls without diabetes, as well. But this may very well interfere with treatment of type 1 diabetes.”
The bottom line is that type 1 diabetes is simply more difficult and more dangerous in girls than it is in boys, likely for a variety of reasons. De Vries urged authorities and clinicians to do everything they could to improve outcomes for girls:
“Our findings of troubling inequities call for urgent and targeted efforts, such as increased surveillance for sex disparities in daily clinical practice and cardiovascular risk prevention, sex-appropriate diabetic ketoacidosis awareness campaigns and screening of quality of life tailored to adolescent girls.”
“Improving disease-related coping mechanisms and quality of life during this vulnerable period may be an important strategy to improve glycemic control and reduce the risk of complications … All young people with type 1 diabetes should be offered care that is tailored to their individual needs so they are able to manage their condition effectively. With the right care and support in place, there is no reason why both girls and boys with type 1 diabetes can’t live equally long and healthy lives.”
This content originally appeared on Everyday Health. Republished with permission.
Ozempic is the buzziest diabetes drug in memory. It’s been a huge hit both inside and outside the diabetes community, particularly for its almost unprecedented effect on weight loss. It’s been so popular, in fact, that the manufacturer has reported shortages, partly driven by demand from people without diabetes. There are even new reports that Ozempic can help you drink less alcohol.
But Ozempic has some side effects, and certain patients even find the medicine intolerable. It is most strongly associated with gastrointestinal distress, including diarrhea and vomiting.
This article will discuss the side effects of Ozempic and related drugs, and what people in the diabetes community are doing about them.
Ozempic is a brand name for semaglutide, a member of a family of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. These medications are among the most powerful glucose-lowering agents ever developed, and diabetes authorities are very excited about their potential for type 2 diabetes. Some clinicians are also eager to prescribe these drugs off-label for patients with type 1 diabetes.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that stimulates insulin secretion after you eat; it helps you feel full and regulates your blood sugar. GLP-1 receptor agonists are drugs that mimic the effect of GLP-1. They help your body use GLP-1 and insulin properly, and can also help you feel full after eating. People often find themselves effortlessly cutting calories, leading to easy weight loss.
Ozempic is not the only drug on the market that works this way:
Wegovy is semaglutide marketed for weight loss rather than diabetes.
Rybelsus is an oral version of Ozempic.
Mounjaro is a newer drug that mimics two hormones, GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). The combination appears to be even more effective for weight loss.
While this article concentrates on Ozempic, the most famous of these related drugs, some of this advice may work for others in the same family, if they cause the same side effects.
While many people feel perfectly healthy on Ozempic, the side effects can be pretty nasty for others. As a blogger for New York magazine’s “The Cut” put it, “You might go through Hell for your post-Ozempic body.” The author spoke to a 42-year-old woman with diabetes who endured “constant nausea” and “power-puking” for weeks, before finally weaning herself off the drug.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (PDF), placebo-controlled trials of Ozempic found the following rates of side effects from the 1 milligram (mg) dose:
Nausea: 20.3 percent
Vomiting: 9.2 percent
Diarrhea: 8.8 percent
Abdominal pain: 5.7 percent
Constipation: 3.1 percent
Smaller numbers reported symptoms such as acid reflux and excessive belching or flatulence.
All told, 30.8 percent of adults reported a gastrointestinal symptom. But that was only the 1 mg dose. The numbers were much higher in a trial of semaglutide (Wegovy) at 2.4 mg:
Nausea: 44.2 percent
Vomiting: 24.8 percent
Diarrhea: 31.5 percent
Abdominal pain: 10.0 percent
Constipation: 23.4 percent
Reports from the Diabetes Daily forum suggest that these unfortunate effects are strongest in the days immediately after injecting the once-weekly medication.
Semaglutide is generally titrated: You begin on a very small dosage and gradually work your way up to higher doses. Ozempic begins with a 0.25 mg dose, ideally for four weeks, and proceeds up to 0.5 mg, 1 mg, and finally 2 mg. Wegovy, the semaglutide formulation marketed specifically for weight loss, has five steps and a full dosage of 2.4 mg. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) has an additional sixth step; it takes five months of patiently increasing the dosage before you get to the full-strength injection.
If you’re having gastrointestinal issues, it might be wise to slow down or even take a step back. You can stay at one of the low or intermediate doses for longer than four weeks.
Of course, you won’t decide your own titration schedule. That’s up to the doctor who prescribed your medication. If you’re bothered by the side effects, let your healthcare provider know. They may recommend putting off that next dosage increase or going back to a lower dosage.
Most of the time, Ozempic’s nasty side effects go away. If your side effects are uncomfortable but tolerable, it might be best to just stick with the drug and continue to benefit from its positive metabolic effects. Many members of the Diabetes Daily community have endured these tummy troubles for weeks but have come out on the other side feeling perfect.
Don’t just allow yourself to be miserable: Treat your symptoms.
Dehydration is no joke. Hydration is surprisingly important for people with diabetes, and the dehydration that reliably results from diarrhea or vomiting can make glucose management not only more difficult but also more dangerous. Drink plenty of water and also consider beverages that can help replace electrolytes, like zero-sugar Gatorade or bone broth.
Reach out to your doctor without delay and ask them what other medications you should be taking for your side effects. They may recommend an over-the-counter diarrhea medication or may prescribe something more powerful, such as prescription-strength antinausea medication.
The miracle of Ozempic is that it will allow you to feel full while eating less food, resulting in a nearly effortless caloric deficit.
People using Ozempic are often surprised by how quickly they feel full. If you fill your plate with as much food as you used to, you can easily eat yourself to an upset stomach. Be prepared to change your eating and snacking habits, perhaps rapidly.
Some users also report that the kind and quality of food that you eat matters, too. There’s no official guidance on this topic, though the label says that you should stick with the healthy diabetes diet that your doctor recommends. Pay attention to what you’re eating; you might find that some foods cause more stomach distress than others.
Ozempic is a powerful medication, but it’s certainly not the only option for diabetes management and weight loss. If the side effects are making your life miserable, it might be time to switch.
If you’re struggling with Ozempic, an injected medication, ask your doctor about oral semaglutide (Rybelsus). Perhaps you’ll tolerate it better.
Other GLP-1 receptor agonists are good options, too. Dulaglutide (Trulicity) and liraglutide (Victoza) are also associated with weight loss and improved glycemic control. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), the only GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist on the market, appears to be even stronger than Ozempic.
SGLT2 inhibitors, including canagliflozin (Invokana), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), and empagliflozin (Jardiance), help flush excess glucose out of the body through the urine. Though they are not associated with the same dramatic weight loss as semaglutide, they are known to drive modest weight loss and have several other major long-term health benefits.
This is a decision that cannot be made without the consultation of an expert. If Ozempic just isn’t working for you, talk to your doctor about these other options.
In trials, Ozempic increased heart rates across the board by 1 to 6 beats per minute. We have read anecdotes from Ozempic users who are nervous about their hearts racing for no good reason.
Evidently, experts are not much concerned by this change, but it might be a good idea to keep an eye on your heart rate, especially if your resting heart rate spends much time outside of the normal range of 60 to 100 beats per minute.
While Ozempic is not itself associated with a significant risk of low blood sugar, its glucose-lowering effect can sharply increase the odds that insulin or sulfonylureas cause hypoglycemia.
It’s very likely that you’ll need to change the amount of other diabetes drugs that you use. Your doctor may ask you to be extra vigilant about checking your blood sugar. If you’re not comfortable changing your insulin-dosing practices by yourself, you should be ready to contact your doctor between visits to get clearance for making adjustments.
Ozempic also leads to a small number of rare but serious side effects:
Pancreatitis, in which the digestive enzymes attack the pancreas, may feel like intense stomach pain that radiates to your back.
Changes in vision: There is a chance that Ozempic will exacerbate diabetic retinopathy.
Kidney failure. There have been some cases of semaglutide contributing to kidney disease. Dehydrating side effects, particularly diarrhea and vomiting, may enhance this risk.
Gallbladder disease may present with severe stomach pain, yellowing of the eyes or skin, fever, and “clay-colored stools.”
‘Ozempic Face’
Finally, the one Ozempic side effect that everyone is talking about: so-called “Ozempic face.”
To put it simply, people using Ozempic can lose so much weight that they also lose healthy-looking fat from their faces, which can result in a saggy, aged appearance.
There is no evidence that Ozempic or any other similar drug directly affects your facial appearance. Ozempic face is purely caused by weight loss.
This content originally appeared on diaTribe. Republished with permission.
By Katie Bacon
The parent of a teenager with type 1 diabetes shares her thoughts on calling someone “diabetic,” as opposed to “person with diabetes,” and why language matters when discussing diabetes.
As the parent of a teenager with type 1 diabetes, it has always bothered me when people referred to my daughter as a “diabetic,” but for a long time I couldn’t figure out exactly why. As I thought about it, I realized that when someone used this term, it felt like this was the primary label that applied to her.
“My daughter is a diabetic” sounds fundamentally different to me than, “My daughter has diabetes….” Yes, my daughter has diabetes. And she also loves to run cross-country; she likes studying biology, drawing, hanging out with her friends, skiing, and a lot of other things.
As I delved into this issue, I learned more about a movement established to change the language around diabetes, not just labels like “diabetic” versus “person with diabetes” (which is part of the larger person-first language movement), but words like “control,” “adherence,” “correction” and “good or bad” applied to glucose levels. I also learned, by talking with my daughter and others with type 1, that there’s a lot of gray area in terms of how people think about these words.
For some, including my daughter, it’s no big deal if someone describes them as diabetic. But they don’t want their endocrinologists or diabetes nurse educators to use words that seem to imply judgment or blame. Indeed, researchers like Jane Speight, director of the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, and Jane Dickinson, director of the Diabetes Education and Management Program at Columbia University’s Teachers College, have argued that the language clinicians use can have direct effects on how people view having diabetes.
In 2017, Dickinson was the lead author of a paper examining the use of language by clinicians in diabetes care and education (Kelly Close, founder of diaTribe, was one of the co-authors). As the authors wrote in the introduction, “How we talk to and about people with diabetes plays an important role in engagement, conceptualization of diabetes and its management, treatment outcomes, and the psychosocial well-being of the individual. For people with diabetes, language has an impact on motivation, behaviors, and outcomes.”
At the heart of the paper is a list of words and phrases that can have negative connotations for those with diabetes, along with explanations of those connotations and suggestions for alternatives. Here’s an example: use “manage” rather than “control,” because “control is virtually impossible to achieve in a disease where the body no longer does what it is supposed to do. Use words or phrases that focus on what the person is doing or doing well.”
I wanted to hear more from people in the diabetes world, to get a sense of how (and whether) the language used about their condition affects them. In addition to Dickinson, I spoke with Jennifer Fletcher, a diabetes care and education specialist in Dallas, Texas, who has type 1 herself, along with her father and her two brothers; Eritrea Mussa, an advocate who has lived with type 1 for 20 years and now works as diaTribe’s social media manager; and Anita Nicole Brown, a diabetes advocate and aspiring actress.
I started off asking people about their feelings about diabetic versus person with diabetes, since that was the term that has most bothered me as a parent.
The paper in Diabetes Care cites a researcher named Joan Fleitas writing on the power of words in the nursing profession, arguing that there’s a reason that some people are bothered when they are labeled by their disease.
“Defining people by their disease, for instance, ‘diabetic,’ just because it is semantically convenient ought to give us pause. ‘When the words or some disease statement precede the subject of the sentence, an image is formed that prevents the listener or reader from thinking about the subject any other way.’”
Yet when I asked people with diabetes—including my daughter—how they feel about being called diabetic, in general it didn’t seem to bother them. My daughter suggested I was making a mountain out of a molehill—what matters, she told me, is whether you have diabetes, not how you’re labeled.
As Mussa commented to me, “It doesn’t really matter to me, because I still have to live with the disease no matter what, right?”
For Brown’s part, she embraces being called diabetic, as it’s a label that signals, front and center, what she has to overcome every single day (and hour, and minute) to live her life. “For me, it doesn’t take away from what I do, what I’ve been through, what I can and what I cannot accomplish. To me, saying that I’m a diabetic, it tells people that everything I’ve accomplished, I’ve had to accomplish while having this disease and by default it makes me even stronger.”
Another diabetes-ism that strikes the wrong note for me is when people ask something along the lines of: “How’s your daughter’s control these days? Is everything well-controlled now that she’s had diabetes for a while?”
Anyone who’s lived with diabetes, or taken care of someone with it, knows that diabetes can be a capricious, changeable condition where consistent blood sugars can at times be impossible to achieve. So when someone asks me about my daughter’s control, it feels like we’re somehow failing if her control isn’t perfect. It feels to me like her control isn’t really someone else’s business, yet I know the question always comes from a place of concern.
When I asked Dickinson about the question of “how’s her control,” she replied, “Yes, that is absolutely judgmental, because what that question is really asking is, ‘How’s she doing with those numbers? Is she keeping them where she should?”
As Dickinson and her coauthors write in their study, when it comes to diabetes, the idea of control can have a moralistic overtone when someone without the condition asks about it. And the messages around control can be especially damaging when they come from someone’s health care provider.
“The term ‘control,’ when used in discussing diabetes management activities, places responsibility on the person with diabetes while also implying strictly following the advice of the health care professional who holds authority and knowledge…..The frequent reference to ‘control’ in diabetes forms a ‘moral discourse’ surrounding the disease and may elicit feelings of shame. It may be more effective to serve those with diabetes without using language that places implicit or explicit judgment on them or blames them for their health-related problems.”
As Dickinson told me in our conversation, “Somewhere along the line, we forgot about the human factor. And we started talking about controlling diabetes and putting that on the individual. What is that message doing to a person when they’re being compared to a benchmark called control and they can’t control it? It’s not working.”
For some, two other hot button words in the diabetes world are “good” and “bad,” partly because they overtly imply judgment. (The paper in Diabetes Care recommends using the words “safe/unsafe” to refer to blood sugars rather than “good/bad.”)
As Mussa argues, “The word diabetic doesn’t really come with any blame. But words like, ‘Oh, that’s a bad number,’ or ‘That’s a high number’—there’s shame, guilt, and blame laced into that sentence, even if it’s unconscious.”
For Fletcher, when her endocrinologist described her blood sugars as “good” or “bad,” it impacted the way she felt about herself, and made her feel removed and separate from the process of managing her blood sugars.
“As a kid, I would go into my appointments and they would look at my glucometer and my blood sugars and say, ‘Yeah, these are good.’ Or, ‘These are bad, or, ‘We need to adjust X, Y, and Z and you need to do better.’ I always left the appointment feeling depressed, feeling like a failure, and not being given the hope that I can do this. Like here are the tools, here’s the strategy. They could have asked me things like, ‘What are the barriers you’re facing? What goes through your head every day with diabetes?’ No one was asking me that as a kid.”
Anita Nicole Brown has a different view. She argues that sometimes you just have to call something what it is.
“When I was diagnosed, my A1C was almost at 29, okay? Yeah, it was bad. Ain’t nothing you can say that’s good about that. It was something that needed to be resolved. I needed to work on it. So, people may be upset about low and bad and this and that but unfortunately, especially when it comes to health, there are good things and bad things. And we have to be willing to understand and accept those definitions and terms because that’s the only way we’re going to become better.”
For Jennifer Fletcher, both as a patient and as a diabetes educator, language that’s non-judgmental and straightforward works the best. Instead of good/bad, for instance, she, like the authors of the article in Diabetes Care, suggests safe/unsafe.
As she explains, “I truly believe using those words would have prevented a lot of emotional anxiety within myself, and within thousands of diabetics that I’ve counseled as well.”
In her own life as a diabetes patient, Fletcher has come to value those clinicians who work with her and try to teach her about the disease, rather than labeling whether her blood sugars are good or bad. She references an endocrinologist who completely reshaped how she views her condition, one who worked with her as a teacher would.
“He’s the one that after I went to him the first time I said, ‘I will always go back to him.’ Because he did not make me feel like a failure. He didn’t focus on my numbers. He focused on patterns. He would say, ‘Hey, here are the patterns I’m seeing right now.’ He would never say, ‘These are your blood sugars and they’re terrible. And they’re always spiking at lunch.’ He would just draw a little graph on his whiteboard and be like, ‘Hey, here’s where we’re at. And if we could pre bolus right here.’ And he would explain how the insulin action time would work and how it would lower the blood sugars quicker if I took insulin before. And no one had ever sat down and drawn a graph with me or had a five-minute teaching session with me before that. He took the focus off of me and put it all on a whiteboard, which was great for me.”
According to Dickinson, health care providers like the one Fletcher describes—ones who are careful with their language and avoid words like good, bad, noncompliant, and control–should be the standard.
As she puts it, “My goal is for healthcare professionals to take this on and to lead by example and make these changes so that when people are diagnosed five, ten, fifteen years from now, they never hear these words and they don’t get perpetuated.”
Dickinson acknowledges that for those who are living with a chronic disease as all-consuming as diabetes can be, the language used may be low on the list of their priorities. Still, how people talk about diabetes and the people who live with it can have important consequences, she says.
“From what we’re learning every day, the way we talk to people makes a huge difference in the way people feel about themselves and in the way people take care of themselves. It trickles down into health outcomes and mental health outcomes.”
To learn more about diabetes stigma, and how important our language choices are in reducing this stigma, check out our resources on the subject:
What is Diabetes Stigma?
dStigmatize Language Guide
It’s Time to Address Diabetes Stigma
This content originally appeared on Sugar-Free Mom. Republished with permission.
Do you love General Tso’s Chicken but don’t want all the high-carb flour coating or added sugar-filled sauce? This keto version tastes like Chinese takeout but is a healthy, low-carb, sugar-free, and sweetener-free recipe. Just 3 g net carbs.
It’s a delicious low-carb dish for a quick weeknight dinner the whole family will love. Serve with broccoli and cauliflower rice for a complete meal.
What I love about my low-carb General Tso’s chicken is that not only does it not contain low-carb sweeteners, like erythritol (I’m sure there’s lots of you out there who want the sweetness in a dish but without using them) but it also doesn’t contain any gums or thickeners in the sauce ingredients.
No Xanthan gum, guar gum, or arrowroot powder needed for this delicious recipe.
We used chicken thighs for this recipe, but chicken breasts can also be used if you prefer. Just note, nutrition information in the recipe card is for using thighs.
The sugar-free low-carb sauce thickens naturally if you just take a few more minutes to let it simmer and reduce down. To add sweetness and a depth of flavor to this sauce I like to use coconut aminos.
For a nice balance of salty and sweet, I used tamari gluten-free soy sauce and coconut aminos, but you can use just coconut aminos if you prefer. Alternatively, you can use just soy sauce, but you may like to add a little bit of a low-carb sweetener to provide a hint of sweetness.
Alternatively, for a crispy coating you can use whey protein after coating the chicken in an egg to help it stick (see method below). You can then sauté in a little more sesame oil or for the best crispiness, deep fry then add to the sauce.
Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Toss chicken pieces with baking soda. This will tenderize it. (Recipe Note: if making this recipe with a crispy crumb, do not toss in baking soda, instead see notes below under Crispy Crumb).
After tossing chicken in baking soda, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan but leave the oil. If no oil left add a little more to the pan.
Sauté the ginger and garlic for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the sauce to the frying pan and bring to a low simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until it reduces down and is fairly thick.
No need to add a gum or thickener if you take a couple of minutes to just let the sauce reduce. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Serve with green onions, sesame seeds, and optional riced cauliflower or optional broccoli.
OPTIONAL CRISPY COATING
Toss chicken in egg. Shake off excess and dip chicken pieces into a bowl of whey protein mixed with salt and pepper.
Do this in batches when ready to cook or the whey protein will absorb into the meat.
Heat sesame oil over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan. Add the chicken and cook until crispy. Option to deep fry for the crispiest coating.
Remove chicken from pan and follow the steps from sautéing the ginger and garlic above.
After the chicken has cooled, place leftovers or separate servings for meal prep in airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
¾ cup chicken broth low sodium1.5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar1 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free or substitute with coconut aminos1 tablespoon coconut aminos1 tablespoon tomato puree, unsweetened¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste¼ teaspoon salt, optional or to taste½ teaspoon red chili flakes
½ cup whey proteinsalt and pepper1 egg beaten2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or avocado oil, to deep fry
Please note that the nutritional information may vary depending
on the specific brands of products used. We encourage everyone to check specific
product labels in calculating the exact nutritional information.
This content originally appeared on Sugar-Free Mom. Republished with permission.
Do you love General Tso’s Chicken but don’t want all the high-carb flour coating or added sugar-filled sauce? This keto version tastes like Chinese takeout but is a healthy, low-carb, sugar-free, and sweetener-free recipe. Just 3 g net carbs.
It’s a delicious low-carb dish for a quick weeknight dinner the whole family will love. Serve with broccoli and cauliflower rice for a complete meal.
What I love about my low-carb General Tso’s chicken is that not only does it not contain low-carb sweeteners, like erythritol (I’m sure there’s lots of you out there who want the sweetness in a dish but without using them) but it also doesn’t contain any gums or thickeners in the sauce ingredients.
No Xanthan gum, guar gum, or arrowroot powder needed for this delicious recipe.
We used chicken thighs for this recipe, but chicken breasts can also be used if you prefer. Just note, nutrition information in the recipe card is for using thighs.
The sugar-free low-carb sauce thickens naturally if you just take a few more minutes to let it simmer and reduce down. To add sweetness and a depth of flavor to this sauce I like to use coconut aminos.
For a nice balance of salty and sweet, I used tamari gluten-free soy sauce and coconut aminos, but you can use just coconut aminos if you prefer. Alternatively, you can use just soy sauce, but you may like to add a little bit of a low-carb sweetener to provide a hint of sweetness.
Alternatively, for a crispy coating you can use whey protein after coating the chicken in an egg to help it stick (see method below). You can then sauté in a little more sesame oil or for the best crispiness, deep fry then add to the sauce.
Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Toss chicken pieces with baking soda. This will tenderize it. (Recipe Note: if making this recipe with a crispy crumb, do not toss in baking soda, instead see notes below under Crispy Crumb).
After tossing chicken in baking soda, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan but leave the oil. If no oil left add a little more to the pan.
Sauté the ginger and garlic for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the sauce to the frying pan and bring to a low simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until it reduces down and is fairly thick.
No need to add a gum or thickener if you take a couple of minutes to just let the sauce reduce. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Serve with green onions, sesame seeds, and optional riced cauliflower or optional broccoli.
OPTIONAL CRISPY COATING
Toss chicken in egg. Shake off excess and dip chicken pieces into a bowl of whey protein mixed with salt and pepper.
Do this in batches when ready to cook or the whey protein will absorb into the meat.
Heat sesame oil over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan. Add the chicken and cook until crispy. Option to deep fry for the crispiest coating.
Remove chicken from pan and follow the steps from sautéing the ginger and garlic above.
After the chicken has cooled, place leftovers or separate servings for meal prep in airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
¾ cup chicken broth low sodium1.5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar1 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free or substitute with coconut aminos1 tablespoon coconut aminos1 tablespoon tomato puree, unsweetened¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste¼ teaspoon salt, optional or to taste½ teaspoon red chili flakes
½ cup whey proteinsalt and pepper1 egg beaten2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or avocado oil, to deep fry
Please note that the nutritional information may vary depending
on the specific brands of products used. We encourage everyone to check specific
product labels in calculating the exact nutritional information.
This content originally appeared on Sugar-Free Mom. Republished with permission.
Do you love General Tso’s Chicken but don’t want all the high-carb flour coating or added sugar-filled sauce? This keto version tastes like Chinese takeout but is a healthy, low-carb, sugar-free, and sweetener-free recipe. Just 3 g net carbs.
It’s a delicious low-carb dish for a quick weeknight dinner the whole family will love. Serve with broccoli and cauliflower rice for a complete meal.
What I love about my low-carb General Tso’s chicken is that not only does it not contain low-carb sweeteners, like erythritol (I’m sure there’s lots of you out there who want the sweetness in a dish but without using them) but it also doesn’t contain any gums or thickeners in the sauce ingredients.
No Xanthan gum, guar gum, or arrowroot powder needed for this delicious recipe.
We used chicken thighs for this recipe, but chicken breasts can also be used if you prefer. Just note, nutrition information in the recipe card is for using thighs.
The sugar-free low-carb sauce thickens naturally if you just take a few more minutes to let it simmer and reduce down. To add sweetness and a depth of flavor to this sauce I like to use coconut aminos.
For a nice balance of salty and sweet, I used tamari gluten-free soy sauce and coconut aminos, but you can use just coconut aminos if you prefer. Alternatively, you can use just soy sauce, but you may like to add a little bit of a low-carb sweetener to provide a hint of sweetness.
Alternatively, for a crispy coating you can use whey protein after coating the chicken in an egg to help it stick (see method below). You can then sauté in a little more sesame oil or for the best crispiness, deep fry then add to the sauce.
Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Toss chicken pieces with baking soda. This will tenderize it. (Recipe Note: if making this recipe with a crispy crumb, do not toss in baking soda, instead see notes below under Crispy Crumb).
After tossing chicken in baking soda, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan but leave the oil. If no oil left add a little more to the pan.
Sauté the ginger and garlic for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the sauce to the frying pan and bring to a low simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until it reduces down and is fairly thick.
No need to add a gum or thickener if you take a couple of minutes to just let the sauce reduce. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Serve with green onions, sesame seeds, and optional riced cauliflower or optional broccoli.
OPTIONAL CRISPY COATING
Toss chicken in egg. Shake off excess and dip chicken pieces into a bowl of whey protein mixed with salt and pepper.
Do this in batches when ready to cook or the whey protein will absorb into the meat.
Heat sesame oil over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan. Add the chicken and cook until crispy. Option to deep fry for the crispiest coating.
Remove chicken from pan and follow the steps from sautéing the ginger and garlic above.
After the chicken has cooled, place leftovers or separate servings for meal prep in airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
¾ cup chicken broth low sodium1.5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar1 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free or substitute with coconut aminos1 tablespoon coconut aminos1 tablespoon tomato puree, unsweetened¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste¼ teaspoon salt, optional or to taste½ teaspoon red chili flakes
½ cup whey proteinsalt and pepper1 egg beaten2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or avocado oil, to deep fry
Please note that the nutritional information may vary depending
on the specific brands of products used. We encourage everyone to check specific
product labels in calculating the exact nutritional information.
