Tasting carbs for my job

cookingguide
(Andrew Fawcett) #1

I am new here and have been eating keto for the past two weeks. I took to it like a duck to water and have little to zero problems adjusting. Perhaps I am being a little neurotic here but this question has been with me since I started.

I work as a cook in a day care cooking for about 25 young children, ages 1.5-5 years. So as part of my job I do find that I occasionally will have to take a slight taste of some things that I cook, and I am certainly not cooking the same way for the kids as I now do for myself.

Thus today I had to taste a very small portion of a cheese sauce containing flour, milk and of course cheese. I guess what I am wondering is will these small tastes (probably about a quarter of a teaspoon) of non keto food have any effect on my system?

As I mentioned I am adjusting well and have no desire or craving towards carb filled foods so the small test tastes do nothing to tempt me away from keto, am just worrying a bit (probably a neurotically) that these small tastes will mess up my system. It is really just things like soups and sauces I feel the need to taste for salt & spicing. Foods such as pasta I can gauge with timing and crushing a cooked piece between my thumb and finger.

Any thoughts on this?

(Richard Morris) #2

different people have different tolerances to glucose. You might find if you aren’t craving carbohydrates after tasting it, that you had an amount beneath your personal tolerance.

(Karen Parrott) #3

Are you able to taste it, then spit it out, or rinse? I’ll bet , in time, that the foods you make could change so that the small amounts will matter even less.

I fast after 1 pm everyday, so I don’t taste any food prepped in the PM. I find myself adding more salt when I go to eat. Or have my teen taste test it.

(Andrew Fawcett) #4

Yeah I was thinking of the taste, rinse and spit method. Just hope I do not disturb my co workers with this.:slight_smile:

I was a bit worried about triggering cravings at first but so far I find myself feeling something like the opposite of a craving towards carby foods. The only food that has remotely tempted me was roast potatoes which used to be a mainstay of my diet.

(Guardian of the bacon) #5

Don’t forget your sweet tooth will likely change. Mine has changed a lot.

#6

I don’t think it is much to worry about if you are not finding it is impacting cravings. I would simply make the amounts you taste as small as possible so dip a spoon in rather than having a spoonful, that kind of thing. You could always take a nominal amount off your daily carb allowance to compensate if you are worried about overall carb consumption. I would guess that the amount is verging on insignificant though? My issue would be a state would lead to wanting more but that does not seem to be the case for you.

The good thing is that you will likely be reducing the amount of sugar that goes in the kids’ food too because you will be more and more sensitive to it.

(Jake P) #7

My brother works for a major food producer, in their meetings they taste samples of stuff, they are given small paper cups to spit the sample out into.

#8

I wonder if the action of putting food in your mouth still creates salivation, insulinogenic response, and so on.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #9

I cook often for my senior clients as part of my job. Pasta is common. I do chew it to test doneness but then discreetly spit it out. Seems gross but it’s more efficient for me to test pasta and taste savory dishes this way.
Baked goods (which I also make, cookies, cakes, breads, candies) they’re on their own. I refuse to put the sugar in my mouth. They’re usually more than willing to do taste tests. Lol. Most of them are 90+ years old. I often wonder why that generation loves sugar so much!

(Larry Lustig) #10

You can do the exercise of calculating how many grams of carbohydrate you’re actually eating. My guess is it will come to very, very little. If you can stop with just the small taste you’re probably in no danger.

(Meeping up the Science!) #11

Yep, you start immediately digesting starches and simple carbohydrates in the mouth. Saliva actually begins this process. You secrete insulin when you smell or think about food, too - never mind tasting it.

Metabolic issues are probably avoided just by spitting it out, though.

#12

Yes, that’s certainly plausible.

(Guardian of the bacon) #13

I’ve heard that just thinking of food can cause an insulin reaction in some. Seems like Richard mentioned it in a podcast.

#14

I guess it depends where we all are in the wide spectrum of metabolic derangement.