Menu and food questions - please help

[Lady & Sir]

Hi all,

I need to eat a heart healthy low cholesterol diet and was just wondering.....are the menus on the Caribbean Princess marked with heart healthy options? I have seen older menus from 2012, but they only denote vegetarian options. Also does anyone know if they offer eggbeaters as an alternative?

 

Thanks in advance!

[godawgs2012]

I believe they do offer egg beaters (or a similar substitute). I know they offer egg whites. I'm not sure about heart healthy/low sodium information on the menu's however.

[IECalCruiser]

The menus used to have the Lotus Spa logo by what were presumably healthier options. That disappeared some time ago. If you have dietary requirements, note them in your Cruise Personalizer and work with your head waiter in the Dining Room. They can help you select options and modify foods to meet your requirements.

[caribill]

Work with your head waiter in the Dining Room. They can help you select options and modify foods to meet your requirements.

 

Exactly.

 

The first evening speak with your head waiter. He will help you with that evening's selections and also bring you the next day's menus (B,L (if applicable), D) and plan your next day's meals.

 

Your selections will be kept by under your cabin number, so when in a dining room the next day just tell your waiter that your menu has been pre-selected and your cabin number. Be sure to meet with your headwaiter that evening to plan the following day's meals.

 

If you are going to eat in a specialty restaurant, go there the evening before and work with the headwaiter there.

 

If you are going to eat at the buffet, speak for that meal with a headwaiter there. Do not rely on the other buffer service personnel to know what the headwaiter knows.

Edited February 13, 2015 by caribill

[Cruisin' Chick]

I listed a request on the Cruise Personalizer for a low-cholesterol diet for my hubby after a borderline test score some years ago. Every night the head waiter will shown him the next night's menu and have him select an entree, which will be made to order (without fattening sauces, etc.). For the next cruise and on, hubby decided to forego that (he's pretty good about eating healthy anyway). But I do remember there used to be a symbol on the menus.

 

On the first night of our last cruise, when the waiter was going through the specials, I mentioned casually that I will pass on them (seafood) and that I have an allergy to shellfish. In a flash, the head waiter showed up to the table offering to go through each night's menus, and I assured him that I don't eat seafood so no worries.

 

They will help you with dietary concerns. If it's something on the level of gluten free, they do ask that you contact the dietary needs department six weeks or more before your cruise as certain diets will require special ingredients. But others such as a low-fat, don't.

[shredie]

The menus used to have the Lotus Spa logo by what were presumably healthier options. That disappeared some time ago.

 

I forgot about that. :)

[Carolyn R]

FYI: Because of the recently published new studies everyone should reconnect with their docs regarding low cholesterol diets. Apparently most of what we have been told about cholesterol for years is now widely considered to be false by the medical community.

[luv2cruz62]

Great thread.....and just in time!:rolleyes:

My DH was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. does anyone know if they have specialty items for that? and we have chosen anytime dining....so we just have to mention our cabin number when we are seated? (providing we let them know ahead of time on the cruise personalizer?) We've never had to have dietary restrictions on a cruise before... :(

[shepp]

There are sugar-free desserts throughout the ship, some of them quite good.

 

As for the rest, it's easy to just order off the menu. Skip the pastas and white rice, eat more vegetables, lean meat and seafood, and in general, eat less and exercise more. No need to make special arrangements, and the waiter will be able to alter your order by, say, leaving the rice off the plate and the butter sauce off the vegetables.

Edited February 14, 2015 by shepp

[mmckm]

I have type 2 and you will not have a problem keeping you diet in check. There are so many options not to worry. Will power to eat what you should is all you need.

[luv2cruz62]

Hi all,

I need to eat a heart healthy low cholesterol diet and was just wondering.....are the menus on the Caribbean Princess marked with heart healthy options? I have seen older menus from 2012, but they only denote vegetarian options. Also does anyone know if they offer eggbeaters as an alternative?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

OMG....I just realized that I hijacked your thread...so sorry about that....:(

[Carolyn R]

FYI: Because of the recently published new studies everyone should reconnect with their docs regarding low cholesterol diets. Apparently most of what we have been told about cholesterol for years is now widely considered to be false by the medical community.

[shepp]

FYI: Because of the recently published new studies everyone should reconnect with their docs regarding low cholesterol diets. Apparently most of what we have been told about cholesterol for years is now widely considered to be false by the medical community.

 

I'm interested in what you're talking about. I did find a meta-study that concluded that intake of saturated fat didn't raise the risk of heart attacks, and yay for Stilton in Port. I do recall that fat intake, not eating cholesterol rich foods, has been considered the villain. But are you saying that high LDL levels are no longer considered as dangerous, or high HDL levels as benign?

Edited February 14, 2015 by shepp

[shredie]

I'm interested in what you're talking about. I did find a meta-study that concluded that intake of saturated fat didn't raise the risk of heart attacks, and yay for Stilton in Port. I do recall that fat intake, not eating cholesterol rich foods, has been considered the villain. But are you saying that high LDL levels are no longer considered as dangerous, or high HDL levels as benign?

 

I don't think HDL/LDL levels are in dispute (?) but there were some new findings about foods and their effect on both. Eggs are good. Yay!

[AZbeachboy]

I have had egg beater on every Princess cruise that I have been on.

[caribill]

I'm interested in what you're talking about.

 

Very recent. Read about it here: http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/government-panel-to-give-ok-to-cholesterol

 

Basically, the current claim is that dietary cholesterol does not affect how much cholesterol is in your blood steam.

[Lady & Sir]

FYI: Because of the recently published new studies everyone should reconnect with their docs regarding low cholesterol diets. Apparently most of what we have been told about cholesterol for years is now widely considered to be false by the medical community.

 

Thanks Carolyn. Without going in to my health online, I will just say that I'll listen to my doctor(s).

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I called Princess and they noted the account and we will work with the appropriate staff nightly.

 

Thanks again!!! :)

[caribill]

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I called Princess and they noted the account and we will work with the appropriate staff nightly.

 

 

For dietary needs that do not involve loading special foods onto the ship, a notation in the booking is unlikely to have any meaning.

 

So salt-free, low cholesterol, gluten-free, etc. needs can be taken care of on board with, as you will do, speaking with the supervisory staff in the restaurants.

[PatriciaF]

Sugar (any kind that ends in -ose) is now considered the worse thing for us to eat for our health--next saturated fats.

 

Exercising some and keeping your weight in check is probably the best thing you can do for your health.

[shepp]

Basically, the current claim is that dietary cholesterol does not affect how much cholesterol is in your blood steam.

 

I actually thought that was pretty old news. Looks like saturated fats are now no longer the culprit either, but that's what the Atkins Diet has been claiming for decades. Nonetheless, unless they're on a very low-carb regimen, there are plenty of folks aboard who would benefit from cutting down calorie-rich fats in their intake, blood cholesterol or no. And I'm not convinced that bacon - loaded with salt and packed with nitrates - should now be celebrated as a health food, as per the article you cited.

Edited February 15, 2015 by shepp

[AmberTeka]

FYI: Because of the recently published new studies everyone should reconnect with their docs regarding low cholesterol diets. Apparently most of what we have been told about cholesterol for years is now widely considered to be false by the medical community.

 

i heard that being discussed by a medical panel on TV this week end. Now they are saying that you are born with your C.Level and food does not affect it. Eggs are back on the menu. It is a genetic condition.......not one affected by diet.

 

it is like coffee. Twenty years ago...........It was a plague that would pickle your liver for sure, stop your heart..etc. now it is a prevention of dementia when one is old...................?? So your liver will be gone but you will be sane enough to know it? Ugh.

 

I think some of what they rave about .........is the result of inconclusive studies and a Mad Dog TV race to scare the pants off of everyone in the USA.

Edited February 16, 2015 by AmberTeka

[msmoger]

This is an interesting article concerning the new "proposed" guidelines on dietary cholesterol.

 

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/panel-suggests-stop-warning-about-cholesterol-in-food-201502127713