Feel totally confused!

[Dave bizey]

hi there.
Just been diagnosed with type 2.
I’m so confused on what I can eat and what I can’t.
Just back from supermarket after doing my weekly shop with a bottle of water and some vegetables. Does anyone have a list of what’s safe to eat or know a website.
The nhs website contradicts the diabetes website.

Any suggestions as a life of broccoli, kale and Evian is not a great prospect.

 

[Martin9]

Hi Dave, I'm recently diagnosed too, when I came on here I was advised to limit carbs in my diet, I also upped my exercise, reduced my weight as my BMI was highish, and now my blood glucose levels are generally within "normal" levels.
Carbohydrates are not only the obvious simple sugars found in most sweet things cakes, biscuits , etc but the more complex starches such as bread, potatoes , pasta, rice etc so basically you need limit your intake of these foods and have the wholemeal version of the food or brown rice etc, these are more slowly digested and therefore don't cause such marked blood sugar rises.
It's also a good idea to get yourself a blood glucose meter so you can monitor your own bodies response to different foods etc, the ones recommended here mostly are the SD Codefree & the Tee2 meter as these have the cheapest test strips.
Foods you are allowed are meats, fish, eggs, cheese, vegetables that grow above ground, some dairy, nuts, have a look at the Food and Recipes section here, but you really need one of the books like carbs & calorie counter which lists all the nutritional values of thousands of foods. There are also apps for smartphones such as 'Nutracheck' which does the same job and will track your intake of carbs, proteins, fats etc
Anyway hope you get sorted..ask any questions you have here, read about low carb, high fat diets & good luck

 

[Brando77]

Welcome Dave. I was diagnosed this year as well. It's not so bad when it comes to food ^Martin9 has covered it with food, the blood Glucose meter and 'Carbs n Cals' Bible. Check out the food thread on here, I don't miss any of that c**p I used to eat...well...except for my weekly sweet n sour Chinese 🙂

 

[Northerner]

hi there.
Just been diagnosed with type 2.
I’m so confused on what I can eat and what I can’t.
Just back from supermarket after doing my weekly shop with a bottle of water and some vegetables. Does anyone have a list of what’s safe to eat or know a website.
The nhs website contradicts the diabetes website.

Any suggestions as a life of broccoli, kale and Evian is not a great prospect.

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis - how did it come about? Have you been given any medication for your diabetes?

Your complaint about contradictory information is one of the commonest we hear on this forum, unfortunately This is partly because there's not really a 'one-size-fits-all' answer, or list of foods that will work well for everyone - we all have our own tolerances for things, and something that one person can tolerate well might cause steep blood sugar rises in another. Many sources oversimplify things, and unfortunately many still offer what is now known to be very outdated advice

Basic advice applies to everyone, however. Carbohydrates - bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugary items, pastries, cakes etc. - will all raise your blood sugar levels, some faster than others. I'd suggest starting by reading Maggie Davey's letter, which contains some very good, tried and tested, information and will give you a good overview of the type of food choices that will be more 'diabetes friendly'. I'd also recommend getting a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which is highly recommended by many of our members 🙂

I'd also recommend starting a food diary, writing down the amount of carbs in everything you eat and drink for a week or two. Don't fret for now about whether you are eating all the wrong things, or making drastic changes to your diet - many people do this and find it is not sustainable in the longer-term - learning to manage your blood sugars well is more of a marathon, not a sprint, and nothing drastic will happen to you overnight 🙂 This diary will allow you to gain a true insight into your current carb consumption, and help you to identify areas where you might reduce the carb content either by reducing portion sizes or replacing items with lower-carb alternatives.

Have you been given a blood glucose monitor and a prescription for testing strips? This is by far and away the best (if not, the only) way of understanding how well, or otherwise, your body tolerates your food choices. Read Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S in order to understand how this can be done. If you don't have a monitor it's worth funding your own whilst you learn about your tolerances - the cheapest option we have come across is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50. There can be a period of quite intensive testing to begin with, but as you begin to tailor your diet to suit you better the need to do so much testing will diminish 🙂

Please let us know if you have any questions - there are lots of friendly, knowledgeable people here who will be happy to help, and no question is considered 'silly' 🙂

 

[AdeV]

Welcome Dave!

I was diagnosed about 4 months ago, told I had Diabetes (no pre-diabetes for me), and like you - my immediate reaction (after "oh god oh god we're all going to die" *) was "so, what can I eat then?".

The good news is, there's still loads of things you can eat lots of without ill effect. The bad news, of course, is anything sugary or starchy is likely to be off (or only available in restricted amounts) from now on. The other bad news is, there's SO much information out there, it can be a right sod trying to distill it down to "Can I eat X", especially when you're looking at the menu in a restaurant or whatever...

Although I've not posted an awful lot here, I do visit regularly & the information here is priceless - and, of course, almost all backed up with actual experience which, as you'll soon find out, trumps theory and science every single time.

I'd also strongly recommend getting a glucose meter - the SD Codefree (as widely recommended here) works just fine. Test often and always before/after meals initially, to see what effect food is having on you; then (if you're feeling scientific) start cutting individual food types out (bread, cake, pasta, whatever) & see what effect it has. If scientific method sounds a bit boring, just drop as much bread, pasta, potato and sugar as you can out of your diet & see what happens. I'm about to go raid the freezer for my dinner, I know I can put together a plateful of something which will stop me in my tracks, but if I avoid the bag of frozen chips I spotted in there the other day, and go large on the spinach instead, I should keep my post-prandial spike below 8.0 on the meter.

Above all, good luck! And never be afraid to ask questions. I reckoned I was a pretty clued up kind of guy, and yet I find myself asking what I think are the stupidest questions here, and only getting straight & helpful answers & advice.

Cheers!
Ade.

* Bonus points to anyone who can name the film that quote comes from

 

[CathyB]

Hi Dave and welcome 🙂 the others have covered it all really, what I will add to the pot is that I don’t miss any of the foods I have left behind me, my weight is dropping regularly, I have more energy, I sleep better and I never get that awful bloated feeling after eating I now cook rather than the quick ready meals I came to rely on. I eat fresh food, stir fry’s, cauliflower rice (why did I ever eat normal rice???), cauliflower cheese, quick recipe found on here, warm a little milk, add soft cheese and some grated cheese, I add a little mustard too....yummy 😛......same principle to make a peppercorn sauce for steak, add a little cream! Burgen bread, a high seeded soy and linseed low carb bread, available in most supermarkets. Food tastes SO much better now

 

[Browser]

Hi Dave and welcome. You’ve already got great advice here. Follow it and spend time on this website as everyone is really supportive and understanding. It’s natural that you’ll be overwhelmed by your diagnosis and fear for the future but you’ll learn to handle it. It’s 15 months since I was diagnosed with Type 2. I really appreciated the advice I got about diet, monitoring BG and good exercising and within a few months I was satisfied that I was in control and that diabetes was not controlling me. At first, I followed advice to the letter of the law and built up knowledge and confidence in the type of food I could tolerate but as you ‘learn the ropes’ you learn how to adapt and even enjoy, in moderation, a lot of the food you thought was ‘forbidden’. Anyway, I won't bore you with detail but trust what you read here and you’ll soon dispel the fear and uncertainty of our condition. It’s far from a future of doom and gloom.

 

[Stitch147]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
@AdeV is the film Serenity?

 

[AdeV]

@Stitch147 - spot on, it's from the opening sequence of Serenity ("No, I really do think we're going to crash this time!")...