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Hello, pre-diabetic diagnosed Mon! Milk, bread cheese question.

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Ann More

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi
Just been told pre-diabetic on Monday. I'm a bit confused about carb numbers as I really struggle with numbers (I've got dyscalculia). I now realise my whole diet was mainly carbs & sugar, so changing will be hard. I have lots of questions, so I hope I don't annoy you all.
  • Can I drink skimmed or semi skimmed milk, and if yes, how much a day (I can't cope without milk/coffee)?
  • Can I eat 1 bread roll a day?
  • Can I eat feta cheese, as I actually like a feta cheese salad?
So far I've been really good at not eating chocolate or crisps, but meals have me confused (I wandered around the supermarket today, and all I saw was stuff I can't have). I'm determined to change my diet, but need help, as numbers just confuse me.
Thanks
Ann
 
Welcome Ann,

Our problem is carbohydrates so when looking at labels, lower is better, also, don't fear the fat, fat is our friend (and also it helps slow the adsorption of carbs.
  • I'd opt for full fat milk, you take so little in coffee it's not worth worrying about (unless you go for those Cappuccino's....
  • I don't generally eat bread but apparently there are high protein breads that many members like
  • Feta, I personally would definitely go for it....
Tip, wonder around the perimeter of the supermarket rather than going down each isle, this is where the good food is (flaw in my strategy, the bakery is typically on the perimeter as well, think to himself "Be Strong")
 
Hi Ann,

I have semi skimmed milk in my tea - couldn't get by without that and live on greek salad with feta and tzatziki. with fish some night and falafel on other nights. This keeps my bg fairly steady - until I add in some bread and the my readings go up.
 
Hello @Ann More , welcome to the forum.
Unless you drink lots of it Milk is fine , many here switch to alternatives, personally I prefer the real stuff.
Cheese is fine

As @Martin Canty has said, carbohydrates are our problem, try to cut down on potatoes esp mash, rice, pasta, bread esp, products made with flour, breakfast cereals, fruit juice is full of fructose, grapes are little sugar bombs
I know that sounds horrible but their are substitutes you may like.
Just to give you a few ideas
Burgen Soya and linseed bread or a high protein bread ar lower in carbs
Cauli rice or mash.

This is a brief list just to give you a few ideas to start with We have usually h@ve no problems with protein and good fats, I never have anything that is not naturally low fat, as if you compare the low fat version to the normal product you often but not always find the low fat option has more carbohydrates. We often tolerate berries better..
If you eat meat all meat is fine as are high meat content sausages and burgers, butter cream, veg that grows @bove ground eggs cooked anyway you like , mushrooms , some nuts are lowish in carbs , fish , sadly battered fish as an occasional treat .

Their is no need to give up your frying pan if you don’t want too.

You’ll find it quicker to check the carbohydrate content online rather than in store.

Come and have a look at this thread to see what we’re eating.
what-did-you-eat-yesterday.

And some nice low carb
recipes
 
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Thank you for all your replies. My reason for asking about milk is that I can only have one de-caff coffee a day, as caffeine makes me ill. So I drink milk or cordial or Pepsi max. Therefore only having one coffee and then only cordial/Pepsi Max would be difficult. If I could have a pint of milk a day, would that be ok?
 
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Ann More said:
Thank you for all your replies. My reason for asking about milk is that I can only have one de-caff coffee a day, as caffeine makes me ill. So I drink milk or cordial or Pepsi max. Therefore only having one coffee and then only cordial/Pepsi Max would be difficult. If I could have a pint of milk a day, would that be ok?
Click to expand...
Had a quick look online , It seems that a pint of whole milk has 24 carbs so imo not bad at all.
 
Ann More said:
So I drink milk or cordial or Pepsi max
Click to expand...
Personally my choice would be milk, I tend to avoid refined foods (including drinks)
 
as said above it is carbohydrate in (almost) all its forms that cause problems.
As you are pre-diabetic you may find simply reducing the qty of things such as bread, pasta, rice etc is sufficent

you may want to consider geting a blood glucose meter & testing to see what affect thing actually have
 
Ann More said:
Good, I can at least have milk. Now doing some research on bread.
Ta
Click to expand...
Hi Ann, I tend to have Burgen Soya & Linseed, or Hovis Nimble. Hovis also do a Low Carb Seedy, but it's infernally hard to find at the moment round my way! As Alister says the best thing to do is get a meter and test to see what the effects are. I (and many others) use the SD Codefree from Home Health or Amazon as it's reliable and cheap.

Cheese is good - I love cheese and probably eat it most days 🙂
 
Hi Ann and welcome to the Forum. I am pre-diabetic too. I was diagnosed a couple of years ago during medical research when they found a high fructose reading, contacted my GP who then did an hba1c. I was at 42 then 3 months later despite then being underweight (I had never been overweight anyway and was not supposed to lose any, I just cut the carbs and the weight came off) it had gone to 43. Sent on diabetes prevention programme but must admit I took more notice of members here. The diabetes prevention programme co-ordinators did four hba1cs as they have to check you have not tipped into diabetes in which case you have to be referred back to your GP. They got four normal results 33, 35, 37, 35. As they did not give the results to my GP he recalled me earlier this year for another hba1c as he had no idea of the normal results. However, this time it was back to 42. Neither of us are sure why as I have not gone back to my old eating habits.

Anyway, back to your query. I only drink milk (semi-skimmed) in tea or coffee which does not seem to affect me. I occasionally have a latte. Most people here get on with Burgen Soya and Linseed bread. Cheese is no problem as has very little carbs. The major problems are pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, breakfast cereal and, to my surprise when GP and members here told me, too much fruit particularly grapes, pineapples, bananas etc. I now only have an apple a couple of times a week and berries from time to time.

Do you have a meter for testing? People here feel it is a good idea as we all react differently to foods and you can see what a particular food does to your blood sugars. I have an Accu-Check but strips are expensive so I bought an SD Codefree recommended by people here.

Bread - there are some nice bread recipes on dietdoctor. com. Also I sometimes google low carb bread recipes and you can find quite a few on those if you don't mind making you own. I like cooking but appreciate everyone does not and may not have the time. Mark Parrott has put up a nice flaxseed loaf on the recipes section of the Forum. Maybe on Page 2 or 3 I think. I make that all the time.

I must say I have enjoyed my food a lot more since I have watched what I was eating. Some people can get out of pre-diabetes. I did but, unfortunately, mine has moved again but that does not mean it happens to everyone, it does not. GP thinks I may be more insulin resistant with age (65).
 
Thanks for all you advice, I've just bought a SD Codefree as suggested. I think I need to careful study 'bread' as I think this will be a problem. Thanks
 
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It’s good to hear you have bought a meter , used right you will soon identify what the various carbs do to you as we are all different in this.
Initially you test just before eating then two hours after starting to eat , it’s the difference between the two that’s important. This blog on here explains it better than I can.
test-review-adjust
painless-pricks
Both by Alan S
You’ll find all the links I’ve given and more on the T2 section of the threat called, Useful links for people new to diabetes, which is at the top of the newbies forum.
 
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Thank you for all your advice. I'm determined my numbers will be different in 2 weeks time, when I have another blood test. Thanks.
 
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