….also new to this situation,

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Oldbiker

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
As with everyone else I suppose, it came as a bit of a shock to find out I am type 2 diabetic and really I’m still coming to terms with the new diet,
already, I’ve cut out some of my favourite foods, viz. Chocky biscuits, granola, pineapple and fruit juice, who’d have thought o I’m slowly picking up what I can eat and what I can’t? So to start off with a relatively simple question, I’ve switched from my favourite white “oven bottom muffins” to what I would think are more acceptable alternatives such as Rye bread, Soda bread and maybe whole wheat bread, but I’m not sure how much bread it’s safe to eat?
reading various advice posts on the web, I keep seeing the phrase, “ everything in moderation,” which is I suppose generally good advice?
My immediate concern is exactly what is “moderation?”
I am trying to stick to maybe two slices per day, or about 100g. For an idiot like myself, is this moderation?
hope to join in frequently…
have a good day fellow diabetics!
 
Welcome @Oldbiker 🙂 It sounds like you’ve made a great start cutting out those foods. That should help. Do you know what your HbA1C was at diagnosis? That will give you an idea of how much you’ll need to change your diet.

If you buy a home blood glucose meter, you’ll be able to see the effect foods have on your blood sugar and adjust your diet accordingly.

Generally, anything under 130g carbs per day counts as low carb, but some people can only manage fewer carbs than that. Look at the total carbs on the rye bread, weigh it, then work out the amount of carbs in the portion you’re having. That will give you an idea of if it’s moderate. As you’re recently diagnosed, it’s better to make your dietary changes in steps rather than cutting everything out at once, which is what you’re doing. You can then make further cuts if needed.
 
Inka said:
Welcome @Oldbiker 🙂 It sounds like you’ve made a great start cutting out those foods. That should help. Do you know what your HbA1C was at diagnosis? That will give you an idea of how much you’ll need to change your diet.

If you buy a home blood glucose meter, you’ll be able to see the effect foods have on your blood sugar and adjust your diet accordingly.

Generally, anything under 130g carbs per day counts as low carb, but some people can only manage fewer carbs than that. Look at the total carbs on the rye bread, weigh it, then work out the amount of carbs in the portion you’re having. That will give you an idea of if it’s moderate. As you’re recently diagnosed, it’s better to make your dietary changes in steps rather than cutting everything out at once, which is what you’re doing. You can then make further cuts if needed.
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thank you Inka, re my HbA1C, I think it was 52 when I was initially diagnosed, which my understanding at the time. I will look into purchasing a home blood glucose meter, I have a further meeting with a local nurse practitioner, so I will probably ask her for recommendations.
making changes in steps sounds like good advice.
thank you for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.
 
52 isn’t too far into the diabetes zone @Oldbiker so that’s good news. Hopefully you should be able to improve that. Remember that exercise can help too. It doesn’t have to be the gym. Even walking is good. Some people find taking a brisk walk after their meals helps their blood sugar.

There are a couple of blood glucose meters recommended on the forum. I’ll find the info (I’m Type 1 so get a free meter) and post it here in a few minutes for you 🙂 if you test your blood sugar before a meal, then again 2hrs after the start time of your meal, you can see how the meal worked for your blood sugar.

Let me find the names of the meters…
 
The most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £10 for 50. They’re pretty easy to use and reliable.

It’s the cost of the test strips that’s the thing to watch. Some are much pricier.
 
Welcome from me also.
52mmol/mol is only just over the diagnostic threshold of 48mmol/mol so modest changes may be all that is needed.
Reducing your carbohydrate intake is going in the right direction, however many food can be deceptively high in carbs so making sure you look at nutritional labels to find what a sensible portion is remembering it is the total carbs not just sugar you need to look at. The book or app Carbs and Cals (there are other apps as well) is a useful resource as it gives carb values of a whole range of foods fr various portions so makes it easy to compare.
Have a look at this link for some good explanation and some ideas for menu ideas for a low carb approach. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Low carb is no more than 130g per day, it is not NO carbs. High carb foods can easily eat into that 130g if you are not careful and are what I call empty carbs as they are really just carriers for other low carb foods like meat, cheese, eggs etc.
 
My intake of carbs is under 40gm a day, but I am really sensitive to carbs. We can only check our own tolerance using a blood glucose meter and see what to eat and in what amounts.
I avoid all grain as it is about 2/3rds carbohydrate, which is far too high for me. I still eat well though.
For dinner tonight I had sausages and stir fry - I was going to do some eggs as well, but decided I had enough to eat without. It is not a bad way to be eating and I really find the thought of eating this was for the rest of my life quite reassuring as I feel so much better than when on low fat high carb foods.
 
Welcome to the forum @Oldbiker

Sounds like you are making some good, steady, incremental changes so far - which is a great way to go about things.

A BG meter should make fine-tuning your menu easier, and with a little experimentation and some pairs of before and 2hrs after BG checks, hopefully you’ll be able to work out your tolerance for various sources and portions of carbs 🙂
 
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