Aged 73!

[AnneU]

hi. I have had pre-diabetes for a year. As I am 73, is it important for me to be very strict about my diet? I do have a very sweet tooth. I am very active. No one in my family seems to have had diabetes. Thanks.

 

[Ditto]

Hello AnneU, welcome to the forum 🙂

If I were you I'd start doing low carb as I feel it's just a matter of time. I was pre-diabetic for ages and now I'm Type 2.

 

[AnneU]

Oh dear! It's so hard! Thank you however.

 

[Ljc]

Hi AnnaU. Welcome. Yes I would say it's best to cut down on certain things, I know your pre Diabetic and 73 , you're possibly thinking why bother at my age ?🙂. The reason why I say , yes you should cut down on certain things is, diabetes comes with a whole lots of horrible symptoms and the complications dont always take donkeys years to develope. Sorry to be so blunt.
The thing is we do get to eat enjoyable things. It's just that we shouldn't have cakes and sweets everyday, rich tea Biccies are sweet and not so high in carbohydrates. You might like o look on our recipe thread to give you a few ideas.
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/recipes.21/
and also what did you eat yesterday thread
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/what-did-you-eat-yesterday.30349/

You might find this book helpful Pre diabetes By Gretchen Becker
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Prediabete...kmr0&keywords=Pre+diabetes+by+Gretchen+Becker.

Please feel free to ask questions.

 

[Grogg1]

hi. I have had pre-diabetes for a year. As I am 73, is it important for me to be very strict about my diet? I do have a very sweet tooth. I am very active. No one in my family seems to have had diabetes. Thanks.

Control your carbs and you can still have your treats, just choose your carbs! All carbs turn to sugar so you can substitute a small slice of cake for pasta, rice or potatoes!!

You should test your blood sugar with a meter to see what foods cause your blood sugar to rise as you can be surprised. I know I can go out for a meal with friends and by choosing carefully have dessert. If I have a starter it will be a salad or olives, main course will be meat (with sauce if not sweet) with very limited, if any potatoes or rice. Then I can have a dessert. I generally go for ice-cream if it's good quality home made or I will make my hubby or a friend share a dessert with me. A few glasses of wine and I know my blood sugar will not have gone above 7 two hours after eating as I've tested after similar meals.