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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
silver minion
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Good morning @Todski and welcome to the forum. Most muesli is quite high in carbs due to the grains and dried fruit. I would pick the lowest carb version and have a smaller portion.
I used to have muesli with a topping of plain yoghurt and some berries. Since diabetes diagnosis I have a larger portion of full fat yoghurt and use the muesli as a crunchy topping with a few berries.
A few people on the forum like M&S muesli. They do a low carb version but I can't remember what it's called. Someone will likely post the details on here soon.
I like dorset cereals Simply Nutty muesli, but I don't have it every day. I quite often have egg on toast (poached this morning).
The biggest factor to consider is how your blood glucose reacts to grains, which you will only know by finger prick testing before and 2 hours after breakfast.
If the carbs in grains send your blood glucose too high then maybe consider just having nuts and seeds. Checkout the Carbs and Cals book or app. It has lots of information and useful pictures of portion sizes.
I used to have muesli with a topping of plain yoghurt and some berries. Since diabetes diagnosis I have a larger portion of full fat yoghurt and use the muesli as a crunchy topping with a few berries.
A few people on the forum like M&S muesli. They do a low carb version but I can't remember what it's called. Someone will likely post the details on here soon.
I like dorset cereals Simply Nutty muesli, but I don't have it every day. I quite often have egg on toast (poached this morning).
The biggest factor to consider is how your blood glucose reacts to grains, which you will only know by finger prick testing before and 2 hours after breakfast.
If the carbs in grains send your blood glucose too high then maybe consider just having nuts and seeds. Checkout the Carbs and Cals book or app. It has lots of information and useful pictures of portion sizes.
Alan44
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Good morning @Todski and welcome to the forum
@silver minion has given you some good advice on the breakfast front, but you need to check other meals as well.
Other things to consider is weight, diet and exercise as these will all play a part in your hba1c score.
Do you know what your hba1c score is as that will give you your starting point to how much you need to do in order to get the numbers down.
Has medication been suggested or have you been given time (normally 3 months) to reduce it yourself with some lifestyle changes ?
Alan 😉
@silver minion has given you some good advice on the breakfast front, but you need to check other meals as well.
Other things to consider is weight, diet and exercise as these will all play a part in your hba1c score.
Do you know what your hba1c score is as that will give you your starting point to how much you need to do in order to get the numbers down.
Has medication been suggested or have you been given time (normally 3 months) to reduce it yourself with some lifestyle changes ?
Alan 😉
saffron15
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I tried the M and S granola. I cannot remember the exact name but it is no grain but includes fruit and nut. I used it as a topping for the yoghurt I like. I usually have blueberry blackberry or raspberry with seeds and sometimes nuts. As an alternative I have an omlette with cheese or mushroom. Occasionally I've had a fry up without beans or hash browns. It is something I eat as a late morning treat when out.Sometimes if it includes poached egg I have it on half a slice of toast.
As long as you check out the number of carbs most things can be eaten if the portion is small.
I'm considering smoked haddock or kipper but in my mind they are linked to apiecd of bread.
I like smoked salmon on its own, with cream cheese with egg or occasionally as an open sandwich ie one slice of bread.
As long as you check out the number of carbs most things can be eaten if the portion is small.
I'm considering smoked haddock or kipper but in my mind they are linked to apiecd of bread.
I like smoked salmon on its own, with cream cheese with egg or occasionally as an open sandwich ie one slice of bread.
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rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I really enjoy my thick creamy full fat Greek style yoghurt with berries and mixed seeds and a dusting of cinnamon and like others, I sometimes have a sprinkle of a nutty granola, but it is just a sprinkle.
harbottle
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Test and see what happens.
Then you'll know if it's a good idea or not.
If your blood glucose levels are still elevated two hours later, it may be best to avoid it.
I usually have Fage Greek yoghurt, chia seeds (Soaked overnight), with berries and nuts and occasionally a small portion of overnight oats.
Hi, my hba1c score was 93 and they have already prescribed medication.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi @Todski and welcome to the forum. With an HbA1c 93 you will need to work on getting it down. Amongst the things you can do is reduce your carbohydrate intake. This means looking at all your meals through eyes different to how they are at the moment.
So take breakfast muesli as in your first post. You probably look currently for something with the right words on the packet, probably accompanied by country scenes with smiling people and the word healthy in big red letters somewhere. Looks good and just what you need, but is it.
Muesli is essentially a mix of rolled or cut oats, seeds and dried fruit. Generally the more expensive the muesli the more the fruit and nuts and less oats. Some muesli's add other stuff - often with some nebulous health benefit attached. In terms of ranking them for low carb eating you need to ignore the front of the packet and look at the nutritional label on the back. To start with just look at the total carbohydrate and head for those with the lowest carbohydrate per 100g.
Basically, by far the biggest contributor to carbs in a portion of muesli is the oats and to reduce your carb intake you need to eat smaller portions.
Second biggest contributor will be the dried fruit. The more expensive mueslis with lots of fruit may therefore not be the best from a carbohydrate point of view. The extra things put in expensive mueslis are likely to be in this category.
Smallest contributor will be the nuts and seeds - hardly any carbohydrate compared with the other ingredients but full of other useful stuff.
That means my answer to your question is that nuts and seeds are OK in muesli but be wary of the other stuff, especially dried fruit and the like.
Like many others I make my own mix (toasted oats lots of nuts and seeds) and eat small quantities of it with lots of plain Greek yoghurt for my breakfast (plus slice of toast and marmalade chosen with carb content in mind and a brew). Total carbs around 40g, about 1/3 of my target consumption.
As you might guess, I think it better to look at the big picture rather than worry about the little stuff.
So take breakfast muesli as in your first post. You probably look currently for something with the right words on the packet, probably accompanied by country scenes with smiling people and the word healthy in big red letters somewhere. Looks good and just what you need, but is it.
Muesli is essentially a mix of rolled or cut oats, seeds and dried fruit. Generally the more expensive the muesli the more the fruit and nuts and less oats. Some muesli's add other stuff - often with some nebulous health benefit attached. In terms of ranking them for low carb eating you need to ignore the front of the packet and look at the nutritional label on the back. To start with just look at the total carbohydrate and head for those with the lowest carbohydrate per 100g.
Basically, by far the biggest contributor to carbs in a portion of muesli is the oats and to reduce your carb intake you need to eat smaller portions.
Second biggest contributor will be the dried fruit. The more expensive mueslis with lots of fruit may therefore not be the best from a carbohydrate point of view. The extra things put in expensive mueslis are likely to be in this category.
Smallest contributor will be the nuts and seeds - hardly any carbohydrate compared with the other ingredients but full of other useful stuff.
That means my answer to your question is that nuts and seeds are OK in muesli but be wary of the other stuff, especially dried fruit and the like.
Like many others I make my own mix (toasted oats lots of nuts and seeds) and eat small quantities of it with lots of plain Greek yoghurt for my breakfast (plus slice of toast and marmalade chosen with carb content in mind and a brew). Total carbs around 40g, about 1/3 of my target consumption.
As you might guess, I think it better to look at the big picture rather than worry about the little stuff.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The M & S Granola being mentioned by @saffron15 is indeed the grain free fruit and nut one which is only 9g carbs per 100g but is a bit pricy but very nice, but I still only use a small amount as a topping on full fat Greek yoghurt and berries. Keeps me going for 5 hours until lunch time./
CliffH
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I eat a big bowl of this muesli every day for breakfast. Yes I need to take quite a lot of insulin to counteract the carbs but it's virtually fat-free and it keeps me going until lunchtime!
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
What medication as that may influence what dietary approach will be suitable.
Be careful about looking at what others do unless you are aware what medication they may be taking for example if people are taking insulin they may be fine with more carbs at a meal than those who do not and will have to be more careful of their carb intake.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
For lots of T2 folks on the forum, an effective strategy can involve a change in the proportions of the muesli/berries/yoghurt style breakfast.
Rather than having a bowl of the muesli with a dollop of yoghurt and a handful of berries…
You can use a larger quantity of creamy greek-style plain yoghurt, with a portion of berries (berries are generally the lowest carb fruits, but check the label), and then a sprinkling of the muesli on top for crunch.
So sometimes is can be proportions of elements, as much as seeking out very specific (and expensive) muesli options?
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I started off with a HbA1c of 91 and by checking my blood glucose after eating I realised that my choices in the morning in particular were quite limited as I could not cope with all that many carbs first thing.
These days I am likely to have tuna with coleslaw or scrambled eggs with cheese and a tomato or cheese with a stick of celery, some cucumber and a tomato.
Back before I tried using shakes and low calorie I might have meat or fish and something a bit more substantial, but the experiment has disrupted my patterns of eating and I am finding it difficult to return to what was quite a successful regime for 7 years. I still do not need medication.
These days I am likely to have tuna with coleslaw or scrambled eggs with cheese and a tomato or cheese with a stick of celery, some cucumber and a tomato.
Back before I tried using shakes and low calorie I might have meat or fish and something a bit more substantial, but the experiment has disrupted my patterns of eating and I am finding it difficult to return to what was quite a successful regime for 7 years. I still do not need medication.
pjgtech
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi and welcome.
For most T2D's its about losing weight, eating healthier (low carb usually) and exercising more.
If you don't need to lose weight, then concentrate on the other two.
Note its generally a low carb diet, not just low sugar, as sugar is just one type of carb. So look at all foods that are carbs, eg: potato, most root veg, rice, pasta, bread, baked goods, chocolate, sweets, crisps, cake, ready meals, take aways, etc. etc.
Check out the learning zone on here and the eatfreshwell website and sugarfreelondoner website for lots of good food advice and diabetes friendly recipes.
Its also worth remembering that Diabetes affects different people in different ways.
What works for one person may not work for you.
Best way to see what affect foods have on you is to get a cheap BG monitor (finger prick tester) and test your BG before eating and then test again 2hrs after eating, to see if the meal spiked your BG and if so, by how much.
Ideally you don't want to see a rise of 2in your BG (but up to 3 is ok), so if at 6 before meal, you don't want it to rise to more than 9 at 2hrs after eating.
Cheers
For most T2D's its about losing weight, eating healthier (low carb usually) and exercising more.
If you don't need to lose weight, then concentrate on the other two.
Note its generally a low carb diet, not just low sugar, as sugar is just one type of carb. So look at all foods that are carbs, eg: potato, most root veg, rice, pasta, bread, baked goods, chocolate, sweets, crisps, cake, ready meals, take aways, etc. etc.
Check out the learning zone on here and the eatfreshwell website and sugarfreelondoner website for lots of good food advice and diabetes friendly recipes.
Its also worth remembering that Diabetes affects different people in different ways.
What works for one person may not work for you.
Best way to see what affect foods have on you is to get a cheap BG monitor (finger prick tester) and test your BG before eating and then test again 2hrs after eating, to see if the meal spiked your BG and if so, by how much.
Ideally you don't want to see a rise of 2in your BG (but up to 3 is ok), so if at 6 before meal, you don't want it to rise to more than 9 at 2hrs after eating.
Cheers
Metformin 500g. 1 per day to start, building up to 4 per day eventually.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
In that case a low carb approach is one many find successful so this link may give you some ideas for modifying your meals. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/