Change diet and weight loss to avoid metformin - I'm trying!!

[everydayupsanddowns]

Have you been keeping a daily total of your carb intake based on the portions and meals you are having @Franthepotter ?

It can help to interpret your numbers and responses to foods to have a vague idea of daily carb intake. As @Drummer says, a meal consisting of just leeks and courgettes wouldn’t normally be expected to raise glucose levels much at all, unless you are it with something more obviously carby.

While individual tolerance to carbohydrates varies, and some do better on more than others, it might also be worth keeping an eye on your responses to very low carb meals in case you may have one of the rarer and more glamorous types of diabetes, that may need a different approach.

Sometime this only becomes clear with time, as any unusual aspects of your clinical presentation emerge 🙂

 

[Franthepotter]

Exercise is very good at bringing down blood sugar. Mine drops quite quickly even after a short brisk walk - for instance, I see it drop into the 3s sometimes. I do a check around half an hour after finishing to see what's happened and it's usually back up into the 4s/5s. Using a sensor I could see a sharp dip followed by a slow rise back up to normal levels.

Thx so much. I'm now doing regular exercise even if not in the gym. I'm not optimistic about staying off metformin though. I'm eating no basic carbs - only fish veg nuts and pukses. Its tricky!

 

[Leadinglights]

Thx so much. I'm now doing regular exercise even if not in the gym. I'm not optimistic about staying off metformin though. I'm eating no basic carbs - only fish veg nuts and pukses. Its tricky!

Don't forget pulses are carbs, so don't forget to take account of them, can you add eggs, cheese, dairy to your diet.

 

[Franthepotter]

Don't forget pulses are carbs, so don't forget to take account of them, can you add eggs, cheese, dairy to your diet.

Yes I'm having some milk and a little cheese. And hard boiled egg. I'm hoping that if I lose a little weight it may help too. I'm mid bmi so can lose a couple of kg. Anyway with this type of food lifestyle I'd better lose some

 

[Franthepotter]

Have you been keeping a daily total of your carb intake based on the portions and meals you are having @Franthepotter ?

It can help to interpret your numbers and responses to foods to have a vague idea of daily carb intake. As @Drummer says, a meal consisting of just leeks and courgettes wouldn’t normally be expected to raise glucose levels much at all, unless you are it with something more obviously carby.

While individual tolerance to carbohydrates varies, and some do better on more than others, it might also be worth keeping an eye on your responses to very low carb meals in case you may have one of the rarer and more glamorous types of diabetes, that may need a different approach.

Sometime this only becomes clear with time, as any unusual aspects of your clinical presentation emerge 🙂

Thanks for that its helpful. I bought a continuous monitor so can see the responses to food. I. Finding it hard to know what foods have carbs in them. That seems like a crazy thing to say ... I'm not eating bread pasta rice ie grains. But do veg have carbs?? And seeds? So tahini?? Sorry for crazy questions

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks for that its helpful. I bought a continuous monitor so can see the responses to food. I. Finding it hard to know what foods have carbs in them. That seems like a crazy thing to say ... I'm not eating bread pasta rice ie grains. But do veg have carbs?? And seeds? So tahini?? Sorry for crazy questions

You may find the book or app Carbs and Cals useful as it gives carb values for a whole range of food and portion sizes with their carb amount. There are always shop websites which will give you the carbs of the products they sell or you can look on the internet for carb of X food, also on the back of packets in the nutritional information there will be carbs per 100g or sometimes per cracker.
Most veg are low carb except starchy ones so potatoes, parsnips, sweetcorn, sweet potatoes, others middleish carrots, peas, butternut squash, tomatoes, others pretty low, green veg, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, celeriac, cucumber, courgette, mushrooms, lettuce, celery, swiss chard, cabbage, spouts, kale, asparagus, aubergine, peppers, etc etc.

 

[Franthepotter]

What sort of readings are you seeing?

So regarding readings. I. Now 2.5 hours after food and am at 6.6. I also had a walk for 45 mins after food. Food was baked fennel (surprisingly sweet) and roasted peppers and courgettes abd aubergine amd some Tahini. A little bit of salmon. After this meal my sugars went up to 9. Is that OK?? So what is strange is that my average from this libra2 monitor is 5.8% or 40. So it looks to me like my average is low enough that the doctor will say I'm in remission??? Or are these post meal spikes showing something else?? Thx do much. Ps when my bloods were taken by the gp they have been 6.7 and then 6.6. I am also of course hoping this continuous monitor is accurate ! I read online they cab be a little low...

 

[Leadinglights]

So regarding readings. I. Now 2.5 hours after food and am at 6.6. I also had a walk for 45 mins after food. Food was baked fennel (surprisingly sweet) and roasted peppers and courgettes abd aubergine amd some Tahini. A little bit of salmon. After this meal my sugars went up to 9. Is that OK?? So what is strange is that my average from this libra2 monitor is 5.8% or 40. So it looks to me like my average is low enough that the doctor will say I'm in remission??? Or are these post meal spikes showing something else?? Thx do much. Ps when my bloods were taken by the gp they have been 6.7 and then 6.6. I am also of course hoping this continuous monitor is accurate ! I read online they cab be a little low...

You are aiming to be below 8 mmol/l 2 hours post meal so looks as if your reading was fine.

 

[Franthepotter]

Your GP, surely should be more concerned about your diet and blood glucose - but I really don't understand the way HCPs deal with diabetes and associated problems.
By eating no more than 50gm of carbs a day I was able to reduce my HbA1c from 91 to 47 in 80 days. Psychologically that was a great boost as it meant I was no longer in the diabetes range. I knew that 50gm a day was good for me having done Atkins before, but if your diet was really high in carbs a more cautious approach could be advisable.
I used the two hour tests to gauge progress. Once I got under 8mmol/l then I stuck with the same meals and saw the numbers drifting down. At 6 months I got HbA1c of 41 and that was, again a really significant number to have reached.
I lost weight and became more active as a result of the lower glucose levels, not the other way round I am sure, but I don't argue the point with GP or nurses - taking the advice of Sin Tzu, I chose my battleground.

That is extremely helpful - including the Chinese proverb - I am guessing from your reply that you have stuck to a low carb amd low cal eating plan for a few years to keep in remission. I was eirriedctgat not eating grains would somehow be bad for me. I haven't talked to my gp about these spikes because he didn't even want me to test my blood with a normal kit. I bought a continuous monitor amd yes its best to argue with the Chinese sages not my gp. I just don't want yo ignore the good advice in between the 'one size fits all' thing.

 

[Franthepotter]

That is extremely helpful - including the Chinese proverb - I am guessing from your reply that you have stuck to a low carb amd low cal eating plan for a few years to keep in remission. I was eirriedctgat not eating grains would somehow be bad for me. I haven't talked to my gp about these spikes because he didn't even want me to test my blood with a normal kit. I bought a continuous monitor amd yes its best to argue with the Chinese sages not my gp. I just don't want yo ignore the good advice in between the 'one size fits all' thing.

I meant I was worried that eating no grains would be bad for me. Ps how do I find out how msmy carbs are in food? Is it an old school weigh my portions and use an app ??

 

[Leadinglights]

That is extremely helpful - including the Chinese proverb - I am guessing from your reply that you have stuck to a low carb amd low cal eating plan for a few years to keep in remission. I was eirriedctgat not eating grains would somehow be bad for me. I haven't talked to my gp about these spikes because he didn't even want me to test my blood with a normal kit. I bought a continuous monitor amd yes its best to argue with the Chinese sages not my gp. I just don't want yo ignore the good advice in between the 'one size fits all' thing.

I am another fan of low carb and have approx 70g per day, that is now my new normal way of eating but I still have a goos variety of meals, just not potatoes (well not often), rice, pasta, I do have bread and crackers, keep to only one carby veg per meal.
I think these CGMs whilst giving people some useful information can make people over react to what is actually quite normal, you say spikes but as long as your level is coming down post meal in 2 hrs to no more than 8mmol/l then that is normal.

 

[Leadinglights]

I meant I was worried that eating no grains would be bad for me. Ps how do I find out how msmy carbs are in food? Is it an old school weigh my portions and use an app ??

I suggested some way in my post earlier in the thread.

 

[Drummer]

I made a small notebook of foods I should eat and their carb content,, and at first used weighing scales and a slide rule
(I am that old) to work out the carb content, but these days I know that a small perforated spoon of peas is the right amount, but not the larger spoon I use for my husband's potatoes.
Lamb chops and peas with mint sauce plus a jug of lemon tea will keep me going for a long time - with a small meal tomorrow morning, some cheese and a tomato is the most likely, with coffee and cream I'll be fine for 20 hours at least.

 

[Burylancs]

Thanks for that its helpful. I bought a continuous monitor so can see the responses to food. I. Finding it hard to know what foods have carbs in them. That seems like a crazy thing to say ... I'm not eating bread pasta rice ie grains. But do veg have carbs?? And seeds? So tahini?? Sorry for crazy questions

There are three elements in nutrition - protein, carbohydrate and fats. If something is not protein or fat it must be carbohydrate including fruit and veg.

As for trying to avoid Metformin, you've been diagnosed with a life changing, live threatening condition and you need all the help you can get with it.

 

[Franthepotter]

I made a small notebook of foods I should eat and their carb content,, and at first used weighing scales and a slide rule
(I am that old) to work out the carb content, but these days I know that a small perforated spoon of peas is the right amount, but not the larger spoon I use for my husband's potatoes.
Lamb chops and peas with mint sauce plus a jug of lemon tea will keep me going for a long time - with a small meal tomorrow morning, some cheese and a tomato is the most likely, with coffee and cream I'll be fine for 20 hours at least.

Thank you that's helpful. It's like I have to reinvent how I eat. I think nill do the note taking ... I am in my mid 50s so happy to go non tech. Thays really helpful. I've gone from 67 to 65 kg so far and it's made a bit of a difference. The spikes are just strange though. They go up to 9 or 10 on meals with v low carbs (or what I think are low carbs). I'll get that notebook out

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you that's helpful. It's like I have to reinvent how I eat. I think nill do the note taking ... I am in my mid 50s so happy to go non tech. Thays really helpful. I've gone from 67 to 65 kg so far and it's made a bit of a difference. The spikes are just strange though. They go up to 9 or 10 on meals with v low carbs (or what I think are low carbs). I'll get that notebook out

Is the 9 or 10 at the 2 hour point after your meal. What sort of meal have you had?

 

[Franthepotter]

Is the 9 or 10 at the 2 hour point after your meal. What sort of meal have you had?

At the moment I'm eat no free carbs ... so I'm eating eggs veg a bit of cheese a little fish. The 9 or 10 is 2 hours after. If I go for a brisk walk after eating or a v gentle jog then it goes high but comes down again.

 

[Franthepotter]

At the moment I'm eat no free carbs ... so I'm eating eggs veg a bit of cheese a little fish. The 9 or 10 is 2 hours after. If I go for a brisk walk after eating or a v gentle jog then it goes high but comes down again.

So basically I'm not eating normally - trying to lose weight - (I'm not over) and still having spikes after eating. I don't really understand it.

 

[Franthepotter]

So basically I'm not eating normally - trying to lose weight - (I'm not over) and still having spikes after eating. Today I was 9.3 at 6pm after eating at 2/3pm. I ate 1 poached egg on some hummus with a little beetroot. Maybe it was the beetroot.

 

[Leadinglights]

Or the hummus about 10g per 100g as made from chickpeas which have carbs.
Similarly beetroot about 10g per 100g
Depends on how much of each you had.