Hi i joined this forum 3 weeks ago but i am still trying to work out how i feel. the doctor was no good. she just said to get in touch in 3 months time for another blood test. i have been put on metformin and i have to have a healthy diet.a family member said i have not to worry as i have a mild case of diabetes so i m wondering if i dont really need to be strict with my healthy eating. so confused
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confused
- Thread starter Gwen101
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Martin.A
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
How strict you have to be with your diet depends on how high your HbA1c was at diagnosis. I'm not sure what your family member means by a 'mild' case of diabetes, but even if there was such a thing please be aware that doing nothing to manage it will only see it progress.
Hi Gwen
I’m a newbie and feel exactly the same, diagnosed a month ago and put on metformin, I have always considered myself having a good healthy diet. I did request a bm monitor to try and establish how my food was affecting my blood sugars, I’m disheartened that, with the changes I have made so far haven’t altered my fasting blood sugar at all. My portions have reduced significantly, together with a reduction in wine consumption and increased activity, but the scales remain the same as they have for the last 3yrs!
I’m a newbie and feel exactly the same, diagnosed a month ago and put on metformin, I have always considered myself having a good healthy diet. I did request a bm monitor to try and establish how my food was affecting my blood sugars, I’m disheartened that, with the changes I have made so far haven’t altered my fasting blood sugar at all. My portions have reduced significantly, together with a reduction in wine consumption and increased activity, but the scales remain the same as they have for the last 3yrs!
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi both @Gwen101 and @Di56
Welcome to the forum, you will find lots of help here, don't be too disheartened by what you may think is slow progress but it is actually better to bring down blood glucose levels gradually as you will be less likely to get issues with your eyes and nerves that some people can get when their body is adjusting. They say it is more like a marathon than a sprint, as what you need to do has to be a new way of eating for the long term not just a quick fix.
Many people think they have a healthy diet but it is not always the case if Type 2 diabetic where the body struggles to metabolise carbohydrates so even with metformin it is still necessary to reduce high carb foods, cutting them out or reducing portion size and basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, dairy with plenty vegetables and fruit like berries with only small portions of any high carb foods.
Have a look at this link for some good ideas for modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It is a low carb approach which many find successful in both reducing blood glucose and losing weight if needed. It is suggested that a good starting point for reducing carbs is no more than 130g carbs per day, it is not NO carbs.
Keeping a food diary helps to see where any savings can be made by estimating how man carbs are in the meals, drinks and snacks you are having.
Welcome to the forum, you will find lots of help here, don't be too disheartened by what you may think is slow progress but it is actually better to bring down blood glucose levels gradually as you will be less likely to get issues with your eyes and nerves that some people can get when their body is adjusting. They say it is more like a marathon than a sprint, as what you need to do has to be a new way of eating for the long term not just a quick fix.
Many people think they have a healthy diet but it is not always the case if Type 2 diabetic where the body struggles to metabolise carbohydrates so even with metformin it is still necessary to reduce high carb foods, cutting them out or reducing portion size and basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, dairy with plenty vegetables and fruit like berries with only small portions of any high carb foods.
Have a look at this link for some good ideas for modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It is a low carb approach which many find successful in both reducing blood glucose and losing weight if needed. It is suggested that a good starting point for reducing carbs is no more than 130g carbs per day, it is not NO carbs.
Keeping a food diary helps to see where any savings can be made by estimating how man carbs are in the meals, drinks and snacks you are having.
Martin.A
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Do you have access to your medical records via Patient Access? It will be on there. If not, I suggest you ring your surgery and ask. This is a really important piece of information if you have diabetes.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Yes it is important to find out what the result is as that will determine how much work you will need to do and in many cases determine what if any medication you may be prescribed.
That test is used to diagnose diabetes but does not tell you if you are Type 2 or Type 1, you would need other tests for that if clinical presentation suggested it may be other than Type 2. It is in simple terms the average blood glucose over the previous 3 months. The diagnostic threshold is anything over 47mmol/mol so hopefully you will not be too high and some dietary changes will be enough.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Unfortunately what is considered a healthy diet is almost always packed with starch and sugar, all from things considered good to eat, but they end up being digested to form simple sugars in the blood, and we don't cope well with those.
Despite following my GPs diet printout I was hugely overweight at diagnosis.
I could go on the Great British Sewing Bee as transforming garments to make something smaller has become my task twice a year since I went low carb.
My HbA1c has come down from 91 to the top end of normal, which seems to be adequate considering my age is now 73.
Despite following my GPs diet printout I was hugely overweight at diagnosis.
I could go on the Great British Sewing Bee as transforming garments to make something smaller has become my task twice a year since I went low carb.
My HbA1c has come down from 91 to the top end of normal, which seems to be adequate considering my age is now 73.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can understand where you are coming from @Gwen101 - especially if your Dr seems quite relaxed, and friends and family are telling you it’s not a big deal.
And it certainly wouldn’t help you to go into full panic-mode. Bit in my opinion there are real risks in not taking it serously enough too! One thing’s for sure - with your diabetes diagnosis you’ve been given a chance to help your body manage glucose levels better. If you just carry on as before, I’m afraid it’s likely that your condition will progress. And there are some pretty unpleasant consequences with that.
Medication you’ve been offered can help to a degree - but it can’t do everything. Medication and menu need to be in balance.
For some people, it’s going to be enough just to ditch the ‘obvious’ things - biscuits, chocolate, cake, takeaways, crisps etc. Not to never have them, but only very rarely, and certainly not part of a daily / weekly routine.
For other people, the overall balance of their food intake may need adjusting. If most of their meals are based around carbohydrates in large portions, then addressing that, and getting the plate a bit more balanced with non-carby veg, fats and proteins, plus smaller portion sizes can do far more than dropping an occasional biccoe with a cuppa.
It’s all very individual!
Finding out your HbA1c is a great way to understand to what extent your metabolism has been struggling. And how significantly you may need to change your menu 🙂
And it certainly wouldn’t help you to go into full panic-mode. Bit in my opinion there are real risks in not taking it serously enough too! One thing’s for sure - with your diabetes diagnosis you’ve been given a chance to help your body manage glucose levels better. If you just carry on as before, I’m afraid it’s likely that your condition will progress. And there are some pretty unpleasant consequences with that.
Medication you’ve been offered can help to a degree - but it can’t do everything. Medication and menu need to be in balance.
For some people, it’s going to be enough just to ditch the ‘obvious’ things - biscuits, chocolate, cake, takeaways, crisps etc. Not to never have them, but only very rarely, and certainly not part of a daily / weekly routine.
For other people, the overall balance of their food intake may need adjusting. If most of their meals are based around carbohydrates in large portions, then addressing that, and getting the plate a bit more balanced with non-carby veg, fats and proteins, plus smaller portion sizes can do far more than dropping an occasional biccoe with a cuppa.
It’s all very individual!
Finding out your HbA1c is a great way to understand to what extent your metabolism has been struggling. And how significantly you may need to change your menu 🙂
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Yes, 55 sounds like an HbA1C. 55 is just in the diabetes zone so hopefully a few small sustained tweaks to your diet and lifestyle will lower it.
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