Confused!

[Suebluebell]

Hi everyone. My partner's just got back from his first visit with nurse at the surgery after type 2 diagnosis. He tells me she advised no pasta, spuds, rice, bread and to look on your site for diet advice. I'm doing it as I'm main cook and he doesn't read so well. And your pages say he's supposed to have all those things but in moderation and with healthy option swaps. But we're already doing most of the swaps due to heart disease. My big question is about beans. I'm thinking we could swap out some of the pasta, rice, or meat for a tin of chick peas or haricot beans. Is this a good plan? Thanks

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum. Getting to grip with dietary changes is going to be important for helping your partner with reducing blood glucose. To some extent what foods you choose to have will depend on somebodies tolerance to various carbohydrates. The advise on this site covers people not just with Type 2 diabetes but Type 1 and people taking a whole range of different medications.
Depending on what his HbA1C is that has given the diagnosis (it will be a number above 47mmol/mol) will indicate how much work he needs to do, so if just in the diabetic zone some modest changes may be sufficient.
The specific question about beans is not as simple as it sounds, they are quite high carb but some people are able to tolerate then but others can't. Meat is very low carb as is fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, and non starchy vegetables, berries and dairy.
As your doctor said better to avoid or only have in small portions are potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, breakfast cereals, and tropical fruits as well as obvious cakes, biscuits and fruit juices and other sugary drinks.
This link may help you with some food ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Suebluebell and welcome to the forum.
The main site is a little behind the times so far as diets for Type 2 diabetics is concerned. You will find that there are a mix of views in the forum, but that the idea or eating Low Carb (not necessarily lower Calorie has gained popularity with many of us (and even some Type 1's) seeing the benefits. In eating less carbohydrate, we need to eat more protein and more fat in order to avoid cutting calories too much ( YoYo dieters often have a poor metabolism through cutting calories too much and then trying to eat normally once the weight has been lost).
The most difficult part of low carb for many is psychological because we have all been told that natural fat in food are bad for us. But many T2D's and many doctors (even cardiologists) say that things like eggs, full fat dairy, cheeses, nuts and fatty meat/fish is OK and not the risk we were told it was.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Suebluebell, welcome to the forum.

It's lovely to have you here for support and I'm glad to hear that you've been able to make some positive changes so far.

As mentioned, there's no one size fits all and sometimes GP's base their advice on not only the diabetic numbers but any other co existing health challenges so maybe this is the approach that suited your partners' overall circumstance.

Your plan sounds great as it's about making lifestyle changes that you'll both be able to stick to so finding healthy alternatives is super helpful.

Do let us know how it goes and if there's anything else we can help with.

 

[Deleted member 34756]

Hi @Suebluebell, it's great to see you've joined the online community and I hope your able to take a few tips and advice from here! We have some great recipes and meal plans on our website which we can provide, before starting any of these please do check with the GP 🙂

 

[Inka]

Hi @Suebluebell 🙂 I eat a lot of beans and pulses and find them quite low GI. There are also pastas made from pulses that have less carbs than ordinary pasta.

I think it depends on your husband’s HbA1C result (the blood test that probably diagnosed him with Type 2) and his current diet. I’d suggest making an honest list of an average day’s food for him and see where you can improve things, which often means cutting down on carbs and increasing green veg. Portion size is important. So, if you choose to try beans or a pasta made from beans or pulses, give him a small portion.

I’d recommend getting a blood glucose meter so he can keep an eye on how certain meals/foods affect his blood sugar. That will give you useful info about whether pulses/beans work for him.