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Food/Recipe Confusion

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Iyline

Iyline

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I was diagnosed with T2 at the end of May 2016 and told that my diet should be - high fibre, low fat, low sugar and low salt. I was also advised to only use the Diabetes UK Site and their recipes. This was done at my first diabetic meeting at my surgery. So I got on with it hoping I was on the right path but I'm constantly confused. I have been cooking from scratch and using a good few of the site recipes. Using the traffic light symbols, I sometimes think that the figures seem quite high, even if they are all green. I avoid red and could use some advice from some of you more experienced people.
I am 5' O", 66yo, overweight currently weighing 13st 5lbs. I am not on medication for my T2, only diet control. However, I have some health issues that I take meds for. My issues are - chronic back pain, CFS\ME, diverticulitis, fatty liver and no gall bladder. I take 200mg Sertraline for depression (I am good just now).
Well there it is, probably reading War and Peace would take less to time to read than the above.
 
Welcome to the forum lyline. If I were you I would cut down with carbs. Things that make your blood spike high are not good for diabetics. Porridge is good because it is slow release, It takes quite a bit to get to know whats what but keep reading on this site pls. 🙂
 
Hi Lyline Welcome.
You really need to know how food affects your BGs ( blood glucose) , having T2 and not being on meds that could make you go hypo (low) you probably haven't been given a meter to check your BGs.
If you can afford to buy one The SD Codefree from Amazon has the cheapest test strips we've found , around £8 for 50 other brands test strips cost a lot more.
If you test before a meal and two hours after eating , you will soon learn which foods affect you the worst.
Basically it's carbs that our bodies can't handle too well .
Look for the carbs usually on the back of the packs, take no notice of the sugars, they are another firm of carb and are included in the carb count above . tbh I ignore the traffic lights on the front.
Most of us find the worst culprits are, potatoes, rice, pasta and bread . Oh we have to be careful with fruit too, it's the sugar in it.

Now we're going to totally confuse you, many here me included don't do low fat, I always buy full fat things
Things like eggs, bacon, good quality sausages are fine ,
Many here have had great success not only in lowering there BGs but losing weight , by going, low carb high fat (LCHF)

Feel free to ask questions.
 
Hello Lyline. Am I right in thinking that, with no gall bladder, you might have problems following a higher fat diet?
It's becoming popular, but it's not suitable for everyone. However, cutting out some refined carb would help lose weight, it's just a question of not feeling hungry. High fibre may be the way forward for you if you can't tolerate fat, and certainly getting a meter and testing, as Ljc suggests, will help determine which foods you can eat without raising your blood sugars, because we are all different. For example, some people find porridge is one of the best things for them, others find it gives them a huge spike in their blood sugars afterwards, and the only way to find out is to test!
 
Welcome to the forum, lyline.
Others have already covered diet & blood glucose testing, recognising that high fat is not usually suitable for someone with no gall bladder. You may well find that improved diet will also improve your fatty liver situation.
As well as diet and medication, physical activity / exercise is also important. I'm guessing that CFS / ME and back pain limit what you can do, but even modest walking each day, not overdoing so you crash next day, will help in many ways.
 
HOBIE said:
Welcome to the forum lyline. If I were you I would cut down with carbs. Things that make your blood spike high are not good for diabetics. Porridge is good because it is slow release, It takes quite a bit to get to know whats what but keep reading on this site pls. 🙂
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your advice, I'll take it on board. Glad to have joined the forum.
Also, just to say my name starts with "I" and not "L". Everyone makes this mistake.
 
Ljc said:
Hi Lyline Welcome.
You really need to know how food affects your BGs ( blood glucose) , having T2 and not being on meds that could make you go hypo (low) you probably haven't been given a meter to check your BGs.
If you can afford to buy one The SD Codefree from Amazon has the cheapest test strips we've found , around £8 for 50 other brands test strips cost a lot more.
If you test before a meal and two hours after eating , you will soon learn which foods affect you the worst.
Basically it's carbs that our bodies can't handle too well .
Look for the carbs usually on the back of the packs, take no notice of the sugars, they are another firm of carb and are included in the carb count above . tbh I ignore the traffic lights on the front.
Most of us find the worst culprits are, potatoes, rice, pasta and bread . Oh we have to be careful with fruit too, it's the sugar in it.

Now we're going to totally confuse you, many here me included don't do low fat, I always buy full fat things
Things like eggs, bacon, good quality sausages are fine ,
Many here have had great success not only in lowering there BGs but losing weight , by going, low carb high fat (LCHF)

Feel free to ask questions.
Click to expand...

Hi, many thanks for your input, it has been helpful. Yesterday my cousin (paramedic) came and gave me a test on his own meter and my BG tested at 6.8mmol/mol. I then contacted my surgery for my last test there which was the end of May. It was 13.7mmol/mol. Crikey, I didn't know whether to be shocked or to just laugh at myself!
I have also been given a metre that was barely used, by my brother in law. It's an Accu-Check Aviva. I am currently reading the instructions so I can use it.
Cheers for your advice which I will take on board.
Iyline (name starts with an "I" and not an "L".
 
Iyline said:
Hi, thanks for your advice, I'll take it on board. Glad to have joined the forum.
Also, just to say my name starts with "I" and not "L". Everyone makes this mistake.
Click to expand...
Do I get a gold star miss ! :D I did do l & not L :D (makes a change)
 
Robin said:
Hello Lyline. Am I right in thinking that, with no gall bladder, you might have problems following a higher fat diet?
It's becoming popular, but it's not suitable for everyone. However, cutting out some refined carb would help lose weight, it's just a question of not feeling hungry. High fibre may be the way forward for you if you can't tolerate fat, and certainly getting a meter and testing, as Ljc suggests, will help determine which foods you can eat without raising your blood sugars, because we are all different. For example, some people find porridge is one of the best things for them, others find it gives them a huge spike in their blood sugars afterwards, and the only way to find out is to test!
Click to expand...

Hi Robin, as far as I know my lack of gall bladder hasn't had any effect on me. Believe me I ate plenty of fats etc before I changed my way of eating. However, it can only be tried. In all honesty, I'm not the greatest fan of potato's, pasta, rice etc and avoid when possible. I do however, like seeded batch bread but limit myself. Exercise is a problem due to CFS but I am working on it.
Thank you very much for replying to me. Iyline. ☺
 
Copepod said:
Welcome to the forum, lyline.
Others have already covered diet & blood glucose testing, recognising that high fat is not usually suitable for someone with no gall bladder. You may well find that improved diet will also improve your fatty liver situation.
As well as diet and medication, physical activity / exercise is also important. I'm guessing that CFS / ME and back pain limit what you can do, but even modest walking each day, not overdoing so you crash next day, will help in many ways.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your input. I am certainly hoping to improve my liver with new eating plan. I agree that I need to try to exercise more, which is very difficult for me. I just have very little energy and tire very quickly, eg, some light nominal housework can do it. Also preparing and cooking a meal does it too. By the time I've got it done, I'm exhausted and shaking. I have a very good husband who clears up for me so I can rest a bit. I could go on but won't as it's a scunner. Cheers, you spelled my name correctly, it's a scunner as well.
 
Still digesting all of your advice and hope to get more once I get this meter running. Still in the dark about my BG's. I have been eating porridge for breakfast which I've always enjoyed and managed to get a couple of short walks done with my dog. I am interested in the low carb, high fat diet but it worries me a bit due to my mind never having been on that track.
I feel all this "carb" thing seems to be complicated ....... trying to re-train my brain as to level of carbs acceptable to be classed as low. How to count carbs etc!
If I'm going to eat high fat, what about the saturates part of that? Lastly, on reading posts to help gain experience, I have no idea what all the abbreviated terms are. Anyone got a glossary?
 
Iyline said:
saturates part of that
Click to expand...
According to researchers like Noakes, Phinney etal it's the Polyunsaturated fats that are bad (except from oily fish...... The key is the quality of the fat; Extra Virgin wherever possible & saturated fats from organic sources (again wherever possible, or at least grass fed)
 
I know, it's all quite a lot to take in at first!

One of the hardest things to do is to get into the mindset that fat isn't necessarily bad. Fat is fine - as long as you're metabolising it, not storing it!

Carb-counting can seem a little daunting at first but if you've ever counted calories, it's actually very similar. Packaging usually has a total carbs per portion figure on the back (use this figure, NOT the 'of which sugars' one) and should always have a per 100g figure, which you can then use to calculate the carbs in your portion if you know what it weighs. Otherwise, there is an app called Carbs and Cals which uses pictures of common foods - you simply select the picture that looks closest to the size of the thing on your plate and it gives you a rough estimate. Very useful when eating out.

Having said all that...I would be less focused on getting specific carb numbers down and more focused on simply minimising them. Culturally, most meals are usually a bit of protein (eg a steak, a chicken breast etc.) surrounded by a sea of filler carbs (rice, pasta, potato). The trick is to find other things to sit next to what you're looking to eat on your plate - more veg is usually the quickest, easiest and healthiest way of doing this.

There are lots of resources out there that will help you plan lower-carb meals. My particular favourite is http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/recipes/ as it's very good at developing substitutes for commonly high-carb meals so you never feel like you're missing out.
 
Martin Canty said:
According to researchers like Noakes, Phinney etal it's the Polyunsaturated fats that are bad (except from oily fish...... The key is the quality of the fat; Extra Virgin wherever possible & saturated fats from organic sources (again wherever possible, or at least grass fed)
Click to expand...
I'll need to look at that at some point. Hopefully in an idiots guide version. Many Thanks
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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