Fruit and Vegetables?

[rex1000]

I have diabetes 2, plus high cholesterol, and a high fat content in my blood. I was made aware of this on the 10th of July 2013, I am a 65year old male living alone, I make all my meals and I do the shopping! So I have had to change my lifestyle and food choices to try to rectify the damage of my previous lifestyle.
The first thing that went was smoking I will have been a non-smoker for 2 months on Friday and already had quite a few benefits especially my circulation it has improved which makes walking so much easier. I also joined my fitness pal which I have found really helpful to help me try to lose weight and so far 9.5 Lbs has gone! Which again helps my general health, I have been amazed at the amount of sugar I was consuming via added sugar to foods so now I carefully read the labels. What it doesn't make clear on my fitness pal or at least I can't find it is my sugar limit's it give's me a target figure of 25g per day, but is that 25g of added sugar or total sugar? Because as you know we can get natural sugar from fruits and vegetables, as an example today I am having a Quorn sausage dinner (no potato) 200g Carrot & Swede Mash = 24g of sugar in total with all the vegetables = 31g so I am confused because fruit and vegetables are supposed to be good for you, so should I discount the sugar obtained from natural sources? What would you advise? Thank you

 

[Helenp479]

Hi Rex I am pretty new here as well and have just been diagnosed with type2 so I am still feeling my way around things so I don't know the answer to your questions but will keep eye on your thread so I can see the answers you are given.
I would like to say well done on your stopping smoking it is so hard to do along with having to change your life style as well, I stopped 6 years ago and never looked back.

 

[Mark T]

Carbohydrate content of food raises your blood glucose level - not just sugar.

Personally I aim for a moderate carbohydrate intake (~150g Car/day) but what works for you may differ and I came to that figure with the help of my blood glucose meter.

I tend to ignore the "sugar" figure, but I never really consumed a huge amount of it anyway - other than that my "fizzy" drink of choice used to be lucozade 😱

Well done on giving up smoking! 🙂

 

[AlisonM]

Hi Rex and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on the smoking, or rather not smoking. It's a real trial getting used to living with the Big D, but you seem to have a handle on it and I've no doubt you'll find lots of support here from our members.

As far as the sugar questions goes, any sugar at all is going to raise your blood sugars, as will complex carbohydrates found in things like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. No sugar should be discounted, no matter it's source. It's mainly a case of finding out which foods affect you most and which least so you can make sensible decisions about what to eat and when.

Are you able to test your blood sugars? Many of us have problems getting strips from the doctor, but those who can, or who buy their own can find it immensely useful in building an understanding of what happens to our blood sugar levels when we eat or exercise. I would recommend that you do this if you can.

Here are links to some information that may help;

Jennifer's Rules.

An open letter to the new Type 2 (A PDF file).

Type 2 Daibetes, The First Year. Available form Amazon.

You can also check out our Links sections and the Food/Carb Queries and Recipes Section for ideas.

I hope this helps.

 

[rex1000]

Thank you for the advice everyone and also the links I will check those out now

 

[Helenp479]

I have bought the book off amazon on living the first year with diabetes type 2 and it is very good think you will have to keep going back on pages but for the moment I am reading all the way through and then will go back once I have read it all.
It tells you alsorts some of it got me well mixed up at first but further into the book it goes into more layman terms and that is easier to understand.
I don't have to use a meter yet as the diabetes nurse said to cut sugar out in my diet and I will get to see a dietician when they send my appointment and have my feet checked and eyes checked and hopefully I will be able to control with diet but it is amazing where you find the sugar which I am not doing bad with but the carbs is another thing.

 

[PhilT]

Hi Rex, welcome to the forum.

When looking at food labels you should generally look at the total amount of carbohydrate in the food as it is the amount of carbohydrate not just the sugar that raises your blood sugar levels.

If you try to eat foods that contain less carbs or eat smaller portions of foods that contain large amounts of carbs, rice, pasta, bread and potatoes as Alison mentioned earlier, the impact on your blood sugar levels will be less drastic. Also grainy breads, and brown rice for instance effect your blood sugar levels more slowly than the white varieties because they contain fibre.