• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Grapefruit, cranberries. and meat

M

MaryKate

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Pronouns
She/Her
I am becoming very confused although I have been T2 diabetic for 30 years, even thought in the last 10 or 12 years my control had improved greatly but recently there seems to be so much conflicting information. I'm on Metformin, Losarton and recently been precribed Glimepiride , not happy with it and really don't want too take it but the question which cropped up at breakfast was I shouldn't eat grapefruit or cranberries? Is that correct? Also I should eat meat, I've not eaten meat since i was 5 years or so old more than 70 years ago.
 
@MaryKate ive been on blood pressure medication for 17 years and understood you shouldn't eat/drink grapefruit with it. I've just done a check and discovered it is contra indicated with a statin i was prescribed in September. I used to love grapefruit. I don't think it is all statins or all blood pressure medication.

I've had cranberry since being prescribed metformin and dapaglifozin in September. I always read the leaflets and will check them and online.
 
I can’t answer about the grapefruit or cranberry but I know they’re to be avoided with some meds. You could ask your pharmacist. However, I can’t see any reason why you should eat meat if you don’t want to @MaryKate
 
I've done some more checking. Grapefruit doesn't interact with Metformin. I can only see a reference to Cranberry having a mild effect on blood thinners. I recall in July drinking some low sugar or it may have been sugar free cranberry juice when I thought I might have a uti starting and I was fine. Obviously if it is juice need to check the sugars.

As far as meat is concerned I was brought up eating meat and like it. I usually buy from my local butcher but some weeks don't eat any and most weeks eat once or twice. I get protein more from fish. I don't know what your diet is or you like. I think there are some vitamins etc which are lacking in a vegan diet but you should discuss if it is a health problem for you and whether you should eat more nuts and seeds or if a supplement would help.
I suspect you should avoid grapefruit with your blood pressure medication but your pharmacy would help. I think it makes the drug less effective whether that means occasional use would be ok or that another medication would be ok I don't know.
In any event I've cut out fruit juice since my diagnosis
 
Apparently "In some patients, grapefruit may decrease the efficacy of Losartan". OTOH it is now recognised as causing/exacerbating low serum sodium so for anyone with low sodium it's completely contra-indicated, cos that ain't good for us generally.

Who is telling you this, anyway?
 
Having a chat with the qualified pharmacist at your surgery or high street chemists might be helpful @MaryKate

They'll be able to tell you in more detail if grapefruit and cranberry are a concern with the combination of meds you have been offered.

There's no reason why you can't have a healthy vegetarian or vegan meal plan with diabetes.

There's a DUK veggie meal plan here:

1,200 calories a day meal plan for women

If you want to lose weight, a meal plan can be a useful way to do so. Many people choose to take on a calorie-controlled diet to help them lose weight and manage their food intake. But it’s important to make sure it’s the right option for you first. Our 1,200 calorie meal plan is only suitable...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk

And a vegan one here:

Vegan meal plan

This nutritionally balanced meal plan is suitable for vegans and and contains at least five portions of fruit and veg per day.
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk
 
Thank you everyone, so helpful. I am not vegan just don't eat meat, but a friend linked me to some online 'diabetes help' one of which claimed a veggie diet was bad and meat was what diabetics should eat, I ended up so confused. I don't often buy fruit juices as they are often too high in sugar anyway . I think since I was first diagnosed and told to eat brown bread and use brown sugar an awful lot more has been discovered on diabetes both T1 and T2.
 
There are some ridiculous ‘advice’ sites out there @MaryKate Because diabetes is so common now, many of these sites are about diabetes. I’m sure you know that a good vegetarian diet is perfectly healthy 🙂

Look here:

Can eating a vegetarian diet really help you live longer?

Want the secret to longer life? We investigate whether a plant-based diet can really help you live longer.
www.sanitarium.com www.sanitarium.com

“A team of researchers at Loma Linda University in the United States has shown vegetarian men live for an average of 10 years longer than non-vegetarian men — 83 years compared to 73 years. For women, being vegetarian added an extra 6 years to their lives, helping them reach 85 years on average.
The Loma Linda team is behind the ground-breaking Adventist Health Study-1 regarding life expectancy. This study is considered the gold standard in the world of nutrition because it is a comprehensive, long-term study that involves a large number of people.
For 14 years, Loma Linda researchers tracked the diets, lifestyle and diseases among 34,000 Seventh-day Adventists. This Christian religion encourages a vegetarian diet and abstaining from alcohol and smoking. Adventists are ideal participants for large population studies, because most don’t smoke or drink. This makes it easier to see how their other lifestyle choices, particularly dietary choices, impact their health and longevity.
The study found that there were 5 key habits that could add years to your life. They were:

  1. Eating a vegetarian diet,
  2. Eating a handful of nuts regularly (around five times a week),
  3. Being active,
  4. Not smoking, and
  5. Being a healthy weight.
The research found on average these lifestyle factors could each provide an extra 2–3 years to your life and what’s better is they add up — so if you follow them all you could enjoy an extra decade.
A more recent study from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health corroborates this. Maintaining 5 healthy habits (eating a healthy diet, exercising, being a healthy weight, not smoking, and moderate or not drinking) may add a decade or more to life expectancy. The combination of all 5 was linked with the most additional years, but experts believe the most important one is healthy eating, particularly a whole food plant-based diet.
 
There is a vegetarian meal plan in this link to the Freshwell program https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/. It is worth reading the introduction as it has lots of sensible information having been designed by a well respected GP practice.
 
I know it says on some blood pressure and statins that people should avoid grapefruit as it can affect the activity of the medication.
Cranberry is useful in treating UTIs as it contains a high concentration of d-mannose which helps to stop the bacteria adhering to the urinary tract. Capsules are better for that as juice is too dilute and will usually contain sugar.
There is certainly no need to eat meat if you don't want to. I suppose the thought is that meat is a zero carb food so will help people who want to follow a low carb regime.
 
I have a neighbour who has a grapefruit tree (in central London) which produces masses of fruit (her son planted a grapefruit pip 40 years ago). I love grapefruit and she used to give me loads, but my pharmacist has completely banned it, because I'm on Atorvastatin.
As for the no meat thing, I've been vegan for 7 years and apart from this pesky type 1 diabetes and the high cholesterol (not sure why a vegan would have high cholesterol but life doesn't always make sense), I feel very healthy and energetic. The health professionals don't always get it right.
 
@MaryKate I only mentioned vegan as I had read people eating a vegan diet have to be careful as they may lack certain minerals, I also wasn't sure if you occasionally ate fish. As we get older and usually eat less we may have to choose more carefully. I was brought up to finish whatever was on my plate but my still slim sister who was entered by her GP into a study for those naturally slim, will stop eating when full, and usually only eats once a day.
I now see you haven't received medical advice just a well meaning friend.

If you feel you are deficient in something eg B12 perhaps ask for a blood test and help from a dietician.

As others have said the Freshwell site is excellent run by two GPs and also available as an app. It will be a good way to update yourself and you may find some new meals.
 
janedent said:
I have a neighbour who has a grapefruit tree (in central London) which produces masses of fruit (her son planted a grapefruit pip 40 years ago). I love grapefruit and she used to give me loads, but my pharmacist has completely banned it, because I'm on Atorvastatin.
As for the no meat thing, I've been vegan for 7 years and apart from this pesky type 1 diabetes and the high cholesterol (not sure why a vegan would have high cholesterol but life doesn't always make sense), I feel very healthy and energetic. The health professionals don't always get it right.
Click to expand...
It was only when I did a check on the Internet that I realised grapefruit was a nono with atorvastatin which I was prescribed in September but not all statins. I take blood pressure meds which don't mix with grapefruit so had stopped it some time ago.
 
The advice on what to avoid should be in the leaflet included in the box with the medication.
It was certainly there in the leaflet I got with Atorvastatin.
The advice to eat meat could be because eating protein and fat is an easy option to get into a low carb diet - but there are lots of things other than meat to chose from.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top