hello everybody

[Dave_Z1a]

When you get used to how different foods effect your blood sugar readings you may feel that you can experiment with mixing foods to reduce the carb spikes and how your body reacts. I do this and find it fascinating, its highly likely that every person will react differently though.
For instance I can't generally eat more than one bite of an apple but if I have it with cheese I can have half an apple with little effect, the fat suppressing the sugar in the apple. I always have a small beer before my evening meal and this tends to keep the liver occupied allowing me to have quite a carb heavy dinner, (most can tolerate a higher carb load at dinner anyway), but this allows me to have poppadams with my curry and a 16g pudding for instance. I can also have two small roast potatoes, roast onion, parsnip and a Yorkshire pud with a roast plus all the rest, and its a large portion! Results are high 6,s sometimes low 7's after 2 hours. Breakfast is difficult, can only tolerate 10 carbs but if I have a full english I can have strawberries, Mellon or toast and marmalade for afters! I will skip lunch on these occasions though
So try your wotsits but have a slice of cheese with then and see what happens!

 

[Toddyken]

Leadinglights always gives excellent advice to newly diagnosed diabetics, so I won't duplicate it. What you do need to know though, is your HbA1c, the blood test result which diagnosed your diabetes. How do you know where you are starting from without it? Depending on the mmol/mol result, you will know just how much work and tweaking you have to do.

What might help you understand your food composition (and I find a lot easier than writing everything down and doing the calculations) is to get a food diary app, like NutraCheck or MyFitnessPal and enter everything you eat and drink. It will show you carb values by item, meal and a daily running total, amongst other nutrient values. You will need to weigh all your portions (no guessing). I keep digital scales and a clear bowl on my kitchen top and after 4 years still weigh most items. It just takes a matter of seconds each meal and you will soon remember portion sizes and carb values.

I also have crockery where I know what portion sizes fit. For example, my bowl takes 275ml home made soup, and my "dinner" plate is actually a 10" side plate, so I can't get too much on it. One way to up your veggie intake without realising it, is what is suggested for fussy children. Puree down cooked veggies and mix them in with sauces, soups or gravies. I'm thinking of shepherds pie, pasta sauce.

I do have the occasional treat, like a small packet of crisps, if I am under my daily carb allowance, but perhaps bear that in mind for the future, when your carbs are well controlled. Moderation, not abstinence (I'm no saint but can cope with this!).

I also use My Fitness Pal, once you get used to it and it stores your regular foods it’s very easy. I like the fact every evening you can analyse your calorie, carbs fat and others just buy logging the barcode and make adjustments,bonus it’s free .

 

[markbsac]

hi again...so i have been monitoring my blood glucose levels with my new monitor for the past week i have checked them after many different foods and drinks i have stuck to the diet the nurse told me to do, i have not had a bad reading they are all within the limits 2 hours after my main meal and in the morning, i have just cut out all the sweets and chocolate i used to eat and watched my carb intake, ive even had a few beers and all still ok. is it a mixture of the metformin and diet or does the metformin play a major role in my readings ?

 

[Leadinglights]

hi again...so i have been monitoring my blood glucose levels with my new monitor for the past week i have checked them after many different foods and drinks i have stuck to the diet the nurse told me to do, i have not had a bad reading they are all within the limits 2 hours after my main meal and in the morning, i have just cut out all the sweets and chocolate i used to eat and watched my carb intake, ive even had a few beers and all still ok. is it a mixture of the metformin and diet or does the metformin play a major role in my readings ?

Metformin will have a small impact but diet is what may find will have the greatest influence.

 

[Leadinglights]

hi again...so i have been monitoring my blood glucose levels with my new monitor for the past week i have checked them after many different foods and drinks i have stuck to the diet the nurse told me to do, i have not had a bad reading they are all within the limits 2 hours after my main meal and in the morning, i have just cut out all the sweets and chocolate i used to eat and watched my carb intake, ive even had a few beers and all still ok. is it a mixture of the metformin and diet or does the metformin play a major role in my readings ?

I can't see anywhere that you say what your starting HbA1C is as that will be something you will want to get repeated usually about 3 months after the previous test to see if the measures you are taking are being effective.
What sort of meal rises are you getting as that will be a good indication that your meals are OK 2-3mmol/l after 2 hours is a good target to aim at and as levels come down no more than 8-8.5mmol/l.
It is then being careful not to spoil the hard work by having too many extras on a regular basis.

 

[markbsac]

I can't see anywhere that you say what your starting HbA1C is as that will be something you will want to get repeated usually about 3 months after the previous test to see if the measures you are taking are being effective.
What sort of meal rises are you getting as that will be a good indication that your meals are OK 2-3mmol/l after 2 hours is a good target to aim at and as levels come down no more than 8-8.5mmol/l.
It is then being careful not to spoil the hard work by having too many extras on a regular basis.

i go back in 3 months to see the nurse i have no idea what my hba1c is i have not been told. my readings 2 hours after meals are 6.3 to 6.8 on average and a few in the low 7s i only had one reading what i call high and that was 8.8

 

[Leadinglights]

i go back in 3 months to see the nurse i have no idea what my hba1c is i have not been told. my readings 2 hours after meals are 6.3 to 6.8 on average and a few in the low 7s i only had one reading what i call high and that was 8.8

Sounds like you are on the right track with what you are doing. Do ask what your HbA1C is, the actual number not just OK, high, a bit high as it is your right to know and gives you knowledge of your starting place

 

[Dave_Z1a]

i go back in 3 months to see the nurse i have no idea what my hba1c is i have not been told. my readings 2 hours after meals are 6.3 to 6.8 on average and a few in the low 7s i only had one reading what i call high and that was 8.8

Your doing well Mark, readings about the same as me, if you keep that up your hba1c is likely to return to the top end of what’s considered normal, around high 30’s low 40’s!
The meter will build up a database and also your phone software over time and is likely to give you a predicted hba1c estimate, it’s not that accurate but the more info you give it it gets quite close. In the early days I was checking six times a day and the predicted hba1c readings all matched the lab results all be it 2 to three points optimistic. Nice guidelines state a non diabetic can have a sugar reading of up to 7.8 milli molls per litre two hrs after meals so excellent!

 

[Lurcher67]

hi again...so i have been monitoring my blood glucose levels with my new monitor for the past week i have checked them after many different foods and drinks i have stuck to the diet the nurse told me to do, i have not had a bad reading they are all within the limits 2 hours after my main meal and in the morning, i have just cut out all the sweets and chocolate i used to eat and watched my carb intake, ive even had a few beers and all still ok. is it a mixture of the metformin and diet or does the metformin play a major role in my readings ?

My HbA1C was 81 in March, I have cut out biscuits, crisps etc. It took me a while to get readings as low as you are getting yet my blood test last week says that it is now in the normal range. Unfortunately the GP receptionist refused to tell me what my HbA1c was, just that it was normal. The reason she gave me that she is not medically qualified even though she had the figure in front of her. I now have to have a telephone appointment with the doctor to get this information. I would think that the GP has other patients to be dealing with rather than calling me to tell me what I could have been told yesterday. Anyway with your readings it sounds as though you are on track to getting back to normal level.
Well done, keep up the good work.