Hello, I'm new, looking for dietary advice.

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Miss T.

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At risk of diabetes
Hello there,

Got my prediabetes diagnosis in 2020, been struggling to lower long term value. No matter what I do, it's stayed the same. Looking for advice about foods. Was already underweight before I changed my diet, now more so. Can't find any meal plans online that would help me to put weight on AND lower the value. Does anyone have a tip?

Thanks and kindest regards, T.
 
Welcome @Miss T. Did you lose weight unexpectedly prior to diagnosis? Is there Type 2 in your family?
 
Hi there, thanks for reply. No diabetes in family. I lost most of the weight because I was told to reduce carbs and sugar. The rest was stress. I didn't really have a sweet tooth before anyway so I just looked at everything that had carbs in as well as the obvious sugar candidates like juice or certain fruits. All to no avail and this is what caused the weight loss. I switched to wholewheat as well. Kind regards, T
 
Miss T. said:
Hi there, thanks for reply. No diabetes in family. I lost weight because I was told to reduce carbs and sugar. I didn't really have a sweet tooth before anyway so I just looked at everything that had carbs in as well as the obvious sugar candidates like juice or certain fruits. All to no avail and this is what caused the weight loss. I switched to wholewheat as well. Kind regards, T.
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Ok, I asked because unexpected weight loss is a symptom of Type 1. Generally, if you reduce carbs, you’ll probably need to add in some healthy fats to keep weight up - things like full fat Greek yoghurt, oily fish, nuts, avocados. You might also find it helpful to use something like MyFitnessPal so you can make sure you’re achieving your daily calorie target. I used it when I was trying to put on weight. It did help.
 
Whole grains are still grains - just with a bit of fibre and a tiny amount of vitamins added/ They still spike Blood Glucose in many /most T2 diabetics. Before being diagnosed with T2D I had been eating wholegrain bread, brown pasta. brown rice, for over 15yrs.

If you want to put on weight (muscle not fat) eat lots of Protein with all the fat that comes naturally with it (don't cut fat off bacon, ham, steak, eat eggs and full fat dairy. And do resistance training (weights).
 
Miss T. said:
Hi there, thanks for reply. No diabetes in family. I lost most of the weight because I was told to reduce carbs and sugar. The rest was stress. I didn't really have a sweet tooth before anyway so I just looked at everything that had carbs in as well as the obvious sugar candidates like juice or certain fruits. All to no avail and this is what caused the weight loss. I switched to wholewheat as well. Kind regards, T
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The carbs in wholegrain are better but they still count as carbs so if you’re eating a lot you might have to moderate your portions.
 
When you say your blood glucose levels are still the same, how are you actually assessing this - by an annual HbA1c test at your GP surgery, or do you test at home with a glucometer (blood glucose meter) in between and whichever it is, what sort of numbers are you seeing?
 
Inka said:
The carbs in wholegrain are better but they still count as carbs so if you’re eating a lot you might have to moderate your portions.
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That's the bit that usually gets missed when the NHS advises switching to wholegrain.
 
trophywench said:
When you say your blood glucose levels are still the same, how are you actually assessing this - by an annual HbA1c test at your GP surgery, or do you test at home with a glucometer (blood glucose meter) in between and whichever it is, what sort of numbers are you seeing?
Click to expand...
Hello,
I get a blood test for the HbA1c every 3 months at the GP. Still got the threshold value of 5.6. I know the theory behind the foods but a specific plan that isn't geared towards weight loss is what I can't seem to find, so if you have any tips, would be v. grateful. Have a nice evening and thanks for your reply.
 
I too wonder if you might be a slow onset Type 1.
The way to put on weight would be to increase your calories and the most calorie dense macro nutrient is fat. I have real double cream in my coffee every morning. I eat cheese and nuts and olives and avocado. If I am cooking I don't stint on the fat content, so a good glug of olive for my ratatouille. Mushrooms and aubergines are particularly good at soaking up oil. Fatty meat has far more taste in my opinion than lean. Full fat mayonnaise with boiled eggs works great as a low carb snack if you need to put weight on. I have a spoon of crunchy peanut butter with half a square of dark 70% chocolate.
I think we have been so conditioned to eat low fat that we have either lost the idea of how we can increase it or we feel guilty if we do. I really struggled with guilt around eating more fat especially when my DN had told me to go low fat and low salt and low sugar and low carb. You can really drop a lot of weight doing that, but it isn't sustainable. Eating more fat makes low carb sustainable and enjoyable. 4.5 years down the line I feel fitter and healthier than I have for years. My skin and joints are much improved and my cholesterol has actually dropped from 5.2 at diagnosis to 4.5 despite eating a diet high in saturated fat. I enjoy what I eat and I don't want to go back to a "normal" diet even though I could because I have found too many health benefits in eating low carb and higher fat.
 
Hello there,

Thank you for all your suggestions, I love all the stuff you mentioned, so I will try to up the amounts. I'll definitely check with the doc regarding the type, just in case. It never occurred to me, so thanks for pointing it out.

All the best for you!
 
Miss T. said:
Hello there,

Thank you for all your suggestions, I love all the stuff you mentioned, so I will try to up the amounts. I'll definitely check with the doc regarding the type, just in case. It never occurred to me, so thanks for pointing it out.

All the best for you!
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Your HbA1C converts to 38mmol/mol which is normal so it may be you can up your good carbs a bit and certainly increase protein and fats.
What sort of meals are you having? approx how many grams of carbs per day are you having.
 
Slow onset Type 1 is generally referred to as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) The categories of diabetes are divided up by cause, so Type 1 and LADA are caused by an autoimmune attack where your immune system targets your insulin producing beta cells and kills them off. In children this often happens quite rapidly and they become ill very quickly and usually end up in hospital but in adults the immune attack can be slower and prolonged, so it can sometimes exhibit like Type 2 diabetes which is caused by a problem with the metabolism where due to fat in and around the liver and pancreas, those two organs are no longer able to regulate blood glucose effectively even though insulin production may be fine and perhaps even higher than normal.
There are other Types of diabetes but I will not confuse the issue with discussing those.

If you are slim/underweight and have lost weight rapidly and your levels do not respond appropriately, or perhaps do initially reduce but then suddenly shoot up months or even years later, despite dietary measures, this usually suggests autoimmune diabetes ie TYpe 1 and something has triggered the immune system to take out a few more beta cells. It is not fully known what causes this but viruses and infections which obviously stimulate the immune system, are suspected. Some GPs are under the misunderstanding that Type 1 only develops in children and young adults but there are many of us here who developed it later in life. I myself was 55.
There are two tests to check for Type 1 a C-peptide and a GAD antibody test, but in the early stages of LADA they may not be conclusive, so it might be a question of planting the seed of doubt in your GPs mind and then managing it as best you can for now as a potential Type 2 and be on the lookout for things suddenly changing.
 
Miss T. said:
Hello,
I get a blood test for the HbA1c every 3 months at the GP. Still got the threshold value of 5.6. I know the theory behind the foods but a specific plan that isn't geared towards weight loss is what I can't seem to find, so if you have any tips, would be v. grateful. Have a nice evening and thanks for your reply.
Click to expand...
Can you clarify the units of measure for that 5.6 reading? As @Leadinglights says, if that is your HbA1c in the old units of measure ie % then you are not even prediabetic. I am wondering if you are getting confused and it is actually 56 mmols/mol.
The units of measure of Blood Glucose (BG) and HbA1c can be quite confusing for people to understand at first.
 
Welcome to the forum @Miss T.

We have a few folks on the forum with T2 who were normal weight or even slightly underweight at diagnosis. But we also have quite a few who had to have their diabetes type adjusted when it became clear that their diabetes was a different flavour. So it can certainly pay to keep an open mind about your type of diabetes.

Hope you find a way to put some of the weight back on that you have lost in the meantime.
 
My local hospital has a diabetic unit. In that unit is a wall chart which I have added to this post.
As you can see it doesn't even go down to 5.6 so maybe you are worrying unnecessarily.
Paul G
 

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PaulG said:
My local hospital has a diabetic unit. In that unit is a wall chart which I have added to this post.
As you can see it doesn't even go down to 5.6 so maybe you are worrying unnecessarily.
Paul G
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Thanks Paul, that's very kind of you. All the best for you,

Kind regards
T.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Welcome to the forum @Miss T.

We have a few folks on the forum with T2 who were normal weight or even slightly underweight at diagnosis. But we also have quite a few who had to have their diabetes type adjusted when it became clear that their diabetes was a different flavour. So it can certainly pay to keep an open mind about your type of diabetes.

Hope you find a way to put some of the weight back on that you have lost in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for your reply. I can see that I should check with my doctor next time I go. Do you know anything about the effects of anaemia on the value? I heard it could deliver a false positive.
 
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