Hello - prediabetic

[samosa1986]

Hello!

I was diagnosed as prediabetic this week. I've spent a few days trawling this forum and wider website and I've learnt so much and taken so much heart from people's stories that I've read. So thanks to all those who contribute and share information.

I am 39, male, 6ft2, of anglo-asian heritage. The Indian side of my family has a long history of diabetes: my mum currently has it and her parents both had it (although my mum wasn't diagnosed as prediabetic until her mid fifties). So I knew it would be coming my way at some point, but this was a bit sooner than expected.

The short backstory is that I had some bloods done in June and they came back with high cholesterol and high blood sugar levels - HbA1C 41mmol/mol. At the time, I weighed 93kg, which put me in the 'overweight' category according to my BMI. So I set about changing my diet and increasing my exercise. Essentially, it was a mostly vegetarian diet, no sugar, low carbs. And i aim to run 10 miles per week along with an hour's swimming.

The good news is that I am now 81kg (BMI 22.7) and my cholesterol levels are normal. My waist has gone down from 38 inches to 36. Hooray! Time for that banoffee pie I've been craving.

The bad news is that my blood sugar levels actually went up to 42mmol/mol. I realise this is only just in the prediabetic range. But having changed my diet and exercise regime significantly i was pretty gutted. It made me wonder whether my genes just make the march to T2 diabetes inevitable.

If anyone has any advice or experience to the contrary that would be appreciated!

I had also assumed that weight loss would mean lower blood sugar levels. I guess i was wrong in this assumption.

I'm sure I can do more with my diet. One thing that has me confused is that i've swapped out white pasta, rice and bread for wholemeal alternatives. Yet i can see from this forum and other sites now that wholemeal alternatives aren't great either.

If anyone has any general advice or example stories i am all ears as i've been feeling a bit low this week. I do also fully appreciate that my situation is at the lower end of the scale compared to others.

Thanks!

 

[pjgtech]

Hi and welcome, what sort of veg were/are you eating, as some are high carb, eg: potato, sweet potato, carrot, in fact a lot of root veg can be high carb, whereas most above ground veg/salads are ok.
Also need to watch fruit, which can be high sugar/carb too, berries are generally considered the most diabetic friendly. More info would be good. Congrats on the exercise and weight loss.....

 

[samosa1986]

Thanks! I'd mostly cut out potatoes, but was still eating sweet potatoes and carrots. otherwise i tend to eat pulses, beans, nuts, wholegrains, salads, oily fish, chicken and have cut out processed meats.

Yeh I realise fruits may be an issue. I thought they were all good. I tend to have a combination of bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries most days. I also make date jam for the fibre, but maybe i need to ease back on that.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks! I'd mostly cut out potatoes, but was still eating sweet potatoes and carrots. otherwise i tend to eat pulses, beans, nuts, wholegrains, salads, oily fish, chicken and have cut out processed meats.

Yeh I realise fruits may be an issue. I thought they were all good. I tend to have a combination of bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries most days. I also make date jam for the fibre, but maybe i need to ease back on that.

I think it would be useful for you to look at this link to help understand some of the misapprehensions you have about various foods. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Bananas are something many if Type 2 will avoid as well as grapes, mangoes, pineapple, but berries are the lowest carbs except blueberries which are the highest carb of the berries. Pulses and beans are quite high in carbs but used in things like chilli or curries so the proportion is not too high when added into the other ingredients. Eggs and cheese are also good low car foods, all fish, meat, most veg and salads.
I use edamame or black bean pasta and noodles which are much lower in carbs than wheat pasta. Butternut squash is a good alternative to potatoes or sweet potatoes. Cauliflower, squash and chickpea is one of my favourite curries with either paneer or hard boiled eggs.
Your 2 HbA1C results are really the same given the tolerance of accuracy of the test but still worth doing what you can to improve your blood glucose given you have the risk factors of family with Type 2.

 

[Drummer]

Thanks! I'd mostly cut out potatoes, but was still eating sweet potatoes and carrots. otherwise i tend to eat pulses, beans, nuts, wholegrains, salads, oily fish, chicken and have cut out processed meats.

Yeh I realise fruits may be an issue. I thought they were all good. I tend to have a combination of bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries most days. I also make date jam for the fibre, but maybe i need to ease back on that.

Ouch - I'm afraid that is not low carb eating - the colour of the carbs is not going to make much of a difference, sweet potato was no better than ordinary when I tested, carrots I do eat a little, raw and grated in salad, legumes I need to eat in rather small amounts, no grain, no high sugar fruits, but berries a couple of times a month, no more.
At diagnosis my HbA1c was well into the diabetes range, but these days I am aiming for as close to normal as possible.
My nutrition is mainly from meat, fish, eggs and cheese, full fat Greek yogurt from time to time - with the berries.

 

[samosa1986]

Thanks both for your helpful replies. I’ll do some more research and try to balance things out a bit.

Good to know re HbA1C results and the ‘tolerance of accuracy’.

How much does exercise immediately affect blood sugar levels? I mean, I know it’s helpful in losing weight when on the right diet, but do different forms of exercise have different impacts on blood sugar levels.

 

[Martin.A]

How much does exercise immediately affect blood sugar levels? I mean, I know it’s helpful in losing weight when on the right diet, but do different forms of exercise have different impacts on blood sugar levels.

As I understand it gentle exercise tends to reduce BG, as your body will use the glucose that's already in your blood stream, but vigorous exercise tends to increase it as your liver will need to provide a glucose boost.

If I go for a long walk after dinner my BG 2 hours after eating is always a little lower than my average for that particular meal. I don't do vigorous exercise so I have no personal experience of that effect.

 

[JimmyBlue]

Hi @samosa1986 welcome to the forum and definitely congratulations on the weight loss.

Exercise is an interesting one for me as I have been a runner for many years and when diagnosed in September I increased my runs so I was doing at least three and normally four 5KM to 6KM runs per week. That meant that my BG after runs was always quite low (around 5 and sometimes as low as 4.5). Due to issues with my weight falling significantly over the last two months, which was not necessary, I have just reduced the running and make sure I do a 20 minute brisk walk each day before lunch, this always pulls my BG down to under 6. At the same time I have joined a gym and started to do more weights to build muscle mass. From my conversation with the Diabetes nurse at my GP practice, exercise has an immediate impact when you do it as it burns off the glucose, but the building of muscle mass increases the absorption of BG into the muscles which provides a longer term benefit.

Not sure I understand the process fully but I am enjoying the gym and focusing on the weights is more interesting than running on their treadmill. I do still try and get a run in each week just to keep up my thought processes and dealing with issues at work.

 

[samosa1986]

Ah thanks for that info! That makes sense. I'll get on the weights 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Ah thanks for that info! That makes sense. I'll get on the weights 🙂

Like @Martin.A I think a difference is often drawn between 'aerobic' and 'anaerobic' exercise. So gentler aerobic exercise (lighter weights with lots of reps, running, cycling, rowing machine at steady pace) will tend to reduce BGs.

But high intensity exercise - heavy weights, sprints, HIIT generally increase BG levels, at least at the time of the exercise.

Congratulations on your weight loss, and good luck with some further tweaks and changes to your menu. You don't need to go all-in immediately. Take things gradually step by step, reducing portions, and finding some swaps and substitutions, to build a more BG-friendly menu you will be able to stick-with long term.

 

[samosa1986]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

 

[Mark72]

Thanks! I'd mostly cut out potatoes, but was still eating sweet potatoes and carrots. otherwise i tend to eat pulses, beans, nuts, wholegrains, salads, oily fish, chicken and have cut out processed meats.

Yeh I realise fruits may be an issue. I thought they were all good. I tend to have a combination of bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries most days. I also make date jam for the fibre, but maybe i need to ease back on that.

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear of someone else being diagnosed. Personally I eat mostly berries for my mixed fruit, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries being my favourites with Strawberries every now and then and physalis/cape gooseberries every now and then. Generally 2-3 portions of about 50g each which tend to fit within my aims for sugar and general carb intake as well as adding to my (very poor) attempts to hit 5 fruit and veg per day. Most other fruit seems a bit high though I'll be investigating tangerines, satsumas and clementines this week because I kind of love orange-type fruit and it's that time of year.

 

[Martin.A]

I'll be investigating tangerines, satsumas and clementines this week because I kind of love orange-type fruit and it's that time of year.

Those fruits tend to be around 9% carbohydrate, all of it sugar. As a rule-of-thumb, under 10% carbohydrate is usually considered to be low carb but, as always, be mindful of portion size. I eat apples, but never a whole apple in one go - half now, half later.

 

[samosa1986]

Does anyone have any guidance about the best way to check my blood sugar levels? My GP said they'll see me again in a year, or maybe 6 months if I lose a lot of weight, for an HbA1c. But I wouldn't mind getting monthly readings if possible, just to see how my new regime is affecting things.

I'm looking at different meters but not sure if these would suit me well.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Leadinglights]

Does anyone have any guidance about the best way to check my blood sugar levels? My GP said they'll see me again in a year, or maybe 6 months if I lose a lot of weight, for an HbA1c. But I wouldn't mind getting monthly readings if possible, just to see how my new regime is affecting things.

I'm looking at different meters but not sure if these would suit me well.

Thanks in advance.

Many people use a home testing finger prick monitor to keep a check on blood glucose levels on a day to day, week to week basis. Initially they may use it to test their tolerance to the amount of cars in their meal by testing before eating and after 2 hours and making adjustment to the meal if it is more than 8.0 -8.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal or no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase.
After that they test to check on progress, how often is up to them. If you are in the prediabetic range then checking a morning / fasting reading every week may be enough to reassure you that you are on track.
If those morning readings are 4-7mmol/l that is what you would be looking at for what is expected.
There are a few monitors that can be bought on line that people find ok and have the cheaper test strips, GlucoNavii, TEE2 and Contour Blue.
Some places offer HbA1C tests at a cost obviously but not useful to have more often than every three months as that is the period of time that is covered i.e. the 3 months prior to the test as that is the life of your red blood cells.

 

[samosa1986]

Thank you! Yeh that's what I'm after, just a weekly/monthly reading to check progress.