Hello

[LornaV]

Hello,

I am so glad to have found this site/ forum. I am 61 and a month ago for the first time my blood sugar was HbA1c 6,1 or 43,0. I live in Belgium ( come originally from NI) and my doctor here tells me I am diabetic - but I’ve read on-line that 7,0 is the norm for diabetes so 6,1 is actually pre-diabetic. She does say if I control my sugar intake and exercise more I should be able to reverse it. I am confused and would be glad for some input here.

I also am told not to eat certain fruits, like bananas, mangos, pineapple as there is too much sugar in them. I don’t read this on UK sites - and I find it really hard to avoid my favourite fruits. Any thoughts?

I have started exercising much more and eating wholemeal pastas, rices and bread, but I love baking and find it hard not to be able to enjoy a good comfort dessert. Any encouragement, ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Am I an ‘at- risk’ person for corona? We are all very much self-isolating here in Belgium so I’m only going out for food shopping.

 

[grovesy]

Hello,

I am so glad to have found this site/ forum. I am 61 and a month ago for the first time my blood sugar was HbA1c 6,1 or 43,0. I live in Belgium ( come originally from NI) and my doctor here tells me I am diabetic - but I’ve read on-line that 7,0 is the norm for diabetes so 6,1 is actually pre-diabetic. She does say if I control my sugar intake and exercise more I should be able to reverse it. I am confused and would be glad for some input here.

I also am told not to eat certain fruits, like bananas, mangos, pineapple as there is too much sugar in them. I don’t read this on UK sites - and I find it really hard to avoid my favourite fruits. Any thoughts?

I have started exercising much more and eating wholemeal pastas, rices and bread, but I love baking and find it hard not to be able to enjoy a good comfort dessert. Any encouragement, ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Am I an ‘at- risk’ person for corona? We are all very much self-isolating here in Belgium so I’m only going out for food shopping.

Welcome.
I believe differnt countries sometimes have differnt cut off points for diagnosis.Many try to limit the amount of carbs they eat. Unfortunately all those fruits you mention are high in carbs, and many would not eat. Berries tend to be lower in carbs.

 

[Tee G]

Hi and welcome @LornaV . You will certainly want to be making a few alterations to your diet to get/keep you under that 48 number. Over that, and you are diabetic. (in UK 2 out of 3 BT results over 48 gets you a diabetic diagnosis, albeit you may eventually get under that and keep yourself into the pre-diabetic range. BUT you will always be considered diabetic and should live/eat according to that for health and long term well being).

Im afraid pasta, rice, potatoes, flour products like pastry, cakes, biscuits and exotic fruits all should be minimum, if not cut out all together. There are better alternatives. It just take a little planning and determination to create a new menu and respect diabetes. We have good forums/threads on food, https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/food-carb-queries-recipes.4/ We make 'cauliflower mash/rice' you will barely notice it isnt potato or conventional rice. I tend to eat only small handful of fruit that has the name 'berry' - much less carbs than other kinds. And it the CARBs we must be aware of, not just obvious sugar. All fruit/veg have a carb element. and carbs turn to glucose in the body and do our levels no good whatsoever. I found this site useful : https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods

Also take a look at the site forums here : https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/

We also have a 'Learning Zone' (above, top of the page, orange tab, sign in separately there for more info).

There is a lot to read, take your time to absorb it all - make your plans, educate yourself. You will see diabetes is a very individual process and how the body react to certain foods, we are all different! Above all - do it slowly, give your body time to adjust otherwise you could create other problems. Any change is a shock, go sensibly with it. Good luck, and come back with any observations/questions, we are here to help you.

 

[KARNAK]

Yes you are correct @LornaV that would be the UK figures as @grovesy says Belgium may have different cut off figures. No point me carrying on as @Tee G beat me to it and good advice it is too, welcome to the forum.

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum @LornaV 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @LornaV

As others have suggested, your HbA1c of 43 would put you ‘at risk’ of diabetes in the UK, but not perhaps over the threshold for diagnosis (though we are in no position to question a diagnosis given by a medical professional here as we aren’t medically qualified!)

However people who join the forum having been told they are ‘at increased risk‘ often make very similar adjustments to their diet as people who are newly diagnosed (often reducing/moderating carbohydrate content and using a BG meter to check individual responses to foods), so the suggestions @Tee G nas made are good ones.

People with diabetes in the UK are being told to be extra careful about ‘social distancing’, because diabetes does carry a degree of additional risk of a person develops a severe case of Covid19.

I would assume Belgium has a similar government website for advice where you are?

 

[LornaV]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. Here, in Belgium, we’re allowed pasta, bread and rice as long as it’s wholemeal - limited of course. And 2 squares of 70% or over dark chocolate.
I have to admit to feeling quite overwhelmed by the whole thing... counting carbs, reading every food package.... watching literally everything I eat..... I try my best, but I crash every so often and just have a binge I feel so fed up. How can I do this without going into a depression? It’s like a grieving process.

 

[grovesy]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. Here, in Belgium, we’re allowed pasta, bread and rice as long as it’s wholemeal - limited of course. And 2 squares of 70% or over dark chocolate.
I have to admit to feeling quite overwhelmed by the whole thing... counting carbs, reading every food package.... watching literally everything I eat..... I try my best, but I crash every so often and just have a binge I feel so fed up. How can I do this without going into a depression? It’s like a grieving process.

If you are prone to bingeing, why not reduce your portions and find what works for you and can maintain most of the time,

 

[LornaV]

Hi and welcome @LornaV . You will certainly want to be making a few alterations to your diet to get/keep you under that 48 number. Over that, and you are diabetic. (in UK 2 out of 3 BT results over 48 gets you a diabetic diagnosis, albeit you may eventually get under that and keep yourself into the pre-diabetic range. BUT you will always be considered diabetic and should live/eat according to that for health and long term well being).

Im afraid pasta, rice, potatoes, flour products like pastry, cakes, biscuits and exotic fruits all should be minimum, if not cut out all together. There are better alternatives. It just take a little planning and determination to create a new menu and respect diabetes. We have good forums/threads on food, https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/food-carb-queries-recipes.4/ We make 'cauliflower mash/rice' you will barely notice it isnt potato or conventional rice. I tend to eat only small handful of fruit that has the name 'berry' - much less carbs than other kinds. And it the CARBs we must be aware of, not just obvious sugar. All fruit/veg have a carb element. and carbs turn to glucose in the body and do our levels no good whatsoever. I found this site useful : https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods

Also take a look at the site forums here : https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/

We also have a 'Learning Zone' (above, top of the page, orange tab, sign in separately there for more info).

There is a lot to read, take your time to absorb it all - make your plans, educate yourself. You will see diabetes is a very individual process and how the body react to certain foods, we are all different! Above all - do it slowly, give your body time to adjust otherwise you could create other problems. Any change is a shock, go sensibly with it. Good luck, and come back with any observations/questions, we are here to help you.

Just wondering why you say I AM diabetic if I my blood number is 43 and not 48 which you give as the diagnostic number? But thanks for the advice and the links.

 

[Tee G]

my mistake about 43 not 48, sorry. But good advice nevertheless to keep it there 🙂,,,,,note to self, clean my spectacles !

P.S just as a side note, to my understanding, diabetes is a progressive disease, crawls along at a snails place, so working to keep those numbers you have is important. And i still maintain, carbs are to be restricted, wholewheat, wholemeal, may slow the glucose pouring into the blood stream, but at the end of the day they are still carbs. I would encourage you to self test at home with a glucose meter. I started doing this just after New Year, and have been very surprised by some of my results. Some people can tolerate certain foods, better than others. We wont know until we test. Something to consider? - good luck. Stay well.

 

[LornaV]

my mistake about 43 not 48, sorry. But good advice nevertheless to keep it there 🙂,,,,,note to self, clean my spectacles !

P.S just as a side note, to my understanding, diabetes is a progressive disease, crawls along at a snails place, so working to keep those numbers you have is important. And i still maintain, carbs are to be restricted, wholewheat, wholemeal, may slow the glucose pouring into the blood stream, but at the end of the day they are still carbs. I would encourage you to self test at home with a glucose meter. I started doing this just after New Year, and have been very surprised by some of my results. Some people can tolerate certain foods, better than others. We wont know until we test. Something to consider? - good luck. Stay well.

Thank you, Tee G. I don’t know anything yet about self-testing. My doctor has just told me to come back for a blood test in a couple of months, so I’m a bit in the dark.

 

[Tee G]

Here are a few more link (as if you havent had loads alread! 😉 ) I got my device on Amazon. When i first started i did upon waking. 1 pre meal. Then one 1 & 2 hours post meal. To show any 'spikes' - if i got anything above 2/3 point rise, i either cut down the portion of it or cut it out all together and found an alternative. For example, I found i can only eat 4 tbspns porridge, others can eat half a bowl full and again others have no problem with any of it. Same for brown bread. Rice (brown or white) & pasta. We are all different - thats why 'self testing' is vital to understand what the glucose and our insulin production is doing. Noways, I test upon rising and again only when i am experimenting with new foods or trying to gauge how much of something i can eat. I have got my menu/diet pretty well sorted now (although eating out is a little troublesome, but common sense kicks in with that). I have found I can have 5 chips/ 2 small new potatoes / 2 tbsn rice with no ill effects. But no more than that. Im happy with that as I dont feel im missing out totally. My experiments are continuing!

Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S
Also, because if you have to self-fund you want to make those test strips count:
Testing on a budget

For those wishing to test, but not able to get strips prescribed, the following are the cheapest option we have come across (it was formerly called the SD Codefree Meter, but has been replaced with this new model from the same company:

SD Gluco Navii which has test strips at around £8 for 50.

 

[LornaV]

Here are a few more link (as if you havent had loads alread! 😉 ) I got my device on Amazon. When i first started i did upon waking. 1 pre meal. Then one 1 & 2 hours post meal. To show any 'spikes' - if i got anything above 2/3 point rise, i either cut down the portion of it or cut it out all together and found an alternative. For example, I found i can only eat 4 tbspns porridge, others can eat half a bowl full and again others have no problem with any of it. Same for brown bread. Rice (brown or white) & pasta. We are all different - thats why 'self testing' is vital to understand what the glucose and our insulin production is doing. Noways, I test upon rising and again only when i am experimenting with new foods or trying to gauge how much of something i can eat. I have got my menu/diet pretty well sorted not (although eating out is a little troublesome, but common sense kicks in with that). I have found I can have 5 chips/ 2 small new potatoes / 2 tbsn rice with no ill effects. But no more than that. Im happy with that as I dont feel im missing out totally. My experiments are continuing!

Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S
Also, because if you have to self-fund you want to make those test strips count:
Testing on a budget

For those wishing to test, but not able to get strips prescribed, the following are the cheapest option we have come across (it was formerly called the SD Codefree Meter, but has been replaced with this new model from the same company:

SD Gluco Navii which has test strips at around £8 for 50.

Thanks so much, for all your helpful advice. This is great. Really appreciate it.