Newbie to this site and would like to say hello to everyone. I have been a type 2 diabetic for a few years now taking metformin as prescribed. However, I have been reading lately about other ways to control sugar levels, has anyone any advice? There are so many statements being made it's confusing. Look forward to your responses. Thanks.
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Hi everybody
- Thread starter colin d
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Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome to the forum, as you say there are many conflicting things you read but that is because everybody is different and therefore may need a different way of managing their diabetes. It can very much depend on how high their HbA1C is, what medication, do they have weight to lose as to what approach will be suitable.
Many find a low carbohydrate approach is successful and that is suitable if people are just using diet or diet and metformin but other meds may need a different regime.
Other people find a low calorie or shakes based regime gives them a kick start but there is then the transition to a more sustainable way. But whatever way you choose has to be enjoyable otherwise it will not be sustainable and it needs to be your new way of eating for life.
I found the principals in this link successful, it is a low carb approach, but not NO carb. All carbohydrates convert to glucose so reducing them is needed even if you are taking metformin. There is good explanation in this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
What your HbA1C is will indicate how much work you need to do. If you were not told then you need to ask.
Felinia
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hello and welcome
Can you let us know your HbA1c level at present, as that will help us best advise you. The level for a diabetic diagnosis is 48mmol/mol. If you are only just above that you may just need a few tweaks, but if you are above 60mmol/mol a bit more change might be needed. Leadinglights always offers excellent advice and I would also second the low carb approach. All three of us are in the same age range!!
The suggested maximum daily carb intake (everything including drinks and snacks) is below 130gm per day. Everyone is different so it can take a bit of experimenting to find out what suits your body best. I got an app which measures carbs by meal, day and week, and plan my day in advance, so I can keep within my target. I also weigh most things (no guesstimating) but not above ground veggies like lettuce, cabbage, green beans, broccoli as they are all very low carb. I do most of my own cooking from scratch, so there are none of the hidden additives or carbs. One of the advantages of being retired and at home. In winter I have lots of home made soups and in summer, it's salads. My evening meal is about 2/3 veggies, lots of cauliflower and squash as a replacement for potato mash and chips.
Are you active or do exercise, as that also helps. I started aquafit when diagnosed and that really helps. My classes have a few gentlemen, sometimes alone, or with their partners. My neighbour prefers to cycle and weather permitting, goes out several times a week. Even a daily walk, with or without dog.
Can you let us know your HbA1c level at present, as that will help us best advise you. The level for a diabetic diagnosis is 48mmol/mol. If you are only just above that you may just need a few tweaks, but if you are above 60mmol/mol a bit more change might be needed. Leadinglights always offers excellent advice and I would also second the low carb approach. All three of us are in the same age range!!
The suggested maximum daily carb intake (everything including drinks and snacks) is below 130gm per day. Everyone is different so it can take a bit of experimenting to find out what suits your body best. I got an app which measures carbs by meal, day and week, and plan my day in advance, so I can keep within my target. I also weigh most things (no guesstimating) but not above ground veggies like lettuce, cabbage, green beans, broccoli as they are all very low carb. I do most of my own cooking from scratch, so there are none of the hidden additives or carbs. One of the advantages of being retired and at home. In winter I have lots of home made soups and in summer, it's salads. My evening meal is about 2/3 veggies, lots of cauliflower and squash as a replacement for potato mash and chips.
Are you active or do exercise, as that also helps. I started aquafit when diagnosed and that really helps. My classes have a few gentlemen, sometimes alone, or with their partners. My neighbour prefers to cycle and weather permitting, goes out several times a week. Even a daily walk, with or without dog.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi @colin d and welcome to the forum.
As others have said, a good starting point is your HbA1c and how it has been changing. That gives you some idea of the urgency needed in tackling your diabetes.
In basic terms there are four levers you can pull...
1. Reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet. The theory is that carbohydrate turns into glucose in the gut, the glucose gets into the blood stream and if your system for some reason cannot cope, your blood glucose can rise to diabetic levels.
2. If you are over weight then lose the excess. Plenty of evidence to show that being overweight can impair glucose processing and lead to increased blood glucose levels.
3. Exercise - exercise needs glucose and taking exercise takes it out of the system
4. Medication. Many different medications of varying effectiveness.
The trick is to work out which lever is best for you. Each will have its own champions (or grifters trying to sell you something) and this leads to the confusion you have seen. Sometimes, as I have found, pulling more than one lever might suit you best.
Final point, you are like me in what I call wrinkly territory. There is some discussion about it, but some suggest that the 48 diagnosis level is a bit restrictive for the likes of us. Certainly, my DN is quite content with my HbA1c of 55. I am not busting a gut to get it down, just tweaking lever 4, medication, to stop it going much higher because I have pulled the other levers as far as I am comfortable with.
Hope that helps for starters.
As others have said, a good starting point is your HbA1c and how it has been changing. That gives you some idea of the urgency needed in tackling your diabetes.
In basic terms there are four levers you can pull...
1. Reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet. The theory is that carbohydrate turns into glucose in the gut, the glucose gets into the blood stream and if your system for some reason cannot cope, your blood glucose can rise to diabetic levels.
2. If you are over weight then lose the excess. Plenty of evidence to show that being overweight can impair glucose processing and lead to increased blood glucose levels.
3. Exercise - exercise needs glucose and taking exercise takes it out of the system
4. Medication. Many different medications of varying effectiveness.
The trick is to work out which lever is best for you. Each will have its own champions (or grifters trying to sell you something) and this leads to the confusion you have seen. Sometimes, as I have found, pulling more than one lever might suit you best.
Final point, you are like me in what I call wrinkly territory. There is some discussion about it, but some suggest that the 48 diagnosis level is a bit restrictive for the likes of us. Certainly, my DN is quite content with my HbA1c of 55. I am not busting a gut to get it down, just tweaking lever 4, medication, to stop it going much higher because I have pulled the other levers as far as I am comfortable with.
Hope that helps for starters.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
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Welcome to the forum @colin d
Sorry you've found some of the different suggestions slightly confusing. Diabetes can be a fickle foe, and one of the tricky things about it is that the same approaches don't necessarily work as effectively (or simply appeal) to different people. So when looking for information you can easily come across very different advice and options, and struggle to know which is the 'right' way to go about things.
Perhaps it's more helpful to see the suggestions as different options which you may or may not find helpful, and to try them out and see which is the best fit for you?
If you'd like some more information to add to the understanding you've already picked up you might like to register an account for the Learning Zone, which is packed full of helpful bite sized modules
Additionally there are a variety of different meal plans that Diabetes UK have put together (some focussing on weight loss, others on reducing carb intake) which may give you some ideas?
Meal plans and diabetes
Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...
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