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Hi everyone, Newbie here!
- Thread starter Kaybee68
- Start date
- Status
So I've just turned 55, have started doing all the usual things like exercising, eating a lot more healthier and have lost some weight (not a lot) but being only 5ft 2 it looks a lot better on me 😉. However I am struggling with a lack of imagination in my 'new' diet.
I was a coach potato with a sweet tooth, so probably a classic example of someone who would get diabetes. It was a shock and I have thrown myself into trying to reverse it.
About a month ago my Doctor put me on Metformin, 4 x 500mg tablets per day - I don't know if it's the tablets or not, but sometimes I don't have a bit appetite.
I have been signed up for the Xyla Diabetes Path to Remission scheme, starting in January (wanted to get Christmas out the way first) ! So fingers crossed that will work wonders.
Initially my Haemoglobin A1c level - IFCC standardised was 84 mmol/mol, and last week i had another blood test and it's now 77. I know it's still high and needs to be under 48, but is it usually that slow to come down?
Worried that they're going to put me on insulin
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
I was a coach potato with a sweet tooth, so probably a classic example of someone who would get diabetes. It was a shock and I have thrown myself into trying to reverse it.
About a month ago my Doctor put me on Metformin, 4 x 500mg tablets per day - I don't know if it's the tablets or not, but sometimes I don't have a bit appetite.
I have been signed up for the Xyla Diabetes Path to Remission scheme, starting in January (wanted to get Christmas out the way first) ! So fingers crossed that will work wonders.
Initially my Haemoglobin A1c level - IFCC standardised was 84 mmol/mol, and last week i had another blood test and it's now 77. I know it's still high and needs to be under 48, but is it usually that slow to come down?
Worried that they're going to put me on insulin
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
harbottle
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
How long was there between the 84 and 77?
It can take 3 months to show a difference.
I was at 83 and 3 months later, after cutting carbs and losing 3 stone, I was at 36.
Metformin will make a modest difference at most, the biggest changes can be made by lifestyle changes (i.e. diet and exercise.)
They won't put you on insulin, as it's early days, there are a few different families of drugs that can help (Along with lifestyle changes.)
What is your new diet?
It can take 3 months to show a difference.
I was at 83 and 3 months later, after cutting carbs and losing 3 stone, I was at 36.
Metformin will make a modest difference at most, the biggest changes can be made by lifestyle changes (i.e. diet and exercise.)
They won't put you on insulin, as it's early days, there are a few different families of drugs that can help (Along with lifestyle changes.)
What is your new diet?
Hi
Initially breakfast consisted of a cup of tea and a cigarette 🙄, but i gave up smoking in June. Now I have either a banana or yoghurt and strawberries/raspberries. On a weekend I'll treat myself to wholemeal toast. Lunch was traditionally a Tesco meal deal with crisps and probably a bar of chocolate, nowadays it's homemade tuna rolls or chicken rolls, or Ryvita, with fruit as snacks. Lots of water in the day, no diet coke anymore, apart from special treats.
For tea/evening meal i ate a lot of salad, or chicken with veg, fajitas, tried to eat not too much red meat, sugar free jelly with fruit for desert.
I do have lasagne once in a blue moon or a homemade curry, but i have also recently been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease so have to be really careful not to eat fatty foods either.
Original diagnosis of 84 was early September, 77 was last week.
I have tried to be as strict with myself as i can, but it was my birthday and i went out for bottomless brunch a few weeks ago. I'm no saint and i have slipped a few times. but the Diabetic Nurse at my practice said eat whatever you want within reason, although i'm being mostly really good
Initially breakfast consisted of a cup of tea and a cigarette 🙄, but i gave up smoking in June. Now I have either a banana or yoghurt and strawberries/raspberries. On a weekend I'll treat myself to wholemeal toast. Lunch was traditionally a Tesco meal deal with crisps and probably a bar of chocolate, nowadays it's homemade tuna rolls or chicken rolls, or Ryvita, with fruit as snacks. Lots of water in the day, no diet coke anymore, apart from special treats.
For tea/evening meal i ate a lot of salad, or chicken with veg, fajitas, tried to eat not too much red meat, sugar free jelly with fruit for desert.
I do have lasagne once in a blue moon or a homemade curry, but i have also recently been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease so have to be really careful not to eat fatty foods either.
Original diagnosis of 84 was early September, 77 was last week.
I have tried to be as strict with myself as i can, but it was my birthday and i went out for bottomless brunch a few weeks ago. I'm no saint and i have slipped a few times. but the Diabetic Nurse at my practice said eat whatever you want within reason, although i'm being mostly really good
harbottle
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
So it's around 3 months and it's lowered a little.
Some of that food sounds like it might be relatively high in carbohydrates, which will increase blood sugar. I avoid things like bread & fruit like bananas are quite high in carbohydrates as well.
Some fruit, especially tropical, can be quite high in carbs.
Do you have a test meter? I would try testing levels before and after a meal to see what is going on. (Take the level before, and then 2 hours after eating.)
"Eat whatever you want within reason" is not the sort of thing you should be telling someone with T2 diabetes, but testing your levels before and after meals can allow you to tune your diet/portions to something that keeps levels good.
Dr David Unwin has been treating T2 patients with low-carb diets:
phcuk.org
I am not sure of the relevance of NAFLD - I didn't have that, but it can cause problems and is linked to T2 diabetes.
Some of that food sounds like it might be relatively high in carbohydrates, which will increase blood sugar. I avoid things like bread & fruit like bananas are quite high in carbohydrates as well.
Some fruit, especially tropical, can be quite high in carbs.
Do you have a test meter? I would try testing levels before and after a meal to see what is going on. (Take the level before, and then 2 hours after eating.)
"Eat whatever you want within reason" is not the sort of thing you should be telling someone with T2 diabetes, but testing your levels before and after meals can allow you to tune your diet/portions to something that keeps levels good.
Dr David Unwin has been treating T2 patients with low-carb diets:
Public Health Collaboration
phcuk.org
I am not sure of the relevance of NAFLD - I didn't have that, but it can cause problems and is linked to T2 diabetes.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
You seem to have cut down some of the foods that would be OK like meat and diet coke but are still having some high carb foods like the banana and toast.
Curry and chilli are fine as long as you don't have rice but substitute cauliflower rice.
Breakfast can be eggs with bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, full fat Greek yoghurt and berries are good choices.
Have a look at this link for some menu ideas https://www.freshwell.co.uk/
Curry and chilli are fine as long as you don't have rice but substitute cauliflower rice.
Breakfast can be eggs with bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, full fat Greek yoghurt and berries are good choices.
Have a look at this link for some menu ideas https://www.freshwell.co.uk/
Hi @Kaybee68 I'm afraid you have been conned!
Fat doesn't (usually) make you fat - it is carbohydrates that do that. This means your 'healthier' eating, for a T2 diabetic, is likely just as bad or even worse than what you were eating before.
Probably the best way to reverse T2 diabetes is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates we eat (both sugars and starches). These include all the usual sweet things (including tropical fruit like bananas, and fruit juice) and grains and starchy veg - so potato, parsnip, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, bread, baked goods etc.
Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver is cured the same way - eat more protein, a little more fat, and less carbohydrates because all carbs when digested turn into sugars!
Here's a link to the blog post by a T2 diabetic which set me on the path to lifestyle controlled T2 remission (no diabetes medication whatsoever): https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
Fat doesn't (usually) make you fat - it is carbohydrates that do that. This means your 'healthier' eating, for a T2 diabetic, is likely just as bad or even worse than what you were eating before.
Probably the best way to reverse T2 diabetes is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates we eat (both sugars and starches). These include all the usual sweet things (including tropical fruit like bananas, and fruit juice) and grains and starchy veg - so potato, parsnip, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, bread, baked goods etc.
Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver is cured the same way - eat more protein, a little more fat, and less carbohydrates because all carbs when digested turn into sugars!
Here's a link to the blog post by a T2 diabetic which set me on the path to lifestyle controlled T2 remission (no diabetes medication whatsoever): https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
Good morning all, thank you for your replies - I shall be doing a lot more research into the foods and meals.
I do now only eat wholemeal bread and rolls - most mornings I do eat Skyr Yoghurt with raspberries, but if i'm running late i'll grab a banana.
I don't have a glucose monitor yet, i've ordered one so then i'll have a better idea of what foods are better for me.
I do also look at the Green, Orange and Red listings on food packaging - it's surprising how unhealthy some of the 'healthy' options are!
🙂
I do now only eat wholemeal bread and rolls - most mornings I do eat Skyr Yoghurt with raspberries, but if i'm running late i'll grab a banana.
I don't have a glucose monitor yet, i've ordered one so then i'll have a better idea of what foods are better for me.
I do also look at the Green, Orange and Red listings on food packaging - it's surprising how unhealthy some of the 'healthy' options are!
🙂
I have type 2 diabetes – what can I eat?
If you've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, one of the first things you might be worried about is food. You’re likely to be faced with what seems like an endless list of new tasks. Medical appointments, taking medication, stopping smoking, being more active and eating a healthy, balanced...
So the link above tells me what i should eat for breakfast, dinner, tea, which i am adhering to (mostly), but it still includes bread/carbs/rice
So much conflicting information on the internet.........
it's so frustrating..........
harbottle
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Bread is bread. Whether it's white or brown, it still gets turned into glucose.
An initial level of 84 does mean quite a high intolerance to glucose, so it is worth testing your response to bread/rice.
I sometimes have a small portion of naan bread without seeing much of a rise in BG, but I know this from doing tests.
An initial level of 84 does mean quite a high intolerance to glucose, so it is worth testing your response to bread/rice.
I sometimes have a small portion of naan bread without seeing much of a rise in BG, but I know this from doing tests.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
The surgery who developed the Freshwell program did so because they found that the standard NHS dietary advice following the Eat Well Plate was far too high in carbohydrates for many of their Type 2 patients so devised the low carb approach which they found more successful.
Restricting intake of carbs (no matter what colour) to no more than 130g per day is a good starting point but some people do need to go lower with the proviso it can depend on what medication they are on but just metformin should not be an issue.
I'm afraid the traffic light system is as much use as a chocolate teapot for people who are diabetic as it ignores the fact that something can be low sugar so green but still very high carbohydrate so should be bright red.
Healthy fats and protein are not a problem.
Restricting intake of carbs (no matter what colour) to no more than 130g per day is a good starting point but some people do need to go lower with the proviso it can depend on what medication they are on but just metformin should not be an issue.
I'm afraid the traffic light system is as much use as a chocolate teapot for people who are diabetic as it ignores the fact that something can be low sugar so green but still very high carbohydrate so should be bright red.
Healthy fats and protein are not a problem.
CoolShot44
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
personally i enjoy vegetable soup now and again and from what i can tell it seems to be a good option and eating lots of salad or veg with your main meal is a good start, eggs are ok so you could have egg bacon tomatoes and mushrooms as a meal .Bananas are carbs so i would possibly try to avoid them , my wife bought me the carbs n cals book from amazon its very good you can pick it up new or second hand or you can buy the app . 
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
This was and still is my bible for making carb comparisons.
Good soups (home made very easy) broccoli and stilton, butternut squash and red pepper, leek, celery and pea, courgette and brie.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The OP has specifically said that their NAFLD means that they have been advised to keep fat in the diet low, so I’m not sure it’s particularly helpful to be advocating the high fat choices that have worked for you.
Welcome to the forum @Kaybee68
Congratulations on the changes you’ve already made, and the reduction in your HbA1c.
It can be much easier on the fine blood vessels to reduce a high HbA1c gradually in stages, so don’t fret too much about your speed of progress. Bringing high levels down too speedily can cause temporary eye damage or nerve pain.
It does sound like some of the things you are eating might be a little too high in carbs for you, and as @harbottle suggests, having a BG meter can mean you can check levels before and after meals/snacks (eg a banana vs carrot sticks) to see which your metabolism copes best with. That way you can choose from any of the suggested meal plans, and see how they work for you as an individual.
It’s quite likely you might need to self-fund your meter, in which case, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £10 for 50
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