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Hi everyone.

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Mav156

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone
I have had the news last week I am officially type 2 diabetic. I have been recommended to go onto a course called Expert(i think) but with trying to understand the ways to lower my levels is confusing as there is so much information out there. Saying that i am on this website and searching for all the help that is available.
Is it a diet i need or just a way of cutting certain foods out? I have also begun mini fasting of up to 16 hours a day and was wondering is anyone else does this and what were the results.
 
Hello Mav, and welcome to the group, it is a good place to get information on how others are coping with diabetes.
There is a lot of information available which can be confusing, and you need to find the solution that is right for you. There is no 'one size fits all'
There are 3 main things that will help you reduce your blood sugar levels. - What you eat, increased exercise, and medication if this is recommended by your medical team.
There are several solutions on 'what to eat', but there is little doubt that loosing weight will help, even if you are not over-weight there can be layers of internal visceral fat that can be a problem.
The NHS ( and I think the EXPERT course as well) generally recommend reducing sugary items a balanced plate of healthy food. This works for some people.
However many on the forum (myself included) find that a low carb diet gets better results for us.
There is some useful information on the thread ' useful information for Newbies' at the top of newbies section. (Scroll down to the Type 2 section). There is also some good information on the main Diabetes UK site, including a low-carb diet plan.

Very best wishes with finding your solution. We are all here to help, so just ask on anything you need more information on, and it would be great to know how it goes for you.
 
Hi Mav156,
I agree with all that Toucan has said, but would like to add that I find 16hr fasts (also known as Intermittent Fasting IF, or Time Restricted Eating TRE) to also be useful however I would advise against doing any longer fasting until you wean get your body from its Carbohydrate dependency. This is because until Insulin levels drop it isn't possible for the body to make full use of all that energy stored in its body fat. But once 'fat adapted' it is possible to do much longer fasts (or some crash diets) without hunger and without risk of lowering your metabolic rate. This is because even those Type 2's who were always slim (like me) carry excess 'visceral fat' around the middle and in and around the Liver, Pancreas, Kidneys which we need to reduce in order to get healthier.

It is almost impossible to lose weight while Insulin levels are high because Insulin both stores excess sugars (and starches) into cells including Fat Cells plus it also prevents the body from using its stored fat for energy - why would you want to use them for energy when you are actively building them up for 'winter starvation season'?
 
Carbohydrates, starches and sugars are the problem. A meter to test your blood glucose is very useful to see how changes in diet affect you, or don't, as the case may be.
I found that my blood glucose was steadier eating early and late in the day, rather than eating lunch and supper. I only need two meals a day and eat a maximum of 40gm of carbs a day.
 
Hi and welcome, I agree with what has already been said, we are all different but it is the carbs that impact on your blood sugar levels, therefore testing before and 2 hours after you eat is a great way to work out what foods do or dont work for you. I found it really useful to track my readings in a food diary for the first few weeks, it was a great visual way to see what changes I could try and also when my readings started to come down and settle, a fab boost for me to stick with the changes. As others will tell you, this is a marathon not a race, whatever you do needs to be sustainable for you so its a life change. For me it has been a really positive thing, I started with ‘I am surely going to starve to death!’ 😱 to OMG this is amazing and I feel GREAT!
 
Hello @Mav156

welcome to the forum!

Keep us posted with how you are getting on 🙂
 
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