Hi everyone!

[Lydia123]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Having your fruit as smoothies is actually worse than eating the fruit normally because it is pulverised and can therefore be broken down more quickly in the digestive system and therefore release it's sugars more quickly into the blood stream.

As diabetics we need to restrict carb rich foods and that can also include otherwise healthy foods for a non diabetic, like fruit and porridge and even lentils and peas and beans can cause us problems. As others have said, a small portion of lower carb fruits like berries, black/red currants, rhubarb etc .... usually the more tart ones that pack big flavour and are nutrient dense are best because you get big impact (flavour and health benefits) from a small portion. Mostly we recommend avoiding tropical fruits like mango and pineapple and bananas and oranges or limit the portion size and restrict those fruits to a once a fortnight treat rather than a daily food item.... A BG meter will tell you what you can get away with by testing before eating and then 2 hours afterwards, to show what that particular food did to your levels.

Red wine is a good choice of tipple if you want to continue drinking alcohol as it is low carb and goes particularly well with cheese which is a low carb food that can be enjoyed by us diabetics

I agree with @Midnightcatpatrol in that you may not be a straightforward Type 2 if this is as a result of Covid infection. It may be a slow onset autoimmune diabetes like LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) which can initially present as Type 2 but may eventually show it's true colours. That could be months or even many years down the line. Eating low carb will certainly relieve the stress on your pancreas in the meantime and hopefully enable it to keep ticking over for longer if that is the case and if you are a straightforward Type 2, then it should help you to push it into remission.

Hi Rebrascora, thank you so much for your advice and welcome. My gosh! My GP said to have as many as possible! I feel a bit angry at the moment. Why such wrong information? Thank you. I have had no smoothies or fruit today, since seeing all the help and advice here. Yep, I've stopped eating porridge and beans, too. I'll stick with berries and black/redcurrants and will miss my favourite tropical fruit. I have a lovely glass of red two or three times per week, but can cut to once a week. Since Covid-19, it tastes different. I am still reading up on LADA. I know it's been two weeks now and I should have adapted, but I really do feel shocked. This is a body blow at the moment. Thank you so much for all of this. I am looking forward to my next GP appointment. We have much to discuss xxxxx

 

[Lydia123]

Ah well it's all very well saying it's healthier to eat berries, but is it actually, when a person says up front that they have IBS? Does the roughage in berries (ie pips and skin) which is precisely why it is 'healthier' for those of us not having bowel ailments, not irritate the bowel same as the cellulose and skin of apples and pears do? In which case, it wouldn't be healthier, would it?

Hi Trophywench, that's the weird and not wonderful world of IBS and how it affects people in so many different ways. I can eat berries and cherries and they don't affect me, but can't eat fruit like apples and pears because they absolutely affect me xx

 

[Lydia123]

A couple of crackers might be 10 gm of carbs - that is a whole morning meal for me. Maybe wait until you feel hungry and have a nourishing but small meal? The smoothies I'd not advise as they are so high carb, also the rice cakes have no nutrition in them, better to have a stir fry maybe? I got some low carb frozen stir fry in Lidl recently, very handy and no waste.

Hi Drummer, thank you for your advice! This is a great idea. Smoothies are already a distant memory along with the rice cakes. I do love stir fry. I am thinking scrambled eggs for breakfast and will go for a side plate of food every few hours for the next few days to see how it goes. I am going back on to the Learning Zone, too. Thank you so much for your help xx

 

[Lydia123]

Hello @Lydia123 and welcome to the forum. 🙂

Hi Ditto, thank you for the lovely welcome

 

[rebrascora]

Personally I think considering how much we give up diet wise for diabetes that 2 or 3 glasses of red wine a week is a little luxury that we can afford ourselves which does not significantly affect our levels, in fact it can lower them slightly, but of course that doesn't mean to say we should use alcohol for that purpose, but no harm in a glass occasionally if we enjoy it.

I am not sure if you are aware but if you are eating a low carb diet then unless you need to lose a lot of weight it is important to increase your fat intake and this can include full fat dairy ie cheese, butter, cream and yoghurt as well as plenty of olive oil and avocado and nuts but go steady on peanuts and cashews which are higher carb whereas walnuts and Brazils and hazelnuts are a better choice. I tend to cook my veggies in butter or cream cheese or olive oil rather than plain boiled. The fat provides slow release energy, helps to fill us up and keep us feeling full for longer than carbs and may also slow the rate of absorption of whatever carbs we do eat, which means that they don't spike out BG levels so high.... so if you really want some tropical fruit occasionally, you may find having a small portion with cream or natural whole milk yoghurt slows it down... Getting a BG meter and testing is the best way to see what works for you as we are all different in how we break down foods due to different gut biome, genetics and metabolisms etc.

Unfortunately health care professionals often discourage the use of BG meters for Type 2 diabetics unless they are on specific medications which can cause the BG to dip dangerously low, so don't be surprised if you are met with resistance if you mention testing. Many Type 2s here on the forum self fund their meters and find them an invaluable tool. If you are interested in this approach, and the GP will not prescribe one then do come back and ask for recommendations as they can vary enormously in price.... particularly the test strips for them which can really run up the costs if you get an expensive meter.
Anyway, good luck with your appointment and let us know how it goes.

 

[rebrascora]

PS. It is perfectly normal to struggle to take it all in or even accept your diagnosis in the first few weeks.... indeed many people bury their head in the sand for months or years because there may be no obvious symptoms, but that is a very risky approach as damage is often irreversible when it is discovered. That said it is usually a slow moving condition, so we generally have time to get to grips with it and dietary changes are very much trial and error in the first few months, and even after that you will still discover things which work well for you and others that are best avoided. I had a tiny sliver of my partner's left over pizza last night as my BG had gone a bit too low to go to bed on, but I soon regretted it this morning when I saw my fasting reading.. Argh!

 

[Drummer]

Hi Drummer, thank you for your advice! This is a great idea. Smoothies are already a distant memory along with the rice cakes. I do love stir fry. I am thinking scrambled eggs for breakfast and will go for a side plate of food every few hours for the next few days to see how it goes. I am going back on to the Learning Zone, too. Thank you so much for your help xx

Why every few hours?
It is usually better to have long intervals between meals - I eat twice a day, morning and evening.

 

[Lydia123]

Personally I think considering how much we give up diet wise for diabetes that 2 or 3 glasses of red wine a week is a little luxury that we can afford ourselves which does not significantly affect our levels, in fact it can lower them slightly, but of course that doesn't mean to say we should use alcohol for that purpose, but no harm in a glass occasionally if we enjoy it.

I am not sure if you are aware but if you are eating a low carb diet then unless you need to lose a lot of weight it is important to increase your fat intake and this can include full fat dairy ie cheese, butter, cream and yoghurt as well as plenty of olive oil and avocado and nuts but go steady on peanuts and cashews which are higher carb whereas walnuts and Brazils and hazelnuts are a better choice. I tend to cook my veggies in butter or cream cheese or olive oil rather than plain boiled. The fat provides slow release energy, helps to fill us up and keep us feeling full for longer than carbs and may also slow the rate of absorption of whatever carbs we do eat, which means that they don't spike out BG levels so high.... so if you really want some tropical fruit occasionally, you may find having a small portion with cream or natural whole milk yoghurt slows it down... Getting a BG meter and testing is the best way to see what works for you as we are all different in how we break down foods due to different gut biome, genetics and metabolisms etc.

Unfortunately health care professionals often discourage the use of BG meters for Type 2 diabetics unless they are on specific medications which can cause the BG to dip dangerously low, so don't be surprised if you are met with resistance if you mention testing. Many Type 2s here on the forum self fund their meters and find them an invaluable tool. If you are interested in this approach, and the GP will not prescribe one then do come back and ask for recommendations as they can vary enormously in price.... particularly the test strips for them which can really run up the costs if you get an expensive meter.
Anyway, good luck with your appointment and let us know how it goes.

I love your mindset and will continue to have red wine. The foods you said above are what I already eat, so I'm very lucky to only have to make small changes. I also cook with butter First thing I asked was how to monitor my blood sugar daily, but was told no because metformin doesn't require this. I'm so glad you said this and look forward to your advice on the best machines. Thank you so much. Xx

 

[Lydia123]

PS. It is perfectly normal to struggle to take it all in or even accept your diagnosis in the first few weeks.... indeed many people bury their head in the sand for months or years because there may be no obvious symptoms, but that is a very risky approach as damage is often irreversible when it is discovered. That said it is usually a slow moving condition, so we generally have time to get to grips with it and dietary changes are very much trial and error in the first few months, and even after that you will still discover things which work well for you and others that are best avoided. I had a tiny sliver of my partner's left over pizza last night as my BG had gone a bit too low to go to bed on, but I soon regretted it this morning when I saw my fasting reading.. Argh!

I prefer to meet things head on, but this really has stunned me. I need to get it under control immediately and will do everything advised. I'm the only parent my sons have now and am not putting them through anymore grief. Just a tiny sliver of pizza can do that to you? Are you feeling better today?

 

[Lydia123]

Why every few hours?
It is usually better to have long intervals between meals - I eat twice a day, morning and evening.

The GP advised me to eat a side plate or pint-sized amounting food every few hours to keep blood sugar level and help with digesting metformin. I really feel misinformed by my GP after all the advice from everyone here. I'll stick with long intervals and twice daily, like you advised.

 

[rebrascora]

The two BG meters we recommend here on the forum if you are self funding are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2. Both of these meters are basic but comply with the standards of accuracy required, cost approx. £15 to purchase but most importantly, the test strips for them are the cheapest on the market @ £8 for a pot of 50 whereas some other meters, the test strips cost double or even triple that and more. You will do a lot of testing in the first few months to figure out which foods affect you adversely and what portion size you can tolerate of other foods, so you get through a lot of test strips in that time so it makes financial sense to use a meter which has the cheapest ones. They are both available to buy online and make sure to tick the box which says you are diabetic and therefore exempts the products from tax. order at least 2x extra boxes of test strips with your meter as you only get 10 with the meter itself. You may also want to order a box of lancets, although one box of those will probably last you a lifetime as whilst they are supposed to be single use, most of us have a standing joke that we change them once a year on St Swithin's Day.... I'm actually a bit of a swat and change mine on New Year's Day as well, but there are some really dedicated forum members who follow the rules and change the lancet every time.... You will figure out your own comfort zone with it, but a box of lancets will give you plenty of time to work that out.

In a similar vein to the red wine. many of us also treat ourselves to the luxury of coffee with double cream on a morning as well. Cream is lower in carbs than milk and makes coffee taste great and it is really hard to feel deprived when you start the day with coffee and cream! I always said that I would never drink coffee if I couldn't have sugar in it, but I now enjoy it far more with cream than I ever did with sugar. The cream provides you with slow release energy to sustain you through the day as well as tasting lush!

 

[rebrascora]

Never heard that about eating every few hours. Most stuff I have read suggests fasting rather than frequent meals. I find that if I eat low carb and higher fat and protein, I only need 2 meals a day and sometimes only one and I no longer feel hungry all the time like I used to. In fact, I rarely feel hungry these days which is quite liberating I might have a chunk of cheese at lunchtime or a square of dark (70%+) chocolate with a spoon of peanut butter if I fancy a treat but very rarely have a proper meal at lunchtime. I would guess that if you are eating low carb and not increasing your fat and protein intake then you would need to eat more frequently in order to get enough calories to survive and most health care professionals are horrified at the idea of eating more fat because they have spent their whole career advising us that it is bad, so I guess this regular low carb meals advice might be their way around it, so that you still get plenty of calories.

I'm fine thanks after my pizza experiment. Disappointing because to be honest I didn't really enjoy it that much anyway (hadn't had any for a year and a half since diagnosis and my tastes have obviously changed) and it pushed my levels high all night. It is a bit different for me as I am Type 1 so I have to try to balance things between not being too high and not being too low. It is risky going to bed too low, so I thought a little sliver of that leftover pizza might just do the job when normally I would have a cracker with cheese..... you know when you really just fancy something and it is there for the taking... well I will know better for next time.... totally blew my weekly stats out of the water

 

[Madeline]

Yeah I was told to have a snack morning and afternoon, along with fruit, they’re obsessed with people eating fruit! I actually find I’m better without snacks, and although I do have 3 meals a day they are not huge and I don’t eat after dinner, which we have started to have quit early at 6pm, rather than the 8pm I was used to. I have breakfast at 8am, so I’m fasting for 14 hours.