Hi First time on a forum

[Deleted member 32156]

Hello this is the first time I have used a forum so interesting learning curve. I am trying to re focus myself with regard to my physical health as no doubt other also have struggled with lockdown. T2 diabetic hba1c 49. I need to be on a low fat / acid diet in addition to low sugar.

 

[EllsBells]

Hi Deleted member 32156 and welcome! You are literally just into the diabetic range so, unless you need to lose a lot of weight, a few tweaks to your diet may be all that is required.

When you talk about low sugar, it isn't sugar as such, but carbohydrates in general, that you need to pay attention to - they all turn into sugars as our bodies process them. This means looking at how much bread, pasta, rice and potatoes you eat in addition to sweeter items.

What advice has the doctor given you?

 

[SB2015]

Hi Deleted member 32156 and welcome to the forum. Glad that you have found us.

Your HbA1c is only just in the diabetic range, so are managing with diet and exercise, or are you also on medication. Are there other reasons why you need to focus on a low fat/ acidic diet.

With regard to sugars they are indeed carbohydrates, but our focus for us needs to be on all carbohydrates. I knew absolutely nothing about these when I was diagnosed, but once you start looking you find space in your head for loads of carb values of regular foods. A good starting point is simply to start counting the carbs you are eating at each meal. You can then make swaps and/or reduce portion sizes to get these to a level that your pancreas can cope with.

Another tip that I picked up was to not sit down for 15 minutes after each meal. It doesn’t matter what you do just do something. It helps to use up some of the glucose made from the carbs, and reduces the spikes that we would get after the meal. We opt for a walk but sometimes it is just doing stuff round the house or garden.

Keep posting, keep asking any questions that you have. There is plenty of experience to tap into on here.

 

[Deleted member 32156]

Hi Thanks that is all really useful. I understand that with a few tweaks I should be able to control my diabetes with diet alone. I have elevated cholesterol and some GERD symptoms causing me other issues. I was just finding that having felt a bit lectured to by doctor on how I needed to make life changes to sort all this out a bit challenging in lockdown. Fully appreciate we are all in the same boat. Just wondering what I can eat baring in mind low fat and low acid and low carbs. I agree fully with your points on exercise and it does make a massive difference to my blood sugar levels when I take any form of exercise. I weigh 10st 7 and am 5ft 4inch.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too. Low fat and low carb is quite limiting and if your cholesterol levels are the only concern as regards fat intake, it may interest you to know that the current thinking is that dietary cholesterol has limited effect on blood cholesterol. Also that not all cholesterol is bad and some is essential, so it is important to know your cholesterol levels and the breakdown of them because that can be more relevant than the total level in some respects.

My cholesterol was 5.1 at diagnosis and they prefer diabetics to be under 4, but my ratios of HDL and triglycerides is good and interestingly, since embarking on a low carb high fat diet where I eat A LOT of cheese and cream and fatty meat like belly pork and lamb chops and cook with meat fat or butter as well as olive oil, my levels have actually reduced slightly to 4.8. I am not the only one to notice this with a Low Carb Higher Fat (LCHF) diet, so don't feel obliged to stick to a low fat diet purely on the grounds of cholesterol unless it is hugely high or you have other health conditions which more fat in your diet might impact.... things like heart disease or gall bladder problems perhaps. The general low fat advice that we have been bombarded with most of our lives and which a very large and powerful food industry has been built around is now actually believed by some top level scientists to be flawed that the low fat products we have been consuming may have in part become responsible for the diabetes and obesity epidemic we are now part of. This is because fat takes longer to digest and slows the digestion of the carbs eaten with it. This means that you feel full for longer and therefore don't feel the hunger or cravings that carbohydrates can trigger. The low fat foods often have more carbs added to them to make them more palatable once the fat has been removed, so we end up eating more carbs than normal and less fat causing more cravings. Most people need a mid morning and mid afternoon snack these days but on a higher fat diet I can often go from breakfast until supper without anything else and not feel hungry and I don't get those "knuckle knawing" cravings to eat sweet stuff all the time... (I was a sugar addict and chocoholic pre-diagnosis).

I feel fitter and stronger and healthier at 57yrs than I have for 20 maybe even 30 years on a LCHF diet and I now have the figure I had in my 20s and I enjoy my food, so don't confine yourself to low fat purely on the grounds of your cholesterol levels or even weight. Many people lose weight on a LCHF or Keto diet. Not saying to go silly and eat your own body weight in cheese like me 😱 😉 but don't be frightened of fat and do steer clear of low fat products as they are almost always higher in carbs and it is carbs which are causing your body problems at the moment.

 

[Spozkins]

I eat a fair amount of unsaturated fat and my cholesterol is very low so perhaps you could look into that to help bulk your diet up.

 

[Deleted member 32156]

HI

That is really interesting - thank you. I can relate to the mid morning mid afternoon cravings and these are making my blood sugar levels go up and down 10.3 i.e before my evening meal due to an afternoon snack, no snack 7.1. I am also addicted to chocolate and find it difficult to just have the one square. Out of interest what is a good 'ratio of HDL and triglycerides' for a diabetic?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

HI

That is really interesting - thank you. I can relate to the mid morning mid afternoon cravings and these are making my blood sugar levels go up and down 10.3 i.e before my evening meal due to an afternoon snack, no snack 7.1. I am also addicted to chocolate and find it difficult to just have the one square. Out of interest what is a good 'ratio of HDL and triglycerides' for a diabetic?

The NHS advises that TC:HDL is better as low as possible.

The suggestion for adult women without diabetes is HDL of at least 1.2, and TC below 5. Above 6 is considered a high ratio. Below 4 would be the basic aim based on 4.9/1.2

The Mayo clinic in the US, suggests that lower than 3.37 is optimal.

Trigs are sometimes considered a proxy for the nasty dense ‘gritty‘ vLDL particles, so again the lower the better.

NHS Health Check

The NHS Health Check is a health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74.

www.nhs.uk

 

[Deleted member 32156]

Thank you that is really helpful and increased my understanding, I will revisit my last blood test results.