Hi, I have been diagnosed with prediabetes and hashimotos.

[Paulien]

I have been trying out natural foods such as karela and aloevera, which are known to lower bloodsugar. It seems to make my blo9dsugar spikes worse, plus metallic taste in my mouth. Does anybody understand why. Fairly new to all this.

 

[Kaylz]

I don't believe in any of the myths that say things lower BG I'm afraid, just a way to try and make money

What are you eating generally?
xx

 

[Paulien]

I don't believe in any of the myths that say things lower BG I'm afraid, just a way to try and make money

What are you eating generally?
xx

Lots of dairy and fruit. Karela is known to lower bloodsugar and is just a veg.

 

[Kaylz]

Lots of dairy and fruit. Karela is known to lower bloodsugar and is just a veg.

So you are consuming quite a lot of carbohydrates which is what you should be looking at cutting down on so spikes aren't really that surprising xx

 

[Inka]

What’s a normal day’s food for you @Paulien ? And what blood sugar test results are you getting through the day?

As @Kaylz says, it’s the carbs you need to watch. If you keep a food diary, you’ll get an idea of what foods work for you.

(Sorry - I don’t know anything about the Hashimotos)

 

[Docb]

Hi @Paulien and welcome to the forum.

One thing I learned very early on was to ignore any claims made by sellers of food products, especially those which have the current buzzwords attached to them, like healthy, natural and organic. Far better to get back to basics and to observe cause and effect which is exactly what you have done. Those things cause a spike for you so as far as you are concerned the claims made for them just don't apply and they are best eliminated from your diet. Lesson learned, don't believe everything you see on the internet.

Controlling blood glucose by diet is in the first instance all about controlling total carbohydrate content and I am guessing that the spikes are coming from whatever has been added to things like karela to make it palatable and not the karela itself which seems to have little nutritional value in its own right. Never eaten it myself but I understand it is very bitter and has to be incorporated into dishes with things, most likely carbohydrate based, to offset the bitterness.

On the general point, can I suggest you are very wary of claims in the "is known to do" category? They are rarely, if ever, supported by real evidence and if they had any validity, we would all know about it and the diabetic world would be chomping away on the stuff.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Paulien

Like others, I suspect you will get far more positive effect of BG levels from moderating and reducing your carbohydrate intake than in adding a relatively small quantity of a specific vegegable.

Do you have a BG meter to monitor your levels?

This framework could provide you with a practical and systematic way to evaluate whatever you are eating now, how it affects your blood glucose, and how to adjust it to provide reduced glucose variability

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

 

[trophywench]

If karela worked there wouldn't be so many T2 diabetics in India, now would there?

 

[Madeline]

Flaxseed powder doesn’t work either. All these supplements are a massive con.

 

[trophywench]

Whole flax seeds are a good source of more beneficial fat though, if you need to up your dietary fat intake without endangering heart health.

 

[Madeline]

Yep I still ate the powder, it was quite nice, very nutty and filling too.