Hi I'm new here recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. My HbA1c is 101 my range should be 20 to 40. I'm 38, 39 in a few weeks limited fun for me lol. I'm struggling to understand and not worry about a few things. For example the fact I have PCOS. And I'm confused about things like red meat. The sites say to limit red meat (not sure why pork is classed as a red meat?) Yet the diabetic nurse when I asked about it, said I can eat anything I want to as long as I AVOID sugar. Not really helpful to be honest. I was told that I'm borderline needing to be put on a drip as my readings are so high, the finger prick showed as 22.1. Mind you I feel fine just tired but then I am borderline having an UAT and I have mild sleep apnea, but then I can't sleep. So to me the tiredness is a mixture of all the health issues. I'm not sure why my fingers hurt after I do the test and the nurse didn't, not looking forward to doing it again. Hopefully I can get recipe ideas especially for fussy eaters. And slim down to be healthier for my children.
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Hi I'm new here
- Thread starter Chelby84
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Lily123
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Welcome to the forum 🙂
A HbA1C if 101 is quite high. Prediabetes is 42-48 with 48 being the diagnosis threshold for Type 2
It’s mainly about avoiding carbs… meat has virtually no carbs so I’m not sure about that advice. 130 carbs a day constitutes low carb
You might want to get yourself a BG meter to see how well your body copes with different foods
A HbA1C if 101 is quite high. Prediabetes is 42-48 with 48 being the diagnosis threshold for Type 2
It’s mainly about avoiding carbs… meat has virtually no carbs so I’m not sure about that advice. 130 carbs a day constitutes low carb
You might want to get yourself a BG meter to see how well your body copes with different foods
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Drummer
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I'm afraid that quite a few people disregard fact in order to follow some dogma about healthy eating - which is why type 2 diabetes can be dangerous as we need protein and natural fats - they are essential.
Your Hba1c is quite high, so assessing the amount of carbohydrate you eat is probably where to make a start, the high carb foods such as anything with grain, potatoes, sugary stuff can all be cut down or replaced with lower carb foods.
If you gradually reduce down so you can see your blood glucose at the 2 hour after starting to eat point drifting downwards gently, week by week it should begin to lift the strain off your metabolism and restore normality.
Your Hba1c is quite high, so assessing the amount of carbohydrate you eat is probably where to make a start, the high carb foods such as anything with grain, potatoes, sugary stuff can all be cut down or replaced with lower carb foods.
If you gradually reduce down so you can see your blood glucose at the 2 hour after starting to eat point drifting downwards gently, week by week it should begin to lift the strain off your metabolism and restore normality.
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Welcome to the forum @Chelby84
Great to hear that you have such a clear motivation to improve your health, as that’s a real help.
But sorry that you’ve already been caught by some of the confusing and conflicting advice that circulates around diabetes. Diabetes is a complex and potentially serious condition, but it’s also one that can generally be well managed with a few changes and adaptations.
One of the tricky things is that diabetes can be very individual, and because it can have some potentially far reaching impacts, you may find different bits of advice which are aimed at helping with some aspects, but which have little impact on others. It can all be a bit confusing to navigate through!
But the important thing, I think, is not to get too frustrated or anxious about that… and to see it all as part of a bigger picture.
Taking red meat as an example, red meat will have little to no impact on blood glucose levels as part of a normal menu. So if only focussed on blood glucose you might think you could eat as much red meat as you want.
But… high levels of red meat intake (especially processed and cured red meats) have been shown to have negative impacts on heart-health.
And people with diabetes already have statistically higher than average heart health risk. So too much red meat isn’t really a great idea.
It’s about balance, variety, and not feeling backed into a corner by trying to avoid some food groups entirely I think.
The advice to avoid sugar (sucrose, table sugar) is helpful. But again it’s a bit more complicated and nuanced than that, because diabetes isn’t simply an allergy to sucrose, it’s a difficulty with processing carbohydrate in general. While there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
But again that doesn’t mean you have to aim to avoid those things entirely. It’s about choosing the types and portion sizes that suit your particular body and metabolism. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.
Just keep plugging away at it, and making small incremental changes to your menu, until you find a balance with the meds you may be offered.
And keep asking questions here too! The support and encouragement of the ‘hive mind’ of the forum can be a great help 🙂
Great to hear that you have such a clear motivation to improve your health, as that’s a real help.
But sorry that you’ve already been caught by some of the confusing and conflicting advice that circulates around diabetes. Diabetes is a complex and potentially serious condition, but it’s also one that can generally be well managed with a few changes and adaptations.
One of the tricky things is that diabetes can be very individual, and because it can have some potentially far reaching impacts, you may find different bits of advice which are aimed at helping with some aspects, but which have little impact on others. It can all be a bit confusing to navigate through!
But the important thing, I think, is not to get too frustrated or anxious about that… and to see it all as part of a bigger picture.
Taking red meat as an example, red meat will have little to no impact on blood glucose levels as part of a normal menu. So if only focussed on blood glucose you might think you could eat as much red meat as you want.
But… high levels of red meat intake (especially processed and cured red meats) have been shown to have negative impacts on heart-health.
And people with diabetes already have statistically higher than average heart health risk. So too much red meat isn’t really a great idea.
It’s about balance, variety, and not feeling backed into a corner by trying to avoid some food groups entirely I think.
The advice to avoid sugar (sucrose, table sugar) is helpful. But again it’s a bit more complicated and nuanced than that, because diabetes isn’t simply an allergy to sucrose, it’s a difficulty with processing carbohydrate in general. While there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
But again that doesn’t mean you have to aim to avoid those things entirely. It’s about choosing the types and portion sizes that suit your particular body and metabolism. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.
Just keep plugging away at it, and making small incremental changes to your menu, until you find a balance with the meds you may be offered.
And keep asking questions here too! The support and encouragement of the ‘hive mind’ of the forum can be a great help 🙂
Thank you for all the advice. I don't tend to like sugary things but love my carbs , found red lentil pasta actually quite nice and not far off from pasta pasta. I started the metformin 3 days ago and changed my diet (including no more night caps).. I've got it down to around 10.8 before food and around 12 to 14 after food. I'm only on one tablet so far until I build it up. But I am a little dizzy, the nurse said its because m
y sugars are lowering. And it's my body coping with the change and I will be fine (I don't feel fine and hope it passes soon). But my face is blotchy would that be the metformin?
y sugars are lowering. And it's my body coping with the change and I will be fine (I don't feel fine and hope it passes soon). But my face is blotchy would that be the metformin?
Leadinglights
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It is best with metformin to build the doze up slowly over a few weeks and reducing carbs gradually again over a few weeks will be kinder on your body. Making sure you stay hydrated as well is a good idea.
A sudden reduction in blood glucose can cause a few symptoms, headache, dizziness but as you body adapts to the lower level it should pass.
This link may help you with some menu ideas and some do's and dont's, it is a low carb approach which many have found successful at both reducing blood glucose and losing weight if you need to.
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk
Remember low carb does not mean NO carb and meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, veg and salads and fruit like berries are all good options for tasty filling meals.
You will find that a number of alternatives to high carb foods are equally as good. Black bean or edamame bean pasta, butternut squash, swede or celeriac instead of potatoes, cauliflower rice can be added to stirfries.
I am making a corned beef hash tonight with squash instead of potato which we actually prefer.
A sudden reduction in blood glucose can cause a few symptoms, headache, dizziness but as you body adapts to the lower level it should pass.
This link may help you with some menu ideas and some do's and dont's, it is a low carb approach which many have found successful at both reducing blood glucose and losing weight if you need to.
Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk
You will find that a number of alternatives to high carb foods are equally as good. Black bean or edamame bean pasta, butternut squash, swede or celeriac instead of potatoes, cauliflower rice can be added to stirfries.
I am making a corned beef hash tonight with squash instead of potato which we actually prefer.
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