Hi, I'm new here

[Poppypat]

Hi, I have had type 2 diabetes for many years but have been managing it badly, partly due to wrong info at the beginning. I was recently in hospital and learned more in just two five minute talks with the diabetic nurses than in perhaps 25 years since I was diagnosed. I take 160mg Gliclizide twice a day

What I need is good advice about what to eat. Although I recently bought some books on the subject the recipes in them are just not viable for ordinary people who aren't good at cooking. So I need help - please - to point me in the right direction. Since my talks with the diabetic nurses my average glucose meter reading has dropped significantly so I've made a good start and need to keep up the good work.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Poppypat 🙂 Are you on any medication for your diabetes? That might affect the advice you get.

 

[Poppypat]

Welcome @Poppypat 🙂 Are you on any medication for your diabetes? That might affect the advice you get.

Hi Inka, I take 160mg Gliclizide twice a day.

 

[Lucyr]

What sort of advice did the nurse give you? It sounds like they knew what they were talking about! What kind of foods do you like to eat and cook? I think simpler things like slow cooker recipes or meat and veg type meals can be easier to cook than fancy recipe books.

 

[Docb]

Hi @Poppypat and welcome to the forum.

I like cooking and can cook but, and you might find this comment a bit odd, I think that recipe books are not necessarily your best friend. What I would suggest is that you think hard about carbohydrate reduction as a strategy and that you look very hard at what you eat now and see if you can adjust things to achieve that.

So, maybe you could start by keeping a brutally honest food diary for a week or so. Everything needs to go in it - main meals, snacks, drinks - everything. Then work out how many carbs you are taking in. To do this takes a bit of looking things up and maybe a bit a weighing. It does not have to be super accurate, you just need a good idea. You can then look and see where the higher carbs are and begin to think of ways of reducing them without changing too much the basics of your regime. It may be eliminating some things, reducing others, changing proportions or substituting one thing for something else.

Some other things.

Become a label reader. If you use prepared foods then check the nutrition labels to see what the carb content is. If you buy tinned soups for example, you will find a vast range of carb contents for what are supposedly the same thing. Head for the lower carb versions. Same with cereals and bread. A bit of work to start with but you become expert quite quickly!

If you want a cookbook then find a really good basic cook book (Good Houskeeping and Delia Smith come to mind) and do not be afraid to scribble all over it - highlighting recipes that are lower carb or making changes to reduce carbs. I find looking at recipes on the BBC and Guardian web sites good hunting ground. If you spot something you fancy and is in your compass then print it out and start a collection. Do not be afraid of changing the recipe if it wants odd stuff.

Hope that gives you something to think about.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Poppypat

Good to hear that you’ve been given some helpful advice and suggestions at last. Hopefully the forum can support and encourage you to make further progress 🙂

As you are on glucose-lowering medication, you should have been given access to a BG meter and supply of test strips, so that you can check for suspected hypoglycaemia and keep yourself safe, and to comply with DVLA rules around driving.

A BG meter can also be used as a very immediate way to see how your body is balancing your carbohydrates, medication and blood glucose levels. You can check immediately before eating, and again 2hrs after the first bite to see the difference in levels. Ideally you want to tweak your meals and menu so that this rise is no more than 2-3mmol/L. In a sense, to begin with it doesn’t matter so much what the actual numbers are, because by reducing the ‘meal rise’ you will gradually allow your overall levels to gently come down. Ultimately though, you will be aiming for levels 4-7 before eating, and no higher than 8.5 by the 2hr mark, for as much of the time as you can manage.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. 🙂

 

[Poppypat]

Welcome to the forum @Poppypat

Good to hear that you’ve been given some helpful advice and suggestions at last. Hopefully the forum can support and encourage you to make further progress 🙂

As you are on glucose-lowering medication, you should have been given access to a BG meter and supply of test strips, so that you can check for suspected hypoglycaemia and keep yourself safe, and to comply with DVLA rules around driving.

A BG meter can also be used as a very immediate way to see how your body is balancing your carbohydrates, medication and blood glucose levels. You can check immediately before eating, and again 2hrs after the first bite to see the difference in levels. Ideally you want to tweak your meals and menu so that this rise is no more than 2-3mmol/L. In a sense, to begin with it doesn’t matter so much what the actual numbers are, because by reducing the ‘meal rise’ you will gradually allow your overall levels to gently come down. Ultimately though, you will be aiming for levels 4-7 before eating, and no higher than 8.5 by the 2hr mark, for as much of the time as you can manage.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. 🙂

Hi, thanks for that. I have a BG test kit and use it before breakfast and before tea and since talking to the nurse in the hospital my levels have dropped significantly. Like from 16.4 down to 10.4 and even lower than that sometime.

 

[Poppypat]

What sort of advice did the nurse give you? It sounds like they knew what they were talking about! What kind of foods do you like to eat and cook? I think simpler things like slow cooker recipes or meat and veg type meals can be easier to cook than fancy recipe books.

Hi Lucyr, I have always snacked and the nurses told that even though I might not eat much sugar as such it was the snacking keeping my glucose levels high because my pancreas was overworked. I haven't snacked now for about six weeks.

I am not a confident cook and although the recipes in my new book are certain to be healthy they are just too fancy for me. I have a slow cooker and want to make healthy meals and soups but not sure if non-diabetic recipes are good or not.

 

[Poppypat]

Hi @Poppypat and welcome to the forum.

I like cooking and can cook but, and you might find this comment a bit odd, I think that recipe books are not necessarily your best friend. What I would suggest is that you think hard about carbohydrate reduction as a strategy and that you look very hard at what you eat now and see if you can adjust things to achieve that.

So, maybe you could start by keeping a brutally honest food diary for a week or so. Everything needs to go in it - main meals, snacks, drinks - everything. Then work out how many carbs you are taking in. To do this takes a bit of looking things up and maybe a bit a weighing. It does not have to be super accurate, you just need a good idea. You can then look and see where the higher carbs are and begin to think of ways of reducing them without changing too much the basics of your regime. It may be eliminating some things, reducing others, changing proportions or substituting one thing for something else.

Some other things.

Become a label reader. If you use prepared foods then check the nutrition labels to see what the carb content is. If you buy tinned soups for example, you will find a vast range of carb contents for what are supposedly the same thing. Head for the lower carb versions. Same with cereals and bread. A bit of work to start with but you become expert quite quickly!

If you want a cookbook then find a really good basic cook book (Good Houskeeping and Delia Smith come to mind) and do not be afraid to scribble all over it - highlighting recipes that are lower carb or making changes to reduce carbs. I find looking at recipes on the BBC and Guardian web sites good hunting ground. If you spot something you fancy and is in your compass then print it out and start a collection. Do not be afraid of changing the recipe if it wants odd stuff.

Hope that gives you something to think about.

Thank you, I have a little book which give GI values for lots of different foods in a red, amber, green format which I have found useful in making decisions about what I eat. Like granary or wheatgerm bread in place of white. And oat or bran cereals instead of cornflakes etc.

All my life I have never been able to eat an early breakfast but my stay in hospital with breakfast as soon as you wake up has corrected that.

And I'm already keeping an honest record of all I eat along with BG readings and times so that if I 'peak' I can see what caused it.

 

[ianf0ster]

Thank you, I have a little book which give GI values for lots of different foods in a red, amber, green format which I have found useful in making decisions about what I eat. Like granary or wheatgerm bread in place of white. And oat or bran cereals instead of cornflakes etc.

All my life I have never been able to eat an early breakfast but my stay in hospital with breakfast as soon as you wake up has corrected that.

And I'm already keeping an honest record of all I eat along with BG readings and times so that if I 'peak' I can see what caused it.

Those substitutions may help a vey small amount, but whole grains are still carbohydrates as are oats, and bran cereals tend to have added sugar.
A better breakfast would be berries and nuts/seeds with full fat greek style yogurt, or if you medication will allow going really low carb then eggs (no toast), bacon, hard cheese, cold cuts of meat/fish. All those contain much fewer carbs and no sugars except a little in the first one.

 

[ColinUK]

Do you test before a meal and then two hours after the first bite? It’s not clear if that’s what you’re doing.

 

[ColinUK]

What kind of food would you have cooked or eaten prior to the chat with the nurses?

Perhaps we can suggest simple changes to those dishes you already love rather than perhaps becoming overwhelmed by new recipes.

 

[Poppypat]

What kind of food would you have cooked or eaten prior to the chat with the nurses?

Perhaps we can suggest simple changes to those dishes you already love rather than perhaps becoming overwhelmed by new recipes.

Hi Colin, after talking to the nurses I discovered one of my biggest mistakes was snacking, specially with crisps and biscuits. But I have cut out the snacks now and am trying to eat healthy but filling meals so that I don't get hungry in between. If I do have a snack it will be an apple and a few almonds.
My usual main meals are fairly simple things like fish fingers with mash and green beans or peas but now I use skin-on new potatoes mashed with sweet potatoes. Or bacon with baked beans on granary or wholemeal toast, or slow cooked casserole with new potatoes and green beans. Tonight I plan stir-fry chicken and veg with a stir in sauce.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you, I have a little book which give GI values for lots of different foods in a red, amber, green format which I have found useful in making decisions about what I eat. Like granary or wheatgerm bread in place of white. And oat or bran cereals instead of cornflakes etc.

All my life I have never been able to eat an early breakfast but my stay in hospital with breakfast as soon as you wake up has corrected that.

And I'm already keeping an honest record of all I eat along with BG readings and times so that if I 'peak' I can see what caused it.

The 'traffic light' colours although helpful for non diabetics to eat a heathier diet they are not particularly good for diabetics who need to reduce carbohydrates NOT just sugar as there are many foods which are given a green light because they are low in sugar but are still too high in carbohydrate for Type 2 diabetics.
The better information to look at is the total carbohydrate content (usually in small print on the back or a packet or tin. or on the internet search for carb content.
Low GI or brown/ wholemeal versions will still have the virtually the same carbs but the body metabolises them more slowly.
The best way is to test what you can tolerate by testing before you eat and after 2 hours aiming for no more than 2-3mmol/l increase for the meal and eventually no more than 8mmol/l.

 

[Poppypat]

The 'traffic light' colours although helpful for non diabetics to eat a heathier diet they are not particularly good for diabetics who need to reduce carbohydrates NOT just sugar as there are many foods which are given a green light because they are low in sugar but are still too high in carbohydrate for Type 2 diabetics.
The better information to look at is the total carbohydrate content (usually in small print on the back or a packet or tin. or on the internet search for carb content.
Low GI or brown/ wholemeal versions will still have the virtually the same carbs but the body metabolises them more slowly.
The best way is to test what you can tolerate by testing before you eat and after 2 hours aiming for no more than 2-3mmol/l increase for the meal and eventually no more than 8mmol/l.

My little Collins Gem GI book was recommended in a book called 'What Can I Eat' because the author had found it very helpful in dealing with her husband's diabetes. It is easy to understand and shows what to avoid - red.

 

[Drummer]

Thank you, I have a little book which give GI values for lots of different foods in a red, amber, green format which I have found useful in making decisions about what I eat. Like granary or wheatgerm bread in place of white. And oat or bran cereals instead of cornflakes etc.

All my life I have never been able to eat an early breakfast but my stay in hospital with breakfast as soon as you wake up has corrected that.

And I'm already keeping an honest record of all I eat along with BG readings and times so that if I 'peak' I can see what caused it.

Oh dear no - the traffic light system is worse than useless for a type 2.
I eat twice a day, sometimes scrambled eggs with cheese and salad, or steak and mushrooms with a green sweet pepper and courgette for breakfast, and then I can go all day and eat 12 hours later, something with a bit more carbs, often a dessert with berries and cream, often with sugar free jellies.

 

[ColinUK]

Hi Colin, after talking to the nurses I discovered one of my biggest mistakes was snacking, specially with crisps and biscuits. But I have cut out the snacks now and am trying to eat healthy but filling meals so that I don't get hungry in between. If I do have a snack it will be an apple and a few almonds.
My usual main meals are fairly simple things like fish fingers with mash and green beans or peas but now I use skin-on new potatoes mashed with sweet potatoes. Or bacon with baked beans on granary or wholemeal toast, or slow cooked casserole with new potatoes and green beans. Tonight I plan stir-fry chicken and veg with a stir in sauce.

I’m curious to know what your BG readings are before and after things like fish fingers, mash, new spuds and sweet potato.
We’re all different but the potato and sweet potato dishes would spike my levels.

 

[Leadinglights]

I’m curious to know what your BG readings are before and after things like fish fingers, mash, new spuds and sweet potato.
We’re all different but the potato and sweet potato dishes would spike my levels.

Breaded or battered fish tends to be more carbs than you would think for a piece of fish and if you are then having it with mash which is also high carb and adding peas which are more carbs than broccoli or cabbage or courgettes, I have found lightly dusted cod fillets are better carb wise.
Baked beans are high carb so with the toast it would make a high carb combination, the bacon is fine so maybe have with an egg or mushrooms. But testing as suggested will tell you if they suit you.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

My little Collins Gem GI book was recommended in a book called 'What Can I Eat' because the author had found it very helpful in dealing with her husband's diabetes. It is easy to understand and shows what to avoid - red.

Was the author Alan Shanley? I think that’s a similar title to his book.

 

[Poppypat]

Was the author Alan Shanley? I think that’s a similar title to his book.

Sorry got the title a bit wrong it's https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Eat-Th...keywords=what+can+I+eat&qid=1629398679&sr=8-1