Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Lesley and have just been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, Type 2. I would love to get some advice on diet, particularly. I was shocked to discover I am pre-diabetic as I have none of the usual markers: I am slim and very fit and active, despite my 69 years. I was a gardener by trade before I retired and have spent the last two years building my own large garden from scratch, so I spend a lot of my time outdoors. Also have a springer spaniel who needs a couple of good walks a day, so I am not short of exercise one way or another. There is no history of diabetes in my family. I don't eat meat - have been a pescatarian for many years. I don't have high blood pressure. I do, however, have a sweet tooth. Until now I have enjoyed a coffee, with sugar, and a chocolate brownie every morning. According to the nurse I saw, this is all it takes! I am confused about dietary options. Can I have sugar at all? I have replaced the sugar in my coffee with Natvia sweeteners. I was advised by the nurse not to opt for chemical sweeteners as they can have health impacts in other ways (cancer etc), so I am using Stevia for cooking and, on her advice, Agave syrup for general sweetness. Eating more fruit. I have cut out biscuits, other than home-made with sweeteners rather than sugar. We are experimenting with chocolate brownie recipes. I do feel anxious, though, as I am really not sure if I can have any sugar, of any kind, at all. Could do with some advice. Thanks for listening!
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Hi, I'm new
- Thread starter LesleyK
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- Type 1
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Welcome to the forum @LesleyK
Sorry to hear you have been told you are at risk of developing diabetes, despite your slim build and active lifestyle.
We do have members like @Martin.A who were diagnosed with T2 who are slim, partly I think it can be to do with the way your body processes carbohydrates, and whether you have a propensity to store visceral fat around organs, despite being slim on the outside (there is some research into this by the team behind DIRECT).
However we also have members who were mistakenly classified as T2 to start with, but who ended up having a slow-developing autoimmune diabetes such as LADA, or a genetic form like MODY. So it may be worth remembering the atypical nature of your presentation if standard advice doesn’t have the expected effect, just in case you have a different type of diabetes, that needs different treatment.
For cakes and treats, several T2 members here like browsing ‘sugarfreelondoner’ which has a variety of lower carb baking recipes.
It’s also worth clarifying at this point that it isn’t only sugar and sweet things that can impact your blood glucose levels. Sugar is just one form of carbohydrate, and it’s the carbohydrates in your diet (both starchy and sweet) which break down into glucose in the blood. Keeping an eye on your overall carb intake, and trying to make a few savings here and there by reducing portion sizes can be a very powerful strategy. 🙂
Sorry to hear you have been told you are at risk of developing diabetes, despite your slim build and active lifestyle.
We do have members like @Martin.A who were diagnosed with T2 who are slim, partly I think it can be to do with the way your body processes carbohydrates, and whether you have a propensity to store visceral fat around organs, despite being slim on the outside (there is some research into this by the team behind DIRECT).
However we also have members who were mistakenly classified as T2 to start with, but who ended up having a slow-developing autoimmune diabetes such as LADA, or a genetic form like MODY. So it may be worth remembering the atypical nature of your presentation if standard advice doesn’t have the expected effect, just in case you have a different type of diabetes, that needs different treatment.
For cakes and treats, several T2 members here like browsing ‘sugarfreelondoner’ which has a variety of lower carb baking recipes.
It’s also worth clarifying at this point that it isn’t only sugar and sweet things that can impact your blood glucose levels. Sugar is just one form of carbohydrate, and it’s the carbohydrates in your diet (both starchy and sweet) which break down into glucose in the blood. Keeping an eye on your overall carb intake, and trying to make a few savings here and there by reducing portion sizes can be a very powerful strategy. 🙂
@LesleyK welcome to the forum. What a shock you must have had. I was told I was diabetic in July having asked for a test
and regret despite a blood test each year for high blood pressure and unlike you being overweight not testing the sample for diabetes. I don't use sweetners, I am a similar age to you but gave up sugar in drinks and on cereal in my teens. I gave it up in drinks first and reduced then stopped on cereal. I am not yet an expert on what to eat. Your diet and lifestyle seems fine to me although carbs turn to sugar and I don't know what carbs you eat.
Check out the freshwell site ap set up by two doctors. It includes some meal ideas but is helpful in setting out where the carbs are.
There is also a site by a lady living in London encouraging baking with less sugar. There is a thread yesterday about Christmas pudding which includes a link and the Doctors site includes similar recipes. I would be tempted to gradually reduce the sugar in your coffee till your palate enjoyed it without but I've never tried sweetners. As far as fruit is concerned berries are great as are most British fruit but the lovely more tropical fruit has a lot of sugar so watch what you are eating.
My understanding is you just need to be mindful, occasional sweet things aren't going to make a difference but if you are having mango for desert every day plus a sugary coffee and chocolate cake for tea it's a poor idea.
I still have occasional chocolate and once or twice a month a biscuit or piece of cake. Just make sure you choose what to eat no mindless snacking or second helpings. You will be able to change with just a few tweaks as your diet exercise and lifestyle are all top notch.
and regret despite a blood test each year for high blood pressure and unlike you being overweight not testing the sample for diabetes. I don't use sweetners, I am a similar age to you but gave up sugar in drinks and on cereal in my teens. I gave it up in drinks first and reduced then stopped on cereal. I am not yet an expert on what to eat. Your diet and lifestyle seems fine to me although carbs turn to sugar and I don't know what carbs you eat.
Check out the freshwell site ap set up by two doctors. It includes some meal ideas but is helpful in setting out where the carbs are.
There is also a site by a lady living in London encouraging baking with less sugar. There is a thread yesterday about Christmas pudding which includes a link and the Doctors site includes similar recipes. I would be tempted to gradually reduce the sugar in your coffee till your palate enjoyed it without but I've never tried sweetners. As far as fruit is concerned berries are great as are most British fruit but the lovely more tropical fruit has a lot of sugar so watch what you are eating.
My understanding is you just need to be mindful, occasional sweet things aren't going to make a difference but if you are having mango for desert every day plus a sugary coffee and chocolate cake for tea it's a poor idea.
I still have occasional chocolate and once or twice a month a biscuit or piece of cake. Just make sure you choose what to eat no mindless snacking or second helpings. You will be able to change with just a few tweaks as your diet exercise and lifestyle are all top notch.
CoolShot44
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- Type 2
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Welcome to the forum Lesley , a lot of people i know , me including follow a low cab Mediterranean diet , i personally try to avoid sugar where i can but everyone's different when it comes to managing this condition .Please have a look in the learning zone the red bar up above , and have a look at lowcarb freshwell app . Anyway welcome to the club hope you find some answers ive just come off metformin a week ago so my advice just try to look at the food you consume and keep some sort of diary how many carbs are you eating etc etc , sometimes just tweaking the meals and reducing the amount of carbs is enough to keep your glucose levels down .
Tdm
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Its not sugar you need to keep an eye on, but all carbs...so the flour carbs in your brownie is as important as the sugar carbs.
You may want to look into alternative low carb flours - almond flour/ground almonds is a good swap, but it is quite high fat.
Agave syrup isn't really going to help on the carb front as its still quite high in carbs.
But, if you are only prediabetic, then you may only need modest reductions in carbs...eg your stevia in place of sugar in the tea, reducing the size of the brownie?
Also, whilst fruit is good, its quite carb heavy...berrys are fairly low carb.
Did they test for t1? Do you/your family have a history of auto immune diseases?
Also bear in mind many 'stevia' products are bulked out with erythritol or similar...
You may want to look into alternative low carb flours - almond flour/ground almonds is a good swap, but it is quite high fat.
Agave syrup isn't really going to help on the carb front as its still quite high in carbs.
But, if you are only prediabetic, then you may only need modest reductions in carbs...eg your stevia in place of sugar in the tea, reducing the size of the brownie?
Also, whilst fruit is good, its quite carb heavy...berrys are fairly low carb.
Did they test for t1? Do you/your family have a history of auto immune diseases?
Also bear in mind many 'stevia' products are bulked out with erythritol or similar...
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
People have mentioned the Freshwell site and the link is here https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Some modest changes should be all that is needed but it is better to make those with a bit of knowledge about what are the high carb foods.
The book or app Carbs and Cals is very useful for seeing what substitutions you could make to make your meals lower in carbs.
As you reduce the amount of sugary foods your tastes will change and things will taste far too sweet. Avoiding excessive use of artificial sweeteners is a good idea.
Some modest changes should be all that is needed but it is better to make those with a bit of knowledge about what are the high carb foods.
The book or app Carbs and Cals is very useful for seeing what substitutions you could make to make your meals lower in carbs.
As you reduce the amount of sugary foods your tastes will change and things will taste far too sweet. Avoiding excessive use of artificial sweeteners is a good idea.
CoolShot44
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There was also a post yesterday by freesia about a site that looks really good called the friendly kitchen , there's a link to it below if u want to have a look for meal and dietary ideas !! looks really good thanx to freesia for spotting this one thanx 
www.wholeheartykitchen.co.uk
Recipe Index
Discover a world of flavourful and diabetes-friendly recipes all focus on both taste and nutrition, whilst being quick and easy to prepare.
www.wholeheartykitchen.co.uk
Wow, I can't thank you all enough for your advice. It's really useful. A couple of things. I was informed by my GP nurse that sugar load is the most important factor in my case; she said free sugars, like the spoonful I had in my coffee, put a big strain on the pancreas and were dumped into the blood stream without having to go through any real digestion process, whereas sugars in fruit, for example, are usually accompanied by fibre, which goes through a digestion process and is therefore less of a strain on the pancreas. I'm not a medic so I may have misunderstood this, but her insistence that it was added sugar I needed to eliminate, was what stuck with me. As for carbs, I do eat pasta, rice, bread (wholemeal) and potatoes. I have cut my potato intake to once a week. I am wheat intolerant so the pasta and rice I eat is gluten-free. Apart from that, all our meals are home cooked from scratch, including protein (quorn,fish, cheese) and vegetables. As a gardener, I grow a lot of the veg we eat, although we do have to buy more in winter. I have been eating more berries (foraged blackberries mainly), grapes, pears and bananas. I will definitely check out the Friendly Kitchen and the Freshwell site to see if there is anything else I can tweak. The reason I am still going for sweeteners of some kind is because I would find it hard to stop having the taste of sugar. I only have Natvia it in coffee - have always had tea without sugar. The Stevia is the "pure" powder kind and I am using it in baking mainly, not as a sugar substitute in drinks or anything. I wasn't tested for T1 and there is no history of auto immune problems in my family. Sorry if this is a bit of a chaotic answer - I was trying to respond to all of you! And thanks again.
@LesleyK ah you have a lot of opportunity to tweak the carbs. I eat bread if I go to a cafe where it is the least bad choice. I like smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye bread as an open sandwich. You need to work out the carbs and sugar you eat what you would be happy to drop what you would be happy with a smaller portion and if you would like to swap. Eg some people choose cauliflower instead of rice. You have the luxury of lots of possible choices which will include practicalities of catering for other family members. Some people choose red lentil or edamame bean pasta others smaller portions.
I'd still drop the sugar in the coffee but I don't like sweetners. There is no need to rush and if something doesn't work from a cost or practicality point of view choose something else. I remember reading that new potatoes in skins are fine so with your green fingers you will have a fabulous summer. Generally veg below ground is more carby than above ground.
In the end you are just auditing your food and making sure your diet is a little more diabetes friendly. As you have so much room for manoeuvre this should be enjoyable. Remember to keep eating protein and good fats as you don't want to lose weight.
Good luck.
I'd still drop the sugar in the coffee but I don't like sweetners. There is no need to rush and if something doesn't work from a cost or practicality point of view choose something else. I remember reading that new potatoes in skins are fine so with your green fingers you will have a fabulous summer. Generally veg below ground is more carby than above ground.
In the end you are just auditing your food and making sure your diet is a little more diabetes friendly. As you have so much room for manoeuvre this should be enjoyable. Remember to keep eating protein and good fats as you don't want to lose weight.
Good luck.