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Hi ya
- Thread starter Roy123
- Start date
- Status
Hi @Roy123 and welcome to the forum.
It will depend a little whether you are a Type 2 (as most are) or another type such as a Type 1.
It also depends upon where your HbA1C level falls in the diabetic range which runs upward from 48 mmol and downward with pre-diabetics being between 48 and 41.
You probably know that sugars make blood glucose higher, but so does eating starches such as grains (even wholegrain) and starchy veg (such as potato). In fact what you are told is a 'healthy diet', is anything but healthy for a T2 diabetic!
I blame the Low Fat, whole Grain, 5 a Day stuff for making me T2 Diabetic in the first place, while changing to eating Medium (traditional) Fats, High Protein and Low Carbohydrates put my T2 into remission quite quickly.
It will depend a little whether you are a Type 2 (as most are) or another type such as a Type 1.
It also depends upon where your HbA1C level falls in the diabetic range which runs upward from 48 mmol and downward with pre-diabetics being between 48 and 41.
You probably know that sugars make blood glucose higher, but so does eating starches such as grains (even wholegrain) and starchy veg (such as potato). In fact what you are told is a 'healthy diet', is anything but healthy for a T2 diabetic!
I blame the Low Fat, whole Grain, 5 a Day stuff for making me T2 Diabetic in the first place, while changing to eating Medium (traditional) Fats, High Protein and Low Carbohydrates put my T2 into remission quite quickly.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi @Roy123 and welcome to the forum.
Assuming you turn out as a "typical" T2, my thought is that there is no such thing as a list of foods you can and can't eat. A better approach is to understand the problem and then work out an eating solution that suits you.
As @ianf0ster says fundamentally, carbohydrate (and sugar in its various forms is a carbohydrate) in your food ends up as glucose in your blood. The logic then says that controlling your carbohydrate intake will control your blood glucose. Quite how you go about controlling the carbohydrate is up to you. At one extreme there are those who go for wholesale changes in diet with the aim of reducing carbohydrate to very low levels whereas at the other extreme are those who look to keep the diet they are used to but change proportions of things, cutting down things high in carbohydrate and increasing the proportion of things that are not. There is a whole load of workable options between these extremes, hence the inconsistency you have found in your searches.
If you turn out to be T1, then it is a different ball game and as @Tdm points out you can eat anything because you will be using insulin to control your blood glucose. You only need to worry about that if a T1 diagnosis is given.
Is there any reason for your GP to suspect T1?
Assuming you turn out as a "typical" T2, my thought is that there is no such thing as a list of foods you can and can't eat. A better approach is to understand the problem and then work out an eating solution that suits you.
As @ianf0ster says fundamentally, carbohydrate (and sugar in its various forms is a carbohydrate) in your food ends up as glucose in your blood. The logic then says that controlling your carbohydrate intake will control your blood glucose. Quite how you go about controlling the carbohydrate is up to you. At one extreme there are those who go for wholesale changes in diet with the aim of reducing carbohydrate to very low levels whereas at the other extreme are those who look to keep the diet they are used to but change proportions of things, cutting down things high in carbohydrate and increasing the proportion of things that are not. There is a whole load of workable options between these extremes, hence the inconsistency you have found in your searches.
If you turn out to be T1, then it is a different ball game and as @Tdm points out you can eat anything because you will be using insulin to control your blood glucose. You only need to worry about that if a T1 diagnosis is given.
Is there any reason for your GP to suspect T1?
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Roy123
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and the uncertainty about your diabetes type.
Hopefully you’ll get some clarity on your type of diabetes very soon. Have you had additional blood checks taken to help throw some light on that?
Diabetes can be a fickle and bizarrely individual adversary - so there are few dietary certainties, as different people can have quite different reactions and glucose responses to the same foods.
One common strategy is to begin where you are, but start to understand what your current menu has going on behind the scenes in glucose terms. You can keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your current menu.
Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, your food diary might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Some forum members find apps like nutracheck or myfitnesspal helpful.
Let us know the results of your diabetes-type conundrum when they arrive.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and the uncertainty about your diabetes type.
Hopefully you’ll get some clarity on your type of diabetes very soon. Have you had additional blood checks taken to help throw some light on that?
Diabetes can be a fickle and bizarrely individual adversary - so there are few dietary certainties, as different people can have quite different reactions and glucose responses to the same foods.
One common strategy is to begin where you are, but start to understand what your current menu has going on behind the scenes in glucose terms. You can keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your current menu.
Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, your food diary might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Some forum members find apps like nutracheck or myfitnesspal helpful.
Let us know the results of your diabetes-type conundrum when they arrive.
- Status