Just found out 2 days ago I have type 2 Diabetes, fizzy pop and a rubbish diet has coursed this , so I’m have stopped all that c**p now drinking lots of water even went to shops and got fish, Greek yogurt, and veg and fruit, even got special k but I believe this is no good for you ??
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- Thread starter Brianvr46
- Start date
- Status
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Welcome @Brianvr46 🙂 Well done for starting to improve your diet. There are lots of Type 2s here if you’re stuck for meal suggestions.
IrvineHimself
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi and welcome
Since Type-2 diet guidance is a regular question, I have prepared this basic intro. Along with a few tips, its main purpose is to gently introduce basic concepts and give a frame of reference for what is considered a high or low carb value:
There is a meal planner here in the main DiabetesUK domain which may be of use. Along with a search box, the page also has a navigation bar that will allow you to browse a large number of good quality articles on suitable foods, recipes, (including vegetarian,) ... etc, etc.
Blood glucose meters:
BG meters, although not a universal panacea, can help a lot. Around here, people swear by them. If you've been prescribed certain Type-2 meds with a high risk of Hypoglycemia, (eg Insulin or Sulfonylureas like Glimepiride ) NICE guidelines recommend the use of a BG meter. Unfortunately, as a general rule, the guidelines do not currently recommend them for all Type-2 diabetics. If you are lucky, a sympathetic might Doc might prescribe one. If not, then the only other alternative is to self fund. With recurring costs for test strips and the like, this is potentially very expensive. So, if you are considering self funding, get advice from these forums on make and model.
Diet:
The general advice is to cut back on carbs. There are no good carbs and bad carbs. Irrespective of how the nutritional info describes them, all carbs get converted to sugar.
My Doctor gave me a target for my daily carb allowance. Since cutting back too quickly on carbs can lead to complications, this initial target will, along with the medications you are taking, depend on your previous eating habits. The most important thing to note is that you have to reduce your carb intake in stages.
Get into the habit of looking at the nutritional info on prepared foods, snacks etc and don't be fooled by labels which say: "Healthy Option". They may be healthy, but they can also have a very high carb content. If, like me, you lack the discipline to just have one chocolate digestive, then it is probably best to avoid high sugar biscuits completely. Ditto with packets of crisps, tortillas and the like. Sugar is another no-no: Avoid sugary drinks and, if you can stomach them , use saccharine or some other sweetener in tea and coffee. If not, drink your morning cuppa unsweetened. With respect to soft drinks, note that there is a difference between "sugar free" and "no added sugar". It is the latter which should be your beverage of choice.
In general, you should only have very small, tiny daily portions of high carb veg, grains and cereals. Basically, cut back drastically on: pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice).
Low carb substitutes for the preceding are:
Another thing to avoid is "most" tropical fruits as they have a high sugar content. Apples and berries have a much lower sugar content, as does fruit which is not fully ripened. Also, be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content: Kidney Beans (22g/100g), Spilt Peas (21g/100g), Chickpeas (17g/100g), Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.
For snacking, tree nuts:, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts.... are all good. On the other hand dried fruit like raisins and sultanas are full of sugar. (That is why grapes are used to make great wine)
Remember: Often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g garlic is up there with potato. So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.
Note: The garlic example was mainly to illustrate how carb content can be surprising. But, a typical clove of garlic weighs roughly 8 grams. So, if you like garlic, three cloves/day is equivalent to one slice of Crackerbread, and, believe me, the odd 4 grams of carbs here and 5 grams there can quickly add up!
End of copy/paste
It can take a while to get used to all this. There is a learning curve, and, at first things, can be quite confusing. So don't be afraid to ask questions. Also, you haven't said whether you have been prescribed any medications yet. If so, you should let us know because then people can give more tailored advice.
Welcome and good luck
Irvine
It depends on which veg and fruit you got and whether or nor the yogurt has added sugar and/or high carb dressings.
Since Type-2 diet guidance is a regular question, I have prepared this basic intro. Along with a few tips, its main purpose is to gently introduce basic concepts and give a frame of reference for what is considered a high or low carb value:
There is a meal planner here in the main DiabetesUK domain which may be of use. Along with a search box, the page also has a navigation bar that will allow you to browse a large number of good quality articles on suitable foods, recipes, (including vegetarian,) ... etc, etc.
Blood glucose meters:
BG meters, although not a universal panacea, can help a lot. Around here, people swear by them. If you've been prescribed certain Type-2 meds with a high risk of Hypoglycemia, (eg Insulin or Sulfonylureas like Glimepiride ) NICE guidelines recommend the use of a BG meter. Unfortunately, as a general rule, the guidelines do not currently recommend them for all Type-2 diabetics. If you are lucky, a sympathetic might Doc might prescribe one. If not, then the only other alternative is to self fund. With recurring costs for test strips and the like, this is potentially very expensive. So, if you are considering self funding, get advice from these forums on make and model.
Diet:
The general advice is to cut back on carbs. There are no good carbs and bad carbs. Irrespective of how the nutritional info describes them, all carbs get converted to sugar.
My Doctor gave me a target for my daily carb allowance. Since cutting back too quickly on carbs can lead to complications, this initial target will, along with the medications you are taking, depend on your previous eating habits. The most important thing to note is that you have to reduce your carb intake in stages.
Get into the habit of looking at the nutritional info on prepared foods, snacks etc and don't be fooled by labels which say: "Healthy Option". They may be healthy, but they can also have a very high carb content. If, like me, you lack the discipline to just have one chocolate digestive, then it is probably best to avoid high sugar biscuits completely. Ditto with packets of crisps, tortillas and the like. Sugar is another no-no: Avoid sugary drinks and, if you can stomach them , use saccharine or some other sweetener in tea and coffee. If not, drink your morning cuppa unsweetened. With respect to soft drinks, note that there is a difference between "sugar free" and "no added sugar". It is the latter which should be your beverage of choice.
In general, you should only have very small, tiny daily portions of high carb veg, grains and cereals. Basically, cut back drastically on: pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice).
Low carb substitutes for the preceding are:
- Potato: Mooli (3g/100g), a type of radish, it can be chopped up and cooked with some neeps (5g/100g) or squash (7g/100g), optionally, you can add a very small potato. I microwave them together for about 25 minutes or until the mooli is soft to the fork. As someone who traditionally piles on the spuds, I find this surprisingly effective. It is a large root, and I usually get two meals out of one.
- Rice: Cauliflower (4g/100g) can be used to make a rice substitute. If you like, you can follow the BBC recipe, but I usually just finely dice it.
- Pasta: Courgettes (2g/100g), can be used to make a pasta substitute. Again, rather than spiralize the courgette, I generally just cut the courgette into thinnish slices, (or even grate it,) to make either a Farfalle or Orzo type of pasta. Then, with a dash of olive oil infused with either fresh garlic or crushed chillies, I microwave it à la dent for about a minute or so.
- Bread: The lowest carbs per slice substitute I have found is Ryvita Crackerbread Original (4g/slice) and for variety Oatcakes (6g/slice). Though, because the latter is 50% higher in carbs per slice, I limit myself to 3 oatcakes per day. (About 18g of carbs, or 7% of my current daily carb allowance)
Another thing to avoid is "most" tropical fruits as they have a high sugar content. Apples and berries have a much lower sugar content, as does fruit which is not fully ripened. Also, be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content: Kidney Beans (22g/100g), Spilt Peas (21g/100g), Chickpeas (17g/100g), Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.
For snacking, tree nuts:, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts.... are all good. On the other hand dried fruit like raisins and sultanas are full of sugar. (That is why grapes are used to make great wine)
Remember: Often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g garlic is up there with potato. So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.
Note: The garlic example was mainly to illustrate how carb content can be surprising. But, a typical clove of garlic weighs roughly 8 grams. So, if you like garlic, three cloves/day is equivalent to one slice of Crackerbread, and, believe me, the odd 4 grams of carbs here and 5 grams there can quickly add up!
End of copy/paste
It can take a while to get used to all this. There is a learning curve, and, at first things, can be quite confusing. So don't be afraid to ask questions. Also, you haven't said whether you have been prescribed any medications yet. If so, you should let us know because then people can give more tailored advice.
Welcome and good luck
Irvine
Lucyr
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I don’t think copy and pasting the same advice to every person is helpful Irvine, since everyone is different. Whatever type of fruit and veg and fish and Greek yoghurt you got Brian sounds like a great improvement on the fizzy pop and rubbish of before. Special K, you’d probably find you need to watch the portion size so if you only bought it to be healthy and you don’t enjoy it then don’t feel you have to buy it again, and just be mindful of portion size.
IrvineHimself
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Fine, i will cease and desist. But, note: I didn't copy/paste advice to every person, only when a Type2 asks specific advice about diet and only when no one else has answered with requested advice. Also, if you want to reply, please do so in a private message I do not wish to spoil the new members introduction.
Last edited:
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Brianvr46
Sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis.
Sounds like you have leapt into action and made some positive changes to kick you off!
One of the things you will spot pretty early on around here is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ menu that works for everyone. diabetes can be very fickle and individual, and what works for one person won’t necessarily work as well, or the same, for someone else. So while some people may find certain foods (eg breakfast cereal) difficult, there are others who can manage it as part of their eating plan.
Many new members find it can be really helpful to 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 menu, and how much is involved in a regular portion. Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives such as some of the ones @IrvineHimself has suggested.
Good luck, and let us know how things go 🙂
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