Hypo ? after evening meal

[rebrascora]

Here we go... the link showing the trace of the ultra marathon runner's BG levels, who is not diabetic...
Flat lining – Diabetes Psychology Matters

 

[Sutherland53]

Hi Rebrascora, brilliant info, I really must try harder with reducing my bread intake, I love bread and do find it difficult to avoid. I’ve bought some low carb bread but it’s quite rubbery and not as filling obviously. The toast I mentioned earlier was eaten at breakfast so it wouldn’t have impacted on my BG levels when I did my pre dinner reading I would have thought

 

[Sutherland53]

Got your info about flat lining, that’s very interesting stuff isn’t it and just proves that there are so many variations which affect BG levels

 

[rebrascora]

Ok, the other thing to make sure of is that your finger is clean when you test. Just a bit of fruit juice or maybe even onion juice if you were chopping onions or tomatoes etc prior to testing or a smear from a glass or jar you picked up can compromise a reading and make it higher. Just trying to make a bit of sense of your high pre meal reading, but anomalies do happen quite often which is why you look more for trends than worry about individual readings.
I used to love bread too, but surprisingly I don't miss it now other than as a carrier for other food and even so, you find ways around that until you don't really notice any more.

Your chicken dinner the other day was obviously a great choice.... I am going to ignore the mention of a chocolate roll at the end.... Once in a while is OK but try to remember that high carb treats should be for special occasions not daily.

Diabetes is a funny condition because a lot of the time you don't feel ill but changes can be happening behind the scenes which can have quite a sudden and dramatic impact on your life, like loss of sight and neuropathy etc. It is a bit of a lottery as to who will suffer these associated conditions but improving your Blood Glucose control will certainly lessen the risk and so that is what we all work towards.

 

[Sutherland53]

Thanks so much for that Rebrascora, it’s a bit of a weird beast diabetes isn’t it I’ve got no choccy rolls left so I’ll avoid that shopper isle in future!! I had a retinology test done about 3 months ago which shows no probs, yet !! have a great evening and once again thanks for the info

 

[rebrascora]

I find it is important to have treats but just choose them wisely and find ones which don't spike your levels. For me having plenty of nice cheese and pots of olives and I have a stash of bars of dark 70+% cocoa solids that I can have half a square with a spoon of peanut butter when I need a chocolate hit which won't adversely affect my BG levels and isn't moreish, or my guilty pleasure... a packet of pork scratchings.... all fat and protein but no carbs.
Again though, these are special treats not every day choices..... well except for the cheese. It is rare a day goes by when I don't have cheese in some form or other!

 

[Sutherland53]

Lol I like a good white Cheshire cheese, cut into cubes for a snack, maybe with a spoon or two of creamy coleslaw, or quite simply ham or beef from the deli, must have more protein if I can,

 

[trophywench]

There's nothing all that weird about diabetes and diet - every single one of us is intolerant of starchy carbs. Yes you did well by substituting the cauli for rice - but then practically wrecked that really good effort by having a Naan - a Naan BREAD. Just remind me, what goes in bread that might contain carbs ? Ruddy FLOUR ! Not a single one of our bodies cares a jot whether it's wholegrain, white, green, yellow cum pink with blue spots - it simply does exactly the same with the carbohydrate in it and converts it all to Glucose.

Any thing on earth which contains flour automatically contains starchy carbs. The flours made from nuts eg almond flour (aka ground almonds) or coconut flour, have less carb than the flours from grain eg wheat flour or corn flour, but still have carb so still need watching but not totally avoided wherever possible.

 

[Sutherland53]

Hi trophywench, thank you for the warning on bread of any size shape or colour! as a lifelong bread lover it will take me a little while and an awful amount of willpower but I’ll get there ! I’m learning more every day with the guidance from forum members, many thanks for your post.

 

[Sutherland53]

Lol I like a good white Cheshire cheese, cut into cubes for a snack, maybe with a spoon or two of creamy coleslaw, or quite simply ham or beef from the deli, must have more protein if I can,

Hi Rebrascora, just to keep you in the loop, yesterday’s BG reading was 6.1 pre dinner and 7.5 post dinner ☺️ better result than the previous day !! onwards and forward !!

 

[rebrascora]

Excellent result there. Well done! I also read on another post that you have lost nearly a stone in 3 weeks which is absolutely brilliant! Keep up the good work!

 

[Sutherland53]

Excellent result there. Well done! I also read on another post that you have lost nearly a stone in 3 weeks which is absolutely brilliant! Keep up the good work!

Thanks so much Rebrascora, it’s becoming so much easier and the rough seas ahead are much calmer I’ve just had my dinner and my BG reading before hand was 5.7 hoping it’s ok after 2 hours ! I had bacon, grilled, 2 eggs and a good portion of fried mushrooms, something like 0.3 gems of carbs ☺️ I’ll keep you in the loop and pick your brain’s if I may !!

 

[rebrascora]

That is a good meal carbs wise but it is also important to incorporate plenty of fibre into your diet when you are eating low carb .... so for me I would have shredded some savoy cabbage and cooked it in the microwave with a knob of butter for 3 mins and had that with the bacon eggs and mushrooms as it goes really well with those foods. It adds a few more carbs but more importantly fibre.
Alternatively or as well as, you can use a fibre supplement. I use both psyllium husk and chia seeds and I have a teaspoon of each in a glass of water on a morning with a dash of either balsamic vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar to give it a bit of flavour and acidity. I drink it down when the fibre starts to go a bit gelatinous and follow it with a glass of water. That helps keep the digestive system regular and working well because when you cut carbs, particularly bread, you also cut a lot of fibre from your diet which means you can end up constipated. Fibre is also good for heart health I believe and since you are eating more fat, it is a good idea to add in extra fibre for that benefit. Salad leaves and any green veg will also provide good fibre, so do look to include that whenever you can. Coleslaw is of course also made with cabbage so if you are not keen on greens in other ways, have a dollop of coleslaw with your bacon and eggs or have salad with it and coleslaw.

Psyllium husk and chia seeds are available in some supermarkets and also health food stores or can be purchased online. They don't really taste of anything much, so not unpleasant. I tend to have my glass of water with fibre and a dash of vinegar as soon as I get up followed by a second glass of water and then my coffee with cream and then my breakfast which is usually Creamy Greek yoghurt with 3 heaped teaspoons of defrosted summer berries, a dessert spoon of mixed seeds (again a good source of fibre) and a sprinkle of low carb granola (I use the Eat Natural Protein Granola which is 34g carbs per 100g and I only have about 20g of it at most which is about 6-7g carbs, plus the berries and yoghurt takes the total up to about 15-20g carbs) I then don't usually have lunch as that keeps me going until dinner time, or I might have a salad at lunchtime with cheese coleslaw and then meat or fish with veg on an evening...

Anyway, just a bit more info for you to consider.
Congrats on your reading in the 5s... Is that your first 5? Great result!

 

[Sutherland53]

Thanks Rebrascora that’s something I really must look at because yes I’m finding myself constipated so once again you’ve hit the nail on the head !! I’m a little unsure about the breakfast drink ☺️ I’ve never thought or bought any of the seeds etc that you mentioned ☺️ I do like coleslaw and I love white cabbage but never in a month of Sundays thought about putting it with bacon/eggs! I’ve got to start thinking out of the box haven’t I the pre dinner readings for today are the lowest I’ve recorded and is big shift from 9.1 a couple of days ago so fingers crossed ☺️ I recognised that I needed to loose weight too and I have been just by eating low carb, started at 15.5 stone and now 14.2 target weight is 13.5 but I seem to plateau at 14.2
take care and again thanks

 

[rebrascora]

As regards fibre supplements and seeds, the psyllium husk is the same stuff that is in Fibogel which the doctors often prescribe to older patients to improve bowel movement... again that is something that you make into a drink, but the Fibogel is flavoured and probably sweetened so you are better with plain psyllium. I have been using it off and on for the past 20 years ish.
When I cut bread out of my diet (I almost always ate wholemeal pre diagnosis) I did get really constipated because of the loss of all that roughage and bulk. It trook quite a while to find the best solution and we have had discussions on the forum because it is a common problem. My current regime with the chia seeds and psyllium together is just brilliant and you feel so much better for having regular, easy, well formed daily movement. (Sorry too much info, but gut and bowel health is as important as anything else.
Seeds are an important source of nutrients and fibre when you follow a low carb/higher fat way of eating, so worth looking at how you can incorporate them if you don't fancy drinking them soaked in water. Chia seeds have one of the highest levels of Omega 3 fatty acids of any food stuff, so they are a bit of a super food. You can add them to soups and stews or to fruit (berries) to thicken up the juice. Really good stuff.

 

[Sutherland53]

Hi Rebrascora, sounds like I’ll be mixing stuff up in the kitchen other than sausage and chips ! I will definitely give it a good try thanks again for a very informative post ☺️ I’m sure Morrison’s now supply the things I’ll need, if not I’ll take a trip to Holland and Barrett or Amazon ☺️ My BG reading after dinner was 6.3 by the way, quite pleased with that

 

[rebrascora]

Another fantastic result. Well done.
Sounds like you are really starting to get the hang of it and realising that there are other compensations with this diet for the things which you previously liked but your body will no longer tolerate. I still really love my coffee with cream on a morning. It is just such a luxury that you can't feel hard done by when you start the day like that and I am currently having a gin and low cal bitter lemon with some blue stilton and olives.... so I really can't complain!

 

[trophywench]

Hee hee! Nice new bottle of Bombay Sapphire awaits us two, only needing the enhancement of the also waiting low cal tonic to be savoured.

 

[rebrascora]

I ran out of low cal tonic last night which is why I am now on bitter lemon. Sadly I am not on Bombay Sapphire at the moment either as I have had to tighten the purse strings a bit recently but regardless I am still enjoying my gin and mixer the last few nights!

 

[Sutherland53]

Can anyone join the party have a really good night cap it’ll help you sleep better