I’m new and a little confused.

[Kt84]

Hello everyone. I was diagnosed with type 2 just over two weeks ago. I had a blood test due to me developing Bells Palsy and had a phone call from the diabetic nurse a week later. I’m not sure yet what my levels were at diagnosis. I’m waiting for an appointment to find out. I do know a little about diabetes as both my parents, my brother, my aunties on both sides on the family and one of my grandparents have type 2 diagnosis’. I have been put on two metformin tablets a day but expect this to rise gradually over time. I have previously done low carb and have gone back to that. I’m also watching calories. My question is actually about protein. Due to lowering carbs, I’ve upped my protein. Is this a problem? How do I know if I’m eating too much protein? I’m finding it a lot to think about carbs, calories, saturated fats and protein at the moment. I will of course ask when I get an appointment/have another phone consultation but that won’t be for a few weeks yet by the sounds of it.

Thanks in advance. I’ve been lurking on the forum for a few weeks now and can already see how supportive you all are.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hello everyone. I was diagnosed with type 2 just over two weeks ago. I had a blood test due to me developing Bells Palsy and had a phone call from the diabetic nurse a week later. I’m not sure yet what my levels were at diagnosis. I’m waiting for an appointment to find out. I do know a little about diabetes as both my parents, my brother, my aunties on both sides on the family and one of my grandparents have type 2 diagnosis’. I have been put on two metformin tablets a day but expect this to rise gradually over time. I have previously done low carb and have gone back to that. I’m also watching calories. My question is actually about protein. Due to lowering carbs, I’ve upped my protein. Is this a problem? How do I know if I’m eating too much protein? I’m finding it a lot to think about carbs, calories, saturated fats and protein at the moment. I will of course ask when I get an appointment/have another phone consultation but that won’t be for a few weeks yet by the sounds of it.

Thanks in advance. I’ve been lurking on the forum for a few weeks now and can already see how supportive you all are.

Welcome to the forum, you certainly have a history of diabetes in your family and if they have been diagnosed for some time then who they manage their diabetes may not be quite up to date with more recent thinking and also as everybody is different what works for one person may not work for another. I would suspect if you have been prescribed metformin then your HbA1C must be quite high. I is usual to start on a low dose maybe 1 tablet then increase over a number of weeks to help your body get used to it.
As you have followed a low carb regime before it should be easy to adopt that. However to try to keep tract of all the aspects at once is challenging and as it is the carbohydrates that convert to glucose that is the priority. Low carb is suggested as being no more than 130g total carbs per day but it is not NO carbs. Portion control is also important.
Making sure you have enough protein and healthy fats with veg and fruits like berries should give you plenty of options.
You may find this link helpful for some do's and don'ts and some ideas for modifying your diet.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

I found following the principals in the link I lost some weight and reduced my HbA1C without meds.

It is a good ideas to find out what your HbA1C is as that will indicate how much work you need to do.

 

[Gwynn]

Hi, looking online it states that an upper limit for protein is 3.5g of protein for every Kg of body weight daily, whilst 2g/Kg is safe.

However...recommended daily amounts are based on activity too... for minimum activity the recommended daily intake is 1g/Kg. For moderately active people ig is 1.3g/Kg and, for active people it is 1.5g/Kg

Hope this helps

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Kt84

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, though it sounds as if perhaps it didn’t come as all that much of a shock for you?

Do you have weight to lose? Many forum members who opt for a lower carb way of eating seem to find that they have a little more freedom with healthy fats in their diet. Which some say helps them feel fuller for longer.

Way back when the caution around too much protein was always said to be that it wasn’t great for your kidneys - but I’m not sure whether that is still backed up by up-to-date research?

My simplistic feeling is that focussing too heavily on one food source (either trying to remove it entirely, or eat it in exclusion of all else) is likely to be more problematic than helpful - and certainly could make a menu feel limited and hard to sustain for many.

If you find it helpful for your BGs to reduce the proportion of one food group, eg carbs, it seems logical to me that you’d need to increase proteins and fats to balance.

Diabetes UK has some meal plans here with carious different focusses, which may give you some ideas and options?

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[harbottle]

Way back when the caution around too much protein was always said to be that it wasn’t great for your kidneys - but I’m not sure whether that is still backed up by up-to-date research?

Dr Unwin came across this idea, apparently, when he was doing a conference on low carb diets (He said someone approached him and mentioned kidney problems on a high protein diet). He said he got worried about it and did some research and found that it wasn't backed up by research.