Just diagnosed

[Katiejay]

Hello everyone, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last week with an HbA1c score of 49 mmol/mol. I’m 71 years old, overweight and also had a high LDL (bad cholesterol) score so I’ve started a diet straight away. I was given a lot of information by my GP practice and am working my way through it all. I’m not on any medication for the diabetes as my Diabetes Nurse believes that if I lose weight and follow a low sugar and low fat diet, I will not need medication. I just wanted to introduce myself to you all.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hello everyone, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last week with an HbA1c score of 49 mmol/mol. I’m 71 years old, overweight and also had a high LDL (bad cholesterol) score so I’ve started a diet straight away. I was given a lot of information by my GP practice and am working my way through it all. I’m not on any medication for the diabetes as my Diabetes Nurse believes that if I lose weight and follow a low sugar and low fat diet, I will not need medication. I just wanted to introduce myself to you all.

Welcome to the forum
Yes just over the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis but perfectly doable by adopting a low carb approach, no need to go low fat from the diabetes point of view as many find that the lowering of carbs makes an improvement on cholesterol level.
Have a look at this link for good explanation and some menu ideas to suit different tastes and budget. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Low carb does not mean NO carb but it is suggested that no more than 130g carbs not just sugar is a good starting point.
Getting used to looking at the nutritional labels (usually on the back) on packets, tins etc or on the internet for the carbs will give you an idea of where the big hitters are and you can cut them out or have in reduced portions or infrequently.
Remember it is all carbohydrates which convert to glucose not just sugar so it is misleading to think of it as low sugar rather than low carbohydrate. Fats and protein do not readily convert to glucose so basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, vegetables, salads and fruit like berries with only small portions or none of the high carb foods like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, breakfast cereals, tropical fruits, as well as the obvious cakes, biscuits, pastry, sugary drinks including fruit juice.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Katiejay 🙂

 

[Katiejay]

Welcome to the forum
Yes just over the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis but perfectly doable by adopting a low carb approach, no need to go low fat from the diabetes point of view as many find that the lowering of carbs makes an improvement on cholesterol level.
Have a look at this link for good explanation and some menu ideas to suit different tastes and budget. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Low carb does not mean NO carb but it is suggested that no more than 130g carbs not just sugar is a good starting point.
Getting used to looking at the nutritional labels (usually on the back) on packets, tins etc or on the internet for the carbs will give you an idea of where the big hitters are and you can cut them out or have in reduced portions or infrequently.
Remember it is all carbohydrates which convert to glucose not just sugar so it is misleading to think of it as low sugar rather than low carbohydrate. Fats and protein do not readily convert to glucose so basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, vegetables, salads and fruit like berries with only small portions or none of the high carb foods like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, breakfast cereals, tropical fruits, as well as the obvious cakes, biscuits, pastry, sugary drinks including fruit juice.

Thank you for your advice and the link, which I will be looking at shortly. I hope you are doing OK too.🙂

 

[Katiejay]

Welcome @Katiejay 🙂

Thank you.

 

[Barrowman]

And welcome to the forum from me as well @Katiejay I was only diagnosed 18 months ago and have learned
so much from reading the post from the more experienced members on here. Enjoy.
.

 

[Drummer]

Hello everyone, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last week with an HbA1c score of 49 mmol/mol. I’m 71 years old, overweight and also had a high LDL (bad cholesterol) score so I’ve started a diet straight away. I was given a lot of information by my GP practice and am working my way through it all. I’m not on any medication for the diabetes as my Diabetes Nurse believes that if I lose weight and follow a low sugar and low fat diet, I will not need medication. I just wanted to introduce myself to you all.

If you try to do low fat and low sugar you are, I'm afraid, almost bound to fail.
Low fat made me feel really ill - as it should do, we can't survive without fat and restricting it results in problems for our bodies as we are short of the basic building materials for our brain, nervous system and many essential substances.
I eat unrestricted amounts of protein and fat - and my cholesterol levels are lower than when eating a low fat high carb diet.
I do restrict carbs, but they always made me feel unwell when eaten to excess, so I am actually a lot happier without grain and potatoes. I have fresh veges, salad, and berries - this week I am eating grapefruit as they were cheap, and I fancied a change. My HbA1c was 43 at the last test, so I thought it could do no harm. I bought 5 and when I have eaten them I'll go back to berries until Christmas. I don't need to be too strict as it was 2016 when I was diagnosed, so I have recovered quite a bit over the intervening years. I am still low carb, and always will be as I have always had problems with starch and sugar.
It was almost ridiculously easy to lose weight - I never even tried, but each year when I bring out my winter clothes they are too large and need to be replaced or resized. I doubt I'll ever get anywhere near a 24 inch waist again, but at least I am shaped more ) ( than ( ) again.

 

[Katiejay]

This is very useful advice, thank you. I hope that, although cutting out some fats, I’m still getting enough. I’m making notes about what I eat and drink every day and how much fat, carbohydrate and fibre are in my food. I used to eat a lot of fats and sugar in pies, cakes, biscuits, puddings and desserts, etc, but have now cut all of those out completely so I’m hoping that will help a lot. Thanks again. 🙂

 

[Katiejay]

And welcome to the forum from me as well @Katiejay I was only diagnosed 18 months ago and have learned
so much from reading the post from the more experienced members on here. Enjoy.
.

You’ve done really well in just 18 months. Thank you, that’s given me some incentive because I know now that it’s possible.

 

[childofthesea43]

Hello everyone, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last week with an HbA1c score of 49 mmol/mol. I’m 71 years old, overweight and also had a high LDL (bad cholesterol) score so I’ve started a diet straight away. I was given a lot of information by my GP practice and am working my way through it all. I’m not on any medication for the diabetes as my Diabetes Nurse believes that if I lose weight and follow a low sugar and low fat diet, I will not need medication. I just wanted to introduce myself to you all.

The average HbA1c of NON-diabetics aged above 60 is 47.5 so for you to be diagnosed with “type 2 diabetes” is highly questionable. I doubt that you are even pre-diabetic. There is a big problem with over-diagnosis and over-medication, owed to the failure of NICE guidelines to keep pace with research.

 

[ianf0ster]

As a 72yr old man in T2D remission for over 3yrs who also has an LDL high enough to have had conversations with my GP. I say that I don't care what the average HbA1C for those above 60yrs is, I want to keep mine below 40!
I know that diabetic complications occur on a sliding scale of HbA1C levels and prefer to keep both my sight and my toes thank you!

However on the subject of age (and gender), think I'm right in saying that no study of LDL in women over 60yrs has ever shown any benefit of statins.

 

[childofthesea43]

As a 72yr old man in T2D remission for over 3yrs who also has an LDL high enough to have had conversations with my GP. I say that I don't care what the average HbA1C for those above 60yrs is, I want to keep mine below 40!
I know that diabetic complications occur on a sliding scale of HbA1C levels and prefer to keep both my sight and my toes thank you!

However on the subject of age (and gender), think I'm right in saying that no study of LDL in women over 60yrs has ever shown any benefit of statins.

Well it won’t do any harm in itself to lower one’s A1c but whether it does any good is another matter for those like us in our later years. With a reducing RBC count, as is normal for our age group, A1c is bound to increase for a given amount of glucose in the blood since by definition it is the fraction (not the quantity) of RBCs that have become glycated. Diabetic complications will not arise for non-diabetics. The latter may well choose to lower their A1c by lifestyle but they certainly should not be put on diabetic medications, that’s my point.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

This is very useful advice, thank you. I hope that, although cutting out some fats, I’m still getting enough. I’m making notes about what I eat and drink every day and how much fat, carbohydrate and fibre are in my food. I used to eat a lot of fats and sugar in pies, cakes, biscuits, puddings and desserts, etc, but have now cut all of those out completely so I’m hoping that will help a lot. Thanks again. 🙂

Sounds like you are off to a good start @Katiejay

Hope you find it easy to stick with the positive changes you have been making. Be kind to yourself, and make sure you are giving yourself other sorts of treats and goodies (not necessarily food-related) to keep yourself motivated.

Hope you are able to see encouraging progress in your weight and in your HbA1c at your follow-up appointment. 🙂

 

[ianf0ster]

I have to probably disagree with you about 'Diabetic complications will not arise for non-diabetics. - Depending upon what you mean by non-diabetics. As far as I'm aware diabetic complications have been known to occur in people who are non-diabetic according to UK standards - though they were still pre-diabetic by US standards!

 

[childofthesea43]

I have to probably disagree with you about 'Diabetic complications will not arise for non-diabetics. - Depending upon what you mean by non-diabetics. As far as I'm aware diabetic complications have been known to occur in people who are non-diabetic according to UK standards - though they were still pre-diabetic by US standards!

I agree that disparate standards and definitions do us no favours in our attempts to formulate valid views on these matters.

 

[Katiejay]

The average HbA1c of NON-diabetics aged above 60 is 47.5 so for you to be diagnosed with “type 2 diabetes” is highly questionable. I doubt that you are even pre-diabetic. There is a big problem with over-diagnosis and over-medication, owed to the failure of NICE guidelines to keep pace with research.

Thank you for this. I agree that I’m only just over the threshold for Type 2 Diabetes but as I’m also overweight, I think it won’t hurt and can only do good, if I avoid added sugar and too much saturated fat. My diet now consists of meals which all reflect this and after only a week, my energy levels have improved. I’m eating lots of fruit and vegetables, beans and pulses in stews, etc. I’m not on any medication, for now, for the Diabetes and hope I won’t ever need it.

 

[Katiejay]

Sounds like you are off to a good start @Katiejay

Hope you find it easy to stick with the positive changes you have been making. Be kind to yourself, and make sure you are giving yourself other sorts of treats and goodies (not necessarily food-related) to keep yourself motivated.

Hope you are able to see encouraging progress in your weight and in your HbA1c at your follow-up appointment. 🙂

Sounds like you are off to a good start @Katiejay

Hope you find it easy to stick with the positive changes you have been making. Be kind to yourself, and make sure you are giving yourself other sorts of treats and goodies (not necessarily food-related) to keep yourself motivated.

Hope you are able to see encouraging progress in your weight and in your HbA1c at your follow-up appointment. 🙂

Thank you for this. I’m very motivated at present but I know this will wear off; probably around Christmas 🙂. My follow-up appointment isn’t until next March, which seems a long time. I would have liked a HbAc1 before then really to see if I’m making progress. I might ring the Diabetes Nurse in a couple of months to see if I could have a test then.

 

[Katiejay]

As a 72yr old man in T2D remission for over 3yrs who also has an LDL high enough to have had conversations with my GP. I say that I don't care what the average HbA1C for those above 60yrs is, I want to keep mine below 40!
I know that diabetic complications occur on a sliding scale of HbA1C levels and prefer to keep both my sight and my toes thank you!

However on the subject of age (and gender), think I'm right in saying that no study of LDL in women over 60yrs has ever shown any benefit of statins.

Thank you for this. I’m going to try to get mine well below my initial target, because it won’t do me any harm and will hopefully do me a lot of good. I do hope I’m not taking statins for nothing; I’ll have to have a word about that with my GP.

 

[childofthesea43]

Thank you for this. I’m going to try to get mine well below my initial target, because it won’t do me any harm and will hopefully do me a lot of good. I do hope I’m not taking statins for nothing; I’ll have to have a word about that with my GP.

With the rationale and commitment you’ve expressed my feeling is that you will do brilliantly. The art of the remission business is to develop an eating pattern that achieves what you want whilst being truly enjoyable, so banishing thoughts of it “wearing off”.