More questions...sorry!

[Twinkle]

Hi folks,

I hope one day to be able to help some users of this forum, but for now I just seem to be the asker of a million questions!

So - bought the GL diet for Dummies and can only assume I'm lower on the evolutionary scale than a 'Dummy'! I don't get it I mean, I get the 'white bread and floury big potatoes are the spawn of the devil'...but I can't seem to formulate a good GL eating plan. I even found a code for the dietfreedom website (so got a month free, let me know if you need the code) and have read, devoured, studied the info there. I guess my problem is that I'm a good rule follower - tell me in black and white to have xyz every day, and never to eat abc and I'll comply. But give me choices and I'm confused.com.

I think I need the do's and don't's in a simple format. So-spuds go, but new potatoes not so bad...but even then try and avoid? It seems very focussed on frequent eating so that one doesn't reach for a quick high-GL snack, but I'm so utterly motivated that the feeling of being a bit peckish is a nice one-makes me feel that I'm winning! I don't mean I'm starving myself, I'm having 3 sensible meals every day (pre-diagnosis I was a meal skipper) but apart from the odd bit of fruit I don't feel the need to snack. I'm very fortunate in that I've never had a sweet tooth or love for choc etc, my only major downfall was full sugar coke and that went out the window weeks ago!

I do need to lose at least 60lb, and it does tend to be 1-2lb a week at the moment and I know that's good and steady, would just like to give it a bit of assistance! I have PCOS as well as the D so it's notoriously difficult to lose weight - GL seems the definite way forward.

Part two...

So I'm still terrified of the finger pricker. What a wuss. Today though I cut my leg (accidentally) and thought of a cunning plan to test the blood! Is that ridiculous? Is blood blood no matter where it comes from? Anywho, it tested at 5.1 which is magnificent (if it's a real reading!). Assuming it's 'real', I can't figure out today as I'm uber tired again (as I was on diagnosis), bit of a heavy head, stinky breath and I just went for a wee (sorry if TMI) which smelt odd. I immediately thought of the ketones thingy - could it be that? I need to read about the symptoms before I panic I guess.

As my BG seems to have reduced from the 13's to the 9's then to the 5's all within around 5 weeks, could my body just be getting in a tizz about it?

Thanks if you got this far!

Jane x

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Hi Jane,
is this link any good to you? http://www.glycemicindex.com/

 

[Robster65]

Hi twinkle.

As a T2, I don't think ketones are something you need to worry about, or at least not while your BGs are below about 20. The smell could have been because you're dehydrated or a sign of a bladder infection. But that's one for you and your doctor.😉

GI is a bit of a dark art. As I understand it, mush will pass through very quickly but big lumps take time to break down. Fats and protein will lower the GI of a meal. Processed ingredients (flour, glucose syrup, etc) will raise it.

Seeds, nuts, pulses all take time to digest, so lowering GI. Hence seeded bread is better than plain white or brown.

Raw food is generally lower GI. So well cooked carrots will be higher GI than quick in and out of the pan carrots. Likewise, large chucks of potato fare better than mash.

It's all based on a group of volunteers who ate loads of things and then had their BG tested after so long to see what went through quick or slow. Other foods are then worked out from what they know. But we're all different and some foods can act strangely.

I hope some of this helps.🙂

Rob

 

[HelenM]

GI this is what I think (mixture of experience and reading)
Potatoes: lower GI new, waxy, better than old floury.higher GI Mashed and baked in jackets (though fat like butter, cheese or sour cream will lower it, it depends on whether you need the calories!)
rice: higher GI : fluffy, sticky, jasmin, Thai,well cooked lower GI al dente, basmati, wild and surprisingly Uncle Bens converted, .
Pasta, lower GI :manufactured (squashed and extruded) ie dried spaghetti Higher GI fresh, wider 'strands'
lower GI . Any pasta when barely cooked ie al dente, or cooked, cooled and eaten in a salad.
Beans and lentils, mostly very low GI. Channa dahl, one of the lowest GI carbs.
Bread: (a bit of a personal opinion here) any breads made to be soft and light and fluffy by the Chorleywood process are high GI. Choose denser breads, with whole seeds and grains present (ie not all ground to fine flour). Barley, coarse grain rye and oats help to lower GI.

Breakfast cereals. Most are high GI. including those sometimes touted as good for us like weetabix and (especiallly) Special K.
All bran is bit lower. but not necesarilly Bran flakes,, Porridge made with coarse milled oats is one of the lowest. Similarly mueslis made with a variety of whole grains. (served with yoghurt/milk and some fresh berries)
One problem with online resources for the GI of commercial breakfast cereals is that the manufacturers use different recipes for different countries. The GI index database cited by a previous poster sometimes shows products from different countries.
You need to weigh starches, most of us have got used to relatively large portions.
Fruit: On the whole those grown in temperate climates are lower GI than those grown in the tropics. Berries are very low. Cherries also low,possibly due to the waxy texture.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi there

Just to add to the confusion... GI and GL are handy general guides, but as Robster says they are simply averaged readings from a hundred or so volunteers. Ultimately (and given your concerns over testing this is unfortunate) the only real way to know the GI for YOU of x y or z is to test before and after. And on more than one occasion so that you show the result to be repeatable. People respond very differently to different foods. Porridge is a prime example... I'd eaten it for years before systematically testing it as I 'knew' it would be slowly absorbed. It is for many people. I may as well be eating jam though!

On the testing frnot - AST (alternative site testing) can be used, consult your meter/prickers docs. Results are often not quite as reliable as fingers for some reason, and are not supposed to be used if levels are thought to be changing rapidly. Have you got a finger pricker with variable depth? Are you using the sides not the pads? Not too close to the nail? Some find it helps to change the lancet each time, bit oddly I find it more comfy when it has 'worn in' a few times!

M

 

[trophywench]

Hey Mike, I have the same all singing all dancing AccuChek meter as you and got a "Multiclix" finger bodger with it and though I'm not fond of the meter as yet, the bodger is definitely a keeper - I really do find it doesn't hurt half as much as a lot of others. And I've kissed a LOT of frogs since 1972 believe you me!

You get this lancer with all of their meters now. So try and get a Multiclix out of Accu-Chek? - ring em up and blag it!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Yup the multiclix is a great device. And I'm sure version 2 of the Expert will have ironed out some of those silly 'features' (bugs) 🙂

Expert doing VERY well for me over last 7 days though so feeling very warm and fuzzy about it right now.

 

[Caroline]

Hi Twinkle, can't add too much to what others have said. Just wanted to say please don't feel you are asking too many questions, it is one of the ways we learn. I also find I learn from others questions and wish I'd asked some of them myself, so you are helping others as well as yourself.

 

[Copepod]

To answer the blood question - finger pricks obtain capillary blood, while a cut to the leg is more likely to be venous blood, perhaps with some capillary. Venous blood usually has slightly lower levels of glucose than capillary, as one of the functions of venous blood is to carry deoxygenated blood from tissues, where glucose has been used / depleted.

If it were bright red blood, it would have been spurting out of your leg (and I hope it wasn't!) then it was arterial blood, which has higher blood glucose levels than capillary.

 

[Twinkle]

Thanks so much for all your replies, I really appreciate it!

The GL thing is clearer, thankyou!!

Went for my first HbA1c today, obviously won't be great but at least I have a baseline to work from and improve hopefully!

Feeling impatient with weight loss, but I do no that it is better to lose it slowly and change my eating lifestyle rather than starve myself, lose loads then pile it all back.

Pretty hard coming to terms with the fact that this is *forever*, but will take one day at a time...

Thanks again, you're a great knowledgeable bunch xx

 

[Lolavegas]

I found eating three meals a day (I previously was a meal skipper too) I was losing around 2 pounds a week which is healthy weight loss and it keeps going...I've now lost more than 2 stone without much effort.

I must admit to start I used the NHS guidelines with carbs, I know a lot of people found that didn't work but it did for me. Once the weight stops coming off start with the exercise, it means you need to use up more calories.

Also once everything is under control I hardly ever tested unless I felt rough...first thing in the morning and last thing at night are the important tests and adjust your finger pricker thing to something you can cope with.

Good luck and questions are good!