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Needing advice on right foods

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janice.h

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Carer/Partner
Hi. My 62 year old partner has recently been diagnosed with stage 2 diabetes. I have no idea what he can eat other than all sweet stuff is out now. To be honest he is massively overweight so that will help with weight loss too. But I am utterly confused over carbohydrates. I know they are bad but do not know how to deal with it. He is on Metformin 500mg, one every day at the moment. After 7 days it will be 2 a day for three months. Other than that I have no idea of what his numbers were as he does not ask questions like that of the GP etc. Any advice would be gratefully received although i am also desperate enough to give him a note for the nurse at his next appointment for his feet to bd checked. Very stressed coping with both of our worries
 
Morning Janice, sorry to hear about your partner's type 2 diagnosis and the stress it's causing you.
Can I suggest you sign up for the Learning Zone (orange link at the top of this page) and follow a few of the courses about food to get a better idea of the guidance from Diabetes UK?
Can you get your partner to sign up to be able to see his medical records online? That way, you could see what his numbers are, or if he was happy for you to do so, could you attend an appointment with him and have a list of questions you could ask?
Some type 2s eat low carb diets, some eat moderate amounts. The NHS guidance is for a third of the plate to be things like brown rice, wholemeal bread or potatoes etc., but I aim for significantly less than that myself.
You can make swaps, so if you were cooking lamb chops, potatoes and veggies, you could do roasted cauliflower instead of the potatoes, or make mashed potato, but have mostly cauliflower, and only a bit of potato. It's enough for it to taste like mashed spuds, but it's got less carbs and less calories. Or I make spagetti bolognaise, but use either courgettes, sliced into strips, or mung bean spaghetti instead, or have lots of extra mushrooms with the bolognaise, and minimal amounts of spaghetti.There's also lower carb bread, like Bergen bread or Liv life you can have instead of regular bread.
I appreciate it's all very stressful, particularly not knowing your partner's numbers, but hopefully, if you find out more about diabetes and its management, that'll help to make it easier. There's a helpline for Diabetes UK you can call if you want to chat with someone about any aspect of diabetes, which might allay some of your worries
Diabetes UK

Talk to us about diabetes​


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I hope this helps, if you have any particular questions, please ask away, the forum is a friendly place,
Sarah
 
I think you must mean type two.
Carbohydrates are starches and sugars, and it isn't necessary to avoid all sweet stuff.
If replacing the high starch foods with something lower it is perfectly OK to have berries as dessert a couple of times a week - I add frozen berries to sugar free jelly and extra gelatine and eat it with either cream or yoghurt.
 
Morning Janice, sorry to hear about your partner's type 2 diagnosis and the stress it's causing you.
Can I suggest you sign up for the Learning Zone (orange link at the top of this page) and follow a few of the courses about food to get a better idea of the guidance from Diabetes UK?
Can you get your partner to sign up to be able to see his medical records online? That way, you could see what his numbers are, or if he was happy for you to do so, could you attend an appointment with him and have a list of questions you could ask?
Some type 2s eat low carb diets, some eat moderate amounts. The NHS guidance is for a third of the plate to be things like brown rice, wholemeal bread or potatoes etc., but I aim for significantly less than that myself.
You can make swaps, so if you were cooking lamb chops, potatoes and veggies, you could do roasted cauliflower instead of the potatoes, or make mashed potato, but have mostly cauliflower, and only a bit of potato. It's enough for it to taste like mashed spuds, but it's got less carbs and less calories. Or I make spagetti bolognaise, but use either courgettes, sliced into strips, or mung bean spaghetti instead, or have lots of extra mushrooms with the bolognaise, and minimal amounts of spaghetti.There's also lower carb bread, like Bergen bread or Liv life you can have instead of regular bread.
I appreciate it's all very stressful, particularly not knowing your partner's numbers, but hopefully, if you find out more about diabetes and its management, that'll help to make it easier. There's a helpline for Diabetes UK you can call if you want to chat with someone about any aspect of diabetes, which might allay some of your worries
Diabetes UK

Talk to us about diabetes​


0345 123 2399​

I hope this helps, if you have any particular questions, please ask away, the forum is a friendly place,
Sarah
Hi, many thanks for the advice. We are both signed up to the Learning Zone and I am going to work my way through the stuff on there. Sadly he is less likely to do this. I think he thinks taking the meds will make everything better (he is also on meds for his BP and statins) and off he goes. The medical records idea is a good one, not sure I would get into appointments with him (covid procedures) but can ask on these grounds.
 
Hi, sadly, he's not correct, metformin isn't a magic bullet. I believe it reduces the glucose production in the liver by a tiny percentage, and doesn't significantly tackle the glucose and carbs that you're eating.
I asked the nurse if I could have my test results printed off, and she kindly did, maybe they'll be willing to do that, though your partner would have to ask for that.
The other thing to ask is if there are low calorie diets for diabetes offered in your area. They're offered in some areas of England and Scotland, not sure about Wales and Northern Ireland though. He'd have to commit to it though if it was offered and it'd be a big decision to make, for the two - three months of the diet.
I hope it gets a bit easier for you both though, the first few weeks are the worst for worrying about the unknown.
Sarah
 
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It is a hard diagnosis to take but I can see you are there for support and encouragement. I was lucky that my other half got completely on board with the low carb regime I adopted and we have the same meals but he has a few extras but lost some weight which he wanted to do as well. This had the benefit that we were having the same things so it did not feel like I was having to do something different it just was the new normal.
The medication alone will not do the trick on it's own without the dietary changes. This link may be useful to find a way forward on making dietary changes as it is based on real food and has had success for reducing blood glucose and weight loss. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
It would be good to find out what his HbA1C is so you know how much work needs to be done. Making changes gradually will be less likely to give problems with eyes and nerves which some people can experience but the condition needs to be taken seriously and not ignored.
 
Sorry to hear you are having a stressful time of things @janice.h

Diabetes is generally a fairly slow-moving foe, so try not to panic. You have time to find your feet, get to understand your partner’s diagnosis, and make some gradual, sustainable changes towards a more BG-friendly way of eating.

One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want him to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects his BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.

Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything he eats and drinks, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content (not just ‘of which sugars’) in the 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.

Once you can see which meals or snacks are the ‘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 (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).

When it comes to managing his diabetes, it’s best to make changes to diet and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.

Good luck with it all and feel free to just vent or let off steam with any frustrations. Folks here instinctively ‘get it’ and know just how annoying diabetes can be
 
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