New Arrival - Prediabetic

[MikeR79]

Hello,

44M, recently had a blood test that suggested I am pre-diabetic. Got history of Type 2 in the family via my father, who has lived with the condition for 20 years. Have a desk job, used to be active walker, but since the covid pandemic I have hardly done any exercise due to loss of motivation and an increasingly busy job.
Was a heavy drinker and lover of all the bad foods, but taking steps to cut those out and I have joined a gym. I smoke when I drink still, but have reduced my smoking via not drinking as often and taken some radical steps to change my diet.
Looking for support on my approach and getting group advice on diet and exercise, particular from a vegeterian perspective.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @MikeR79 🙂 It sounds like you’ve already taken some good first steps. There are lots of vegetarian meals you can have. My advice would be to choose your carbs wisely - both types and amounts.

Losing any excess weight will help as will increasing your exercise.

 

[MikeR79]

Welcome @MikeR79 🙂 It sounds like you’ve already taken some good first steps. There are lots of vegetarian meals you can have. My advice would be to choose your carbs wisely - both types and amounts.

Losing any excess weight will help as will increasing your exercise.

Thank-you, would definitely welcome advice on carbs. I have switched to wholemeal pasta and brown rice/bread, but would be keen to know if that switch is enough. Also, noodles are a regular go to for me and I can't tell if these are Ok or not.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank-you, would definitely welcome advice on carbs. I have switched to wholemeal pasta and brown rice/bread, but would be keen to know if that switch is enough. Also, noodles are a regular go to for me and I can't tell if these are Ok or not.

I'm afraid the wholemeal/wheat/brown versions of bread, rice and pasta are just the same amount of carbs as white they just convert to glucose more slowly and taste better. I use edamame bean or black bean pasta as that is much lower in carbs than the others.
This link may help you with some ideas for modifying your diet, there are some do's and don'ts as well as some menu plans including a vegetarian one and recipes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It may depend on how close you are to the top of the prediabetes zone as to how much work you need to do. It may require a bit more than those substitutions as they are still high carb foods.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @MikeR79

Glad you have found us!

Were you told the result of your HbA1c? This can help you to understand how close to the diagnosis dividing line you might be. People with an HbA1c between 42-47mmol/mol are said to be at increased risk, while 48 and above are diagnosed with T2.

Sounds like you’ve made some really positive changes already, which are likely to have lots of health benefits, including perhaps some weight loss, which can really help.

Switching to brown and wholegrain versions can help a little, but (depending on how your body reacts) may not do as much to reduce glucose levels as you might hope. Wholegrain does have other dietary benefits with fibre etc, but fibre can also be available in low carb leafy veggies too.

You could consider portion control as a very direct way to limit the glucose-raising potential of meals (eg one slice of bread rather than 2… half the number of spuds and more meat/veggies etc etc.

Alternatively there are some swaps and exchanges you can try, to take the place of the (often rather bland) ‘stodge’ that carbs provide.

The start of this A-Z of Veg from one of our members has many listed that might give you some ideas?

The A to Z of Vegetables (from DSF)

Kindly shared from the former DSF (diabetes support forum) with permission from @Pattidevans

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[MikeR79]

Thanks both for some very helpful input. I'm not sure of my exact result, but I recall the GP stating I was right at the start of the pre-diabetes scale.

I have been a long-time lover of carbs, so following your advice and further reading i have recognised that I need to cut down on the volume, as well as the type, though I will struggle to remove altogether, but that may not be required. I've removed carbs from my breakfast and have eggs and avocado/spinach and will apply portion control for other meals and try and cut out carby snacks too.