New Diabetic - Misinformation

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AntDon

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
How the hell does anyone decide what they can safely eat.

Just do a google search for....
Diabetic Bananas
Diabetic potato
Diabetic baked beans
and many many more....

There are websites saying they are the best thing for diabetics
And there are websites saying they are the worst.....

How does anyone ever make a decision?
How do you know the website you are reading is correct?

The NHS website is so generic, it is just not helpful...

Food packaging gives information by the serving not the package whole

OMG....

I was diagnosed 8 weeks ago - Only AC1 of 48
I stopped eating cakes biscuits sweets and pretty much anything that I consider sweet
I am eating slightly more veg
Swapped sweeteners for sugar in my coffee
Sugar free drinks

I have lost 9 pounds which I am sure will help

Next ac1 test in 1 month - I think
Will be interesting......

Does anyone know of a realistic website that mentions real branded foods that are good to eat?
 
It depends on the individual @AntDon The best way to find what works for you is to get a home blood glucose meter and do some targeted testing. In general, reducing your carbs and increasing your green veg is a good start.

As your HbA1C is only just ‘over the line’, some small changes might be enough.

What did you eat in an average day pre-diagnosis?

(and yes, your weight loss will help 🙂 )
 
AntDon said:
How the hell does anyone decide what they can safely eat.

Just do a google search for....
Diabetic Bananas
Diabetic potato
Diabetic baked beans
and many many more....

There are websites saying they are the best thing for diabetics
And there are websites saying they are the worst.....

How does anyone ever make a decision?
How do you know the website you are reading is correct?

The NHS website is so generic, it is just not helpful...

Food packaging gives information by the serving not the package whole

OMG....

I was diagnosed 8 weeks ago - Only AC1 of 48
I stopped eating cakes biscuits sweets and pretty much anything that I consider sweet
I am eating slightly more veg
Swapped sweeteners for sugar in my coffee
Sugar free drinks

I have lost 9 pounds which I am sure will help

Next ac1 test in 1 month - I think
Will be interesting......

Does anyone know of a realistic website that mentions real branded foods that are good to eat?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum, you are in a good position in the you are only just over the threshold for diagnosis so some modest changes to your diet is likely to be sufficient.
As everybody is different in how their body copes with various quantities and type of carbohydrate and the term diabetic can apply to people who are Type 1, Type 2, Type 3c and a number of other diabetic conditions where each need a tailored dietary regime. There will be people who are on various medications who will again need a particular regime to keep their blood glucose levels well managed.
It looks as if you have made some sensible changes which has paid off in your weight loss.
Bearing in mind it is all carbohydrates that convert to glucose then that food list you mentioned would be unsuitable for many who are Type 2 and managing their condition by diet and or oral medication. However if people are taking insulin then those foods may be ones that are OK as long as they take insulin to allow them to cope with the amount of carbs.

Finding out what carbs are in foods is key to making good food decisions and packets, shop websites, or various apps like Carbs and Cals or the book or Nutracheck are all useful resources.
If you are looking to go for a low carb approach then this link may help you. https://www.freshwell.co.uk/
 
As others have said, everyone is different in the way their BG reacts to what they eat. The only way to find out what works for you is to start a food diary, gather carb info from food packaging or from online sources such as supermarket websites, weigh your portions and use a BG monitor to test your pre- and post-meal levels. That's the way many of us have been able to adopt low-carb diets that work for us as individuals and are sustainable.

There's no point in trying to find diabetic ranges of branded foods as there are none. In fact, since 2016 producers aren't allowed to label anything as diabetic, or suitable for diabetics.

Well done on the weight loss.
 
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I'm insulin dependent, so I need to count the carbohydrates in anything I'm considering eating, to then take the appropriate dose of insulin. So both you and I want to know the carb values of different foods: you so you can choose to avoid certain things, me to get the correct insulin dose.

A better search question would "carbs in .....". It it is definitely Tesco baked beans, then specify that or just baked beans, to get a close enough value.

There used to be foods sold as "diabetic .... (eg jam)". That terminology was rightly forced out of packaging labels and promotions, since it was abused by manufacturers and wholly inappropriate. The big thing is to add UK onto the search [eg "carbs in jacket potatoes UK" , since many sites will take you to an American based site where they include the FIBER ( note the spelling) in their carb values and tell you the FIBER value for you to deduct - since FIBER or in English FIBRE does not digest and all English sites have already deducted the FIBRE value. Just keep a wary eye out for how fiber (US) is spelt vs fibre (UK).

Fruits are confusing, since different sites tend to have slightly different values for any one site.. In practice unless you are eating fruit by the kilo each time the variation in values is pretty insignificant. Berries, eg raspberry, strawberry and blackberry are the lowest carb value, c.6 gms CHO per 100 gm. Slightly higher are an array of fruits at 9-11 CHO per 100 gms, eg plums, apples, kiwi fruits, oranges. The next threshold includes fruits often from warmer climates, such as pineapple, fresh figs, mango, grapes; yes I know some of these can be commercially grown in UK, but need extra sun to ripen them) - c.13-15 per 100 gms. The big item is bananas and this can be confusing since sometimes its shown at 13 CHO [unpeeled - who eats a banana skin??] and c.20 gms CHO as eaten. Very ripe bananas can be a bit higher - the ripening converts some skin into extra fruit thus extra glucose.

Cooking certain veg, eg potatoes, can change the carb content - or more accurately the carbs remain but the weight reduces as water is cooked out, the carbs per 100 gms can often increase. Eg old potatoes are 20gm CHO per 100 gm wt RAW but can increase on baking or roasting. When I wa t the carb count for potatoes to be fairly accurate I will set aside a preweighed raw potato, with a wooden cocktail stick in it, use the 20% figure for that weight and eat the reduced weight baked potato, confident it will be close.

I use the Carbs and Cals book which lists many, many different foods and helpfully discriminates between raw and cooked and has pictures with their "standard" portions on a standard plate. There is an app, which obviously is easy to carry around on one's phone, but I tried this for a year and hated it. Also it is ridiculously expensive annually. Horses for courses! (Not horses for eating!!).

Your A1c is normally done at no less than 3 month intervals (initially) since it is measuring haemoglobin molecules that are carrying extra glucose, which gives a fair indication of change over time. No point in being done more frequently.

Others have typed faster than me!
 
Inka said:
It depends on the individual @AntDon The best way to find what works for you is to get a home blood glucose meter and do some targeted testing. In general, reducing your carbs and increasing your green veg is a good start.

As your HbA1C is only just ‘over the line’, some small changes might be enough.

What did you eat in an average day pre-diagnosis?

(and yes, your weight loss will help 🙂 )
Click to expand...
Appallingly bad diet i'm afraid
No veg
Meat & potato man....
Obviously caught up with me...
 
AntDon said:
Appallingly bad diet i'm afraid
No veg
Meat & potato man....
Obviously caught up with me...
Click to expand...
You can wriggle free and give it the slip, though - provided you put in the effort. Some of us started from an HbA1c in 3 figures and are now back in normal range.
 
Not all bad news then! You can keep the meat and some of the potato but just aim for smaller portions of the potatoes and other starchy carbs like bread and pasta and pastry and dumplings and rice and try to increase the amount of veg you eat, particularly green veg, but even things like pickled gherkins and pickled beetroot can be easy options if you like them. I find that pickled veg have less impact on my levels than normal, and opening a jar is quick and easy and they keep well in the cupboard, plus they add extra zing to my meal. Oddly, beetroot is one of the higher carb veg and there is sugar added in the pickling process and yet I can eat it on it's own from the jar and not see any impact on my levels, I believe this is due to the vinegar. I particularly like it with ham/gammon/bacon and corned beef.
Eggs are a good choice and really versatile. I particularly like omelettes as they are quick and easy to make and you can vary the fillings, plus they don't beg a slice of bread to soak up a runny yolk or to carry them. I usually have a 2 or 3 egg omelette with onion and mushrooms and peppers and any meat that needs using up and cheese of course (I have cheese with almost everything) and I serve it with a large side salad and a big dollop of coleslaw.

Breakfast might be something you want to revise first as most breakfast options like toast or breakfast cereal are high carb and we are often most insulin resistant in the morning at breakfast time, so changing to a lower carb breakfast can have more impact than any other meal. Many of us have creamy Greek style natural yoghurt with a few berries, which are the lowest carb fruits and mixed seeds and/or chopped nuts. Or eggs for breakfast are a great low carb option but obviously limit the amount of bread you have with them. So if you normally have 2 slices of toast, have 2 or 3 scrambled eggs on just one slice of toast, with some mushrooms or a sliced tomato. I top them with cheese and have pickled gherkins with scrambled eggs, or you could save the bread altogether and have them on a thick slice of ham instead. It doesn't have to be all sack cloth and ashes!! I still have steak and chips but the chips are made with celeriac instead of potato as it is lower carb and serve the steak with those and fried mushrooms and onions (not onion rings as they are coated in batter which is carbs) and a side salad with coleslaw.
These things may not be to your taste but finding things which are low carb which you do really like will help you to be successful in maintaining the dietary changes.
 
The main thing is to look at the packaging for any food and look at Total Carbs and the portion size you will eat. There are various websites for non-packaged food such as Carbs & Cals (but ignore Cals)
 
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