New to the site.

[JoanM]

Hello everyone. I'm here for my husbands benefit. He was told a few days ago he is Prediabetic. Obviously I will be dealing with his diet and following it myself to give him the support. I have the Low carb freshwell app. It give what you should and shouldn't have. This is very helpful until I look elsewhere.
I find one says no potatoes but another say they are fine now and again. Same with porridge. Freshwell says no but other sites say its okay.
Can someone advise please?

 

[ColinUK]

Some people can tolerate porridge oats whilst others can’t. Same with a small amount of potato from time to time.
We’re all different.

How did your husband come to be told he’s pre diabetic?

If you give us an example of what he typically eats we can make some suggestions.

 

[Sharron1]

As above, there is no single diet . I am ok with a couple of small potatoes ( but I rarely bother with them) and am also ok with porridge I found this by eating, testing and keeping a food diary. Now I only test when I eat different foods just to see if I need to avoid them. Treats are allowed, usually on BHs or birthdays. Good luck

 

[Lucyr]

I'm here for my husbands benefit. He was told a few days ago he is Prediabetic. Obviously I will be dealing with his diet and following it myself to give him the support.

Sounds like your husband needs to join. It’s him that needs to take control of his diet, with your support. If he sees it as “you will be dealing with his diet” as you’ve put it, then he’ll not get anywhere. Unless he has a disability that means he’s unable to make decisions then it’s his diabetes and his responsibility to control it.

 

[Deb_l]

Everyone is different when it comes to tolerating carbs. This is where finger prick testing comes into its own I think. I was lucky and my GP gave me a device and I have the testing strips on prescription but I will buy the strips once they are removed from repeat.

I have found I cannot tolerate potatoes in any form and mashed potato sky rockets my BG. Same with rice. Pasta however appears to have very little impact.

I’m following a low carb approach to my diabetes and also counting calories to lose weight and it’s been OK so far. It’s getting so much easier in the supermarket now I have a plan of action.

Ask questions on here - people are very helpful and always happy to answer.

 

[JoanM]

Sounds like your husband needs to join. It’s him that needs to take control of his diet, with your support. If he sees it as “you will be dealing with his diet” as you’ve put it, then he’ll not get anywhere. Unless he has a disability that means he’s unable to make decisions then it’s his diabetes and his responsibility to control it.

Hi, thanks for your reply which I thought rather harsh.
I joined to try and get a little help and information so I could help my husband understand things a little more.
My husband hasn't been told he has Diabetes. He is Prediabetic so needs to change his diet. He isn't on any medication and In 12 months time he'll have his bloods checked again. Hopefully they will be better.
I have always cooked for my husband and won't change now.
He fully understands that he to needs to help with this.
My husband is 75 this year and not at all good when it comes to the Internet.

 

[Lucyr]

My husband is 75 this year and not at all good when it comes to the Internet.

You could show him how to do it, where to type, how to find the replies, etc.

Even if you do most of the cooking he needs to take the control. Your phrasing was very much that you will be dealing with his diet when you said “Obviously I will be dealing with his diet”

 

[JoanM]

Hi, thanks for your reply which I thought rather harsh.
I joined to try and get a little help and information so I could help my husband understand things a little more.
My husband hasn't been told he has Diabetes. He is Prediabetic so needs to change his diet. He isn't on any medication and In 12 months time he'll have his bloods checked again. Hopefully they will be better.
I have always cooked for my husband and won't change now.
He fully understands that he to needs to help with this.
My husband is 75 this year and not at all good when it comes to the Internet.

 

[ianf0ster]

I'd like to point out that only half or less of those eating Low Carb need to ever consider calories in order to lose weight because the low Carb reduces the Insulin which thus enable using body fat as an energy source, and hence weight loss.
This means that a common question is how to taper/stop the weight loss on Low Carb, since few people these days are accustomed to the normal body shapes of the 1960's and early 70's when T2 Diabetes and Obesity were very rare.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi, thanks for your reply which I thought rather harsh.
I joined to try and get a little help and information so I could help my husband understand things a little more.
My husband hasn't been told he has Diabetes. He is Prediabetic so needs to change his diet. He isn't on any medication and In 12 months time he'll have his bloods checked again. Hopefully they will be better.
I have always cooked for my husband and won't change now.
He fully understands that he to needs to help with this.
My husband is 75 this year and not at all good when it comes to the Internet.

If your husband is prediabetic then some modest changes are probably all that will be needed so reducing portions of some of the high carb foods and having more veg and salads. I think what was probably meant was that your husband need to be on board with the changes and not think that having less carbs in meals means eating biscuits later.
I found the principals in the Freshwell approach very doable and made lots of sense.
However getting a home testing blood glucose monitor like the Spirit TEE2 or GlucoNavii which have the cheapest test strips will allow him not only to see which foods may not be so good but also find the foods which will be fine.
There are lots of people who come on here to support a partner so feel free to come and ask any questions.

 

[Docb]

Hi @JoanM and welcome to the forum.

Being in the same age group as your husband I am a bit more relaxed than some about prediabetes.

My logic goes as follows... The label prediabetes was introduced to give some people a kick up the bum and get them to start thinking about their life style to avoid going over the diabetes diagnostic threshold. You do not want to do that because the risks of long term effects begin to increase and if you really let things go then the risks of short term effects also become significant.

So, my philosophy is to try and make sure that I do not get short term problems (excessive urination and being denied surgery being a couple of things that come to mind) and I can do that by making sure I keep below the diagnosis limit and I really would not be panicking with getting a bit above it. The prediabetes label does not have the significance it might have had 20-30 years ago.

As I have said elsewhere, I need to work to make sure I keep at that level - watch my weight, keep a weather eye on the carbs, keep up the exercise and take some medication - but doing that is not burdensome and does not disrupt my life. I could get down to below the prediabetes level but that would need more medication as well as really interrupting my diet to reduce carb intake and I do not see the need.

I know it is a slightly different view to many of the younger members of the forum, but I hope it gives some food for though for you and all the other wrinklies out there. 🙂

 

[Lucyr]

I know it is a slightly different view to many of the younger members of the forum, but I hope it gives some food for though for you and all the other wrinklies out there. 🙂

My grandma is almost 90 and has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, has advanced dementia and wouldn’t be capable of modifying her diet. At her age my opinion is the same as yours, she really doesn’t need to worry about long term complications, and hasn’t really changed her diet at all (maybe a bit as lives in a care home but has chocolate etc from visitors). I think in your 70s it is worth some effort though as you have years left to live, but no need to be as extreme as some would recommend.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hello everyone. I'm here for my husbands benefit. He was told a few days ago he is Prediabetic. Obviously I will be dealing with his diet and following it myself to give him the support. I have the Low carb freshwell app. It give what you should and shouldn't have. This is very helpful until I look elsewhere.
I find one says no potatoes but another say they are fine now and again. Same with porridge. Freshwell says no but other sites say its okay.
Can someone advise please?

Welcome to the forum @JoanM

Nice to hear you will be joining your husband with the menu changes - should make it easier to stick with to do it together 🙂

You'll find lots of different members here all finding their own way through the maze of options, and their own individual tolerances to different foods. There's no one diet that would be a perfect fit for everyone - in no small part because different people can eat the same foods and get quite different results

Do you know what the result was of your husband's HbA1c - that gives an indication of his glucose levels over the preceding 3-4 months. It will be a number between 42 and 47, and the closer he is to 48, the nearer the edge of diabetes territory.

It can be helpful to understand where he is on the scale, you may get a feel for how dramatic the moderation of carbohydrates may need to be. Many members have successfully steered away from the edge of diabetes with some fairly modest tweaks to their menu 🙂

Good luck, and let us know how you both get on 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

I have seen something recently that the NICE guidelines for HbA1C for diagnosis and target may not be appropriate for the elderly or people with comorbidities, of course it depends at what age is considered elderly and the level for concern should be 55 mmol/mol.
Perhaps some GPs are being over zealous about prescribing medication for this group.