Hi everyone, on April 12th this year I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I took the news well, started exercise and diet (low carb and sugar, cutting out sweets etc) but it's hit me today just how serious this could be.
Welcome to the forums. Although I had suspected for some time, (my symptoms were bad,) I only plucked up the courage to get help about six weeks ago and got my official diagnosis just over a month ago. Since that time diet and medication has help a lot with the symptoms.
Even though I was fairly certain I was type 2, having it confirmed was a still a real shock. Also, the learning curve,
(jargon and diet along with possible complications) is a lot to take in. Being on this site and reading other peoples stories really helps a lot.
- It makes me realise how truly stupid my denial was
- It gives me areas of research to help understand my current condition
- Ditto research but understanding possible complications
- It helps me understand, how I can modify and change my diet to adjust to changing circumstances
- It cheers me up to know that, despite my stupidity, I probably caught it in time to avoid a serious bullet
- Trying to help other people, keeps my mind off my own problems
- The community has members from a wide range of backgrounds and ages, is truly non-judgemental and very supportive
- Much, much more .....
I don't know who to turn to for advice. I don't know if I'm eating the right food or if I am, or if I'm eating well for my diabetes b
Since
Type 2 diet guidance is a regular question, I have prepared this text which I can just copy/paste:
There is a meal planner here in the main DiabetesUK domain, which may be of use. Along with a search box, the page also has a navigation bar that will allow you to browse a large number of good quality articles on suitable foods, recipes, (including vegetarian,) ... etc, etc.
The general advice is to cut back on
carbs, they all get converted to sugar. My Doctor gave me a target for my daily carb allowance. Since cutting back too quickly on the carbs can lead to complications, this initial target will, along with your medical history, depend on your previous eating habits. The most important thing to note is that you have to reduce your carb intake in stages.
Get into the habit of looking at the nutritional info on prepared foods, snacks etc and don't be fooled by labels which say: "Healthy Option". They may be healthy, but they can also have a very high carb content. If, like me, you lack the discipline to just have one chocolate digestive, then it is probably best to avoid high sugar biscuits completely. Ditto with packets of crisps, tortillas and the like. Sugar is another no-no: Avoid sugary drinks and, if you can stomach them , use saccharine or some other sweetener in tea and coffee. If not, drink your morning cuppa unsweetened. With respect to soft drinks, note that there is a difference between "sugar free" and "no added sugar". It is the latter which should be your beverage of choice.
In general, you should only have very small,
tiny daily portions of high carb veg, grains and cereals. Basically, cut back drastically on:
pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice).
Low carb substitutes for the preceding are:
- Potato: Mooli (3g/100g), a type of radish, can be chopped up and cooked with a very small potato and some neeps (5g/100g) or squash (7g/100g). I microwave them together for about 25 minutes or until the mooli is soft to the fork. As someone who traditionally piles on the spuds, I find this surprisingly effective. It is a large root, and I usually get two or three meals out of one. (Yesterday I cut out the small potato for the first time)
- Rice: Cauliflower (4g/100g) can be used to make a rice substitute. If you like, you can follow the BBC recipe, but I usually just finely dice it.
- Pasta: Courgettes (2g/100g), can be used to make a pasta substitute. Again, rather than spiralize the courgette, I generally just cut the courgette into thinnish slices, (or even grate it,) to make either a Farfalle or Orzo type of pasta. Then, with a dash of olive oil infused with either fresh garlic or crushed chillies, I microwave it à la dent for about a minute or so.
- Bread: The lowest carbs per slice substitute I have found is Ryvita Crackerbread Original (4g/slice) and for variety Oatcakes (6g/slice). Though, because the latter is 50% higher in carbs per slice, I limit myself to 3 oatcakes per day. (About 18g of carbs, or 7% of my current daily carb allowance)
Another thing to avoid is "most" tropical fruits as they have a high sugar content. Apples and berries have a much lower sugar content, as does fruit which is not fully ripened. Also,
be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content:
Kidney Beans (22g/100g),
Spilt Peas (21g/100g),
Chickpeas (17g/100g),
Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.
For snacking, tree nuts:, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts.... are all good. On the other hand dried fruit like raisins and sultanas are full of sugar. (That is why grapes are used to make great wine)
Remember: Often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g
onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g
garlic is up there with potato. So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.
Note: The garlic example was mainly to illustrate how carb content can be surprising. But, a typical clove of garlic weighs roughly 8 grams. So, if you like garlic, three cloves/day is equivalent to one slice of Crakerbread, and, believe me, the odd 4 grams of carbs here and 5 grams there can quickly add up!
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I hope we see you more often, the forum really does help.
Irvine
