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De881e

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Type 2
Hi, newbie to the forum.
Diagnosed T2 December 2022 and struggling with it all.
Hoping reading threads will help me understand and feel less alone.
 
Thank you for your reply.
It is hard to take on everything on board.
Hopefully being here will help us.
 
I read the same thing over and over from newly diagnosed.
For an ordinary type 2 the main thing is the modern diet and fixation that eating carbohydrate is a good thing. Humans do not do well on sugars and starch - eating meat, fish, eggs, cheese - basically protein and fats, and seeing blood glucose at normal levels will sort out problems with metabolism and reverse weightgain from excess bodyfat.
If it doesn't then there is something more complex going on.
Following the advice to eat according to the conventional wisdom brought me to type 2 and being hugely, miserably overweight.
On the day of diagnosis I used the GPs diet sheets to light a barbecue, went back to eating what I knew made me feel good and was no longer diabetic in 80 days.
Dr Atkins was right.
 
Drummer said:
I read the same thing over and over from newly diagnosed.
For an ordinary type 2 the main thing is the modern diet and fixation that eating carbohydrate is a good thing. Humans do not do well on sugars and starch - eating meat, fish, eggs, cheese - basically protein and fats, and seeing blood glucose at normal levels will sort out problems with metabolism and reverse weightgain from excess bodyfat.
If it doesn't then there is something more complex going on.
Following the advice to eat according to the conventional wisdom brought me to type 2 and being hugely, miserably overweight.
On the day of diagnosis I used the GPs diet sheets to light a barbecue, went back to eating what I knew made me feel good and was no longer diabetic in 80 days.
Dr Atkins was right.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advise.
I eat plant based so need to eat complex carbs as a protein source.
I know complex carbs aren’t the same as starchy foods.
But even complex carbs are carbs.
Any advise? Or have I got this all wrong?
 
De881e said:
Thank you for the advise.
I eat plant based so need to eat complex carbs as a protein source.
I know complex carbs aren’t the same as starchy foods.
But even complex carbs are carbs.
Any advise? Or have I got this all wrong?
Click to expand...
As I understand things "complex carbs" are whole grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables? That means they include things like rice, potatoes and bananas, which we T2s generally tend to avoid. Is your plant based diet also a low carb diet, ie under 130g per day?
 
De881e said:
Thank you for the advise.
I eat plant based so need to eat complex carbs as a protein source.
I know complex carbs aren’t the same as starchy foods.
But even complex carbs are carbs.
Any advise? Or have I got this all wrong?
Click to expand...
Only protein is protein, the complex carbs are still just starch which is going to convert to simple sugars.
Complex carbs are starchy foods - my meter shows me that my gut doesn't differentiate - in fact it might just see the fibre as a challenge, as when I eat peas or beans it manages to extract about double the listed carb value from them.
I'm afraid that eating a plant based diet is going to give you a lot of problems dealing with the amount of carbohydrates you need to eat to get to the amounts of the essential nutrients required each day. Protein and fats are what we can't live without, so anything you can do to change your diet to include enough of them is going to help normalise blood glucose and metabolism.
 
De881e said:
Thank you for the advise.
I eat plant based so need to eat complex carbs as a protein source.
I know complex carbs aren’t the same as starchy foods.
But even complex carbs are carbs.
Any advise? Or have I got this all wrong?
Click to expand...
Hi @De881e - I think you've got it right .. at least that is my experience. I too eat plant based and find (through testing) that even complex carbs are carbs.
 
Drummer said:
I'm afraid that eating a plant based diet is going to give you a lot of problems dealing with the amount of carbohydrates you need to eat to get to the amounts of the essential nutrients required each day.
Click to expand...

I disagree. It is perfectly possible to have a nutritionally complete and diabetes-friendly vegetarian or vegan menu. You may not choose it, but there’s no reason to discourage others. 🙂
 
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De881e said:
Thank you for the advise.
I eat plant based so need to eat complex carbs as a protein source.
I know complex carbs aren’t the same as starchy foods.
But even complex carbs are carbs.
Any advise? Or have I got this all wrong?
Click to expand...

There are plant-based sources of protein which are low in carbohydrates (eg tofu, tempeh, mycoprotein, and many nuts & seeds) and also those such as pulses which are high in forms of starch that do not get digested (which is why beans have a reputation for causing flatulence - the undigested carbs being feasted on by bacteria in the lower intestine).

It’s all a question of how you respond to these things as an individial. You can use a BG meter to check how your body copes with pulses and lentils by checking immediately before eating, and again 2hrs later. Ideally you’d want to see a 2-3mmol maximum ‘meal rise’.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
I disagree. It is perfectly possible to have a nutritionally complete and diabetes-friendly vegetarian or vegan menu. You may not choose it, but there’s no reason to discourage others. 🙂
Click to expand...
I was thinking of how various people I know are vegetarian cope on days out with the morris dancers. I do not need to eat but they seem to need to stop to eat or to go into shops for snacks and in late afternoon on a hot day they decide they just have to have an icecream.
I suppose I interpret their behaviour as a need for nutrients which prompts them to eat as they do. If they were faced with having to control and reduce the amount of carbohydrate they eat, I can only foresee problems for them.
 
Drummer said:
I was thinking of how various people I know are vegetarian cope on days out with the morris dancers. I do not need to eat but they seem to need to stop to eat or to go into shops for snacks and in late afternoon on a hot day they decide they just have to have an icecream.
I suppose I interpret their behaviour as a need for nutrients which prompts them to eat as they do. If they were faced with having to control and reduce the amount of carbohydrate they eat, I can only foresee problems for them.
Click to expand...

Interesting! But perhaps just coiincidence?

While still a meat eater I eat a largely vegetarian menu these days. I’ve not found it has increased my need to snack between meals, and can happily skip meals (or simply not notice a mealtime has come and gone if I am engrossed in something).
 
@Drummer - you have to accept that other people, when they just fancy summat to eat or drink, is absolutely NOT necessarily a bodily need for nutrition - most bodies have a thing called hunger pangs when they have that need. In the middle of an afternoon I ALWAYS want, at the very least, a cup of tea. Should there be a handy little establishment offering 'cream teas' - then obviously I'd choose to get my cuppa there! and it would be very rude not to have a scone - And jam And cream - with it! If not, well yeah, I'll have an ice cream. Some folk 'graze' - so perhaps when out and about from home, need to buy snacky food cos they aren't as disciplined with themselves to bring snacks with them - or maybe their nearests and dearests don't encourage them snacking? so maybe they just do it when it's easier when they're out and about with their mates!

If it bothers you - whyever not ASK them 'why?'
 
Drummer said:
I was thinking of how various people I know are vegetarian cope on days out with the morris dancers. I do not need to eat but they seem to need to stop to eat or to go into shops for snacks and in late afternoon on a hot day they decide they just have to have an icecream.
Click to expand...
Seems like a lot of people are just more sociable than you to be honest. Food is involved a lot in socialising, it’s really not uncommon to have an icecream to help cool down / as a social thing with friends, on a hot sunny day regardless of whether you’re hungry, especially when you live in the seaside place we do.
 
Lucyr said:
Seems like a lot of people are just more sociable than you to be honest. Food is involved a lot in socialising, it’s really not uncommon to have an icecream to help cool down / as a social thing with friends, on a hot sunny day regardless of whether you’re hungry, especially when you live in the seaside place we do.
Click to expand...
Oh dear no not at all. I am the one sitting singing and playing music with any other members of the band still available whilst people who have to eat scatter and sit with their lunchboxes. They are the ones who interrupt the merriment because they just have to have a rest.
It doesn't really bother me, it just disrupts the plans others make.
 
OhJoy said:
Or to be hones, just because it’s really nice! I miss it a lot
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with a bit of ice cream every now and then, good quality ice cream is not bad on carbs, usually 15-20g carb per serving
 
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