Newbie with type 2, what can i eat ?

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chezzer

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone, hope your having a lovely day. Im a type 2 newbie and finding it very difficult at the moment with all the conflicting information from a few sites about what i can eat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x
 
Hi everyone, hope your having a lovely day. Im a type 2 newbie and finding it very difficult at the moment with all the conflicting information from a few sites about what i can eat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x
Welcome tot the forum. What you would be better eating will depend on a number of factors in particular what your Hba1C is, any medication and do you have weight to lose.
Those who are dietary managed or diet and metformin can find a low carbohydrate approach successful. That means no more that 130g carbohydrate per day so avoiding high carb foods and being careful of portion size you can still have tasty meals. Basing your meals on meat, fish, cheese, eggs, nuts with plenty of veg and salads and fruit like berries.
Foods to be carful of are potatoes, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, pastry, bread as well as the more obvious cakes, biscuits, and sugary drinks. There is no need to avoid healthy fats or protein.
Have a look at this link for some ideas for modifying your diet with the provisos mentioned above. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
Hi everyone, hope your having a lovely day. Im a type 2 newbie and finding it very difficult at the moment with all the conflicting information from a few sites about what i can eat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x
HI, and welcome. This is very often the first question that those who are newly-diagnosed ask, but as has already been said, it depends on how far over the line you are (HbA1c above 47) and whether you're on medication, and also what that medication is. The more you feel able to share about your diagnosis the more any advice can be tailored to your particular situation.
 
Welcome to the forum
Im a type 2 newbie and finding it very difficult at the moment with all the conflicting information from a few sites about what i can eat.
This is because diabetes is the exact opposite of a 'one size fits all' situation. Each persons diet will depend on a variety of things
Type and severity/Hba1C of diabetes, and any medication used
How much impact carbohydrates have on them specifically (carbohydrates are converted to glucose by our bodies)
Any other dietary requirements to take into consideration which are not diabetes
Are you the type of person who likes to follow a specific diet type, or prefers to just abide by general guidance in your eating?

You will also find that different people are fully in favour of one type of eating or another, whether it is low carb, fully keto, or another type (I forget others right now 🙄)
I fall into the general guidance type eating. For me smaller portions of carbs make sense due to their conversion mentioned above.
As the others mentioned, specific dietary guidance needs a bit of detail on Hba1C and any diabetes meds used
 
Easier to work out what to avoid.
For me, high carb foods, anything over 10% carbs is to be avoided. I do make an exception for chocolate, but buy the highest coco content bars I can find.
I don't choose low fat options, I don't cook with seed oils, and I look very carefully at 'no added sugar' and 'sugar free' products, but that is about it, I eat anything else.
Ah - except polyols, aka sugar alcohols. I tried them once and my gut flora and fauna had a party because they can digest them even if I can't. I was so bloated I thought I might die.
 
Welcome to the forum @chezzer

There are two main strategies used by forum members.

One is to aim for improving glucose numbers (often by reducing carbohydrate intake). Folks following this strategy often find their weight reduces as their BG levels improve.

The other is to aim for weight loss, especially weight carried around the abdomen. Sometimes with a short sharp very low calorie intervention (eg the Newcastle Diet), but slow and steady works too. Folks who are able to clear visceral fat from around their abdomen, and reach their ‘personal fat threshold’ often find their BG levels improve as their weight reduces.

There are a number of example meal plans that fit with both of those general strategies here which may give you some ideas?

 
Welcome @chezzer 🙂

Firstly - don't panic! You're not alone - the quantity and quality of often-conflicting advice available online is immensely confusing. Wading through it to find an optimal path is a daunting and difficult task. Fear not! Nothing you ate yesterday is going to kill you today, or tomorrow, next week, or next year. You have some time to weigh up the options and choose a path.

That said; if you are overweight there is a time factor involved. If you have a fatty pancreas and if you are genetically susceptible to pancreatic damage due to high fat levels in that organ then the sooner you get the fat out the sooner it will recover, to the greatest extent that is possible in your particular case. A lot depends on how long you've been diabetic before you were diagnosed. If you fit neatly into the overweight or obese category that 80% to 90% of newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics fit in I would advise that you keep that in mind. 'How can I do this and lose weight at the same time?' is the question I wish I kept front of mind when I was first diagnosed and read good advice about low-carb diets.

You might not be overweight; that advice may not apply to you, which is why others have enquired about your HbA1c and your weight. If you don't have the details to hand I would advise that you get the details from your GP (or the wonderous NHS app if applicable - not something we have here in Ireland so I don't know how that works), share your weight (and/or BMI - there are calculators available online), your HbA1c which is an indication of the severity of your diabetes, and any other information you feel comfortable sharing. This will enable the community here to provide tailored advice - like not telling a slim person to lose weight 😉

Now that you're done not-panicking, welcome to the forum 🙂
 
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