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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Newbie
- Thread starter Beacon1
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Just listen and do what the professionals advise you I started with type 2 didn’t listen ate what I liked and now type 1 insulin dependent it is scary but with educating yourself about it and following routine with food and medication it’s not so scary……hope this helps you
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Beacon1
Has this come out of the blue? Did your diagnosis cime about through a routine check? Or have you had the feeling that things weren’t right for a while?
Have you been started on any meds to start with or are you managing your diabetes with diet and exercise for now?
Were you given the result of your HbA1c check? This is likely to be a number higher than 47. It can help to know where you are starting.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content (not just ‘of which sugars’) in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your menu.
Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
Has this come out of the blue? Did your diagnosis cime about through a routine check? Or have you had the feeling that things weren’t right for a while?
Have you been started on any meds to start with or are you managing your diabetes with diet and exercise for now?
Were you given the result of your HbA1c check? This is likely to be a number higher than 47. It can help to know where you are starting.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content (not just ‘of which sugars’) in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your menu.
Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Even in the 12 years since your diagnosis ideas have changed about managing your condition and the carbs with every meal approach is one which does not work for some / many people with Type 2 and reducing carbs is key to reducing blood glucose. Have a look at this link which may give you some ideas for a new approach. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I usually manage just with diet, but I was not told that I had a higher Hba1c test until the following year, when it was back to normal again. All that I can think is that it was down to Covid, so I wondered if you might have had that recently.
If you have not been unwell then, as a rule, an ordinary type 2 will see normal blood glucose levels if they eat low carb - it is not necessarily the only way to keep having low levels, but if it isn't happening then testing and considering what could be happening is the next step in the process.
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