• 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.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Newbie

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
A

Alhayd

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello, I am new to this although my mum was diagnosed with T2 too some years ago. I am OK with the diagnosis I have been borderline for many years. The problem I have is that I have been told that I can almost anything just eat healthier, I have bought lots of cookbooks for some ideas (I understand the basics) even those supported by Diabetes UK and i have to say I am totally confused and disappointed.

I understand healthy eating but the recipes in most of the cases are not what I would call 'normal' or 'ordinary' food. I just feel the message being given out is so complicated it makes it really difficult to control, and if I struggle with the message, how many others do?

Any simplification of the message would be appreciated.
 
Hello and welcome. 🙂
 
Thank you for the welcome, I recognise some of those tablets as ones I take myself. I have various other conditions some of which do not play well with diabetes.
 
Hi and welcome.
Unfortunately it is not as simple as the press or even health care professionals would have us believe. We all respond differently to food due to differences in diet, food preferences, exercise/activity, metabolism, hormones, medication, genetics and gut biome to name but a few factors, so what one diabetic might be able to eat and manage their diabetes well, may not work for someone else. For this reason we encourage people to obtain and use a BG meter to see how their body responds to different foods and tailor their diet according to the readings they get and their personal preferences.

A healthy diet for a non diabetic is not necessarily a healthy diet for a diabetic.

Basically all carbohydrates we eat are broken down into glucose by the digestive system and absorbed into the blood stream where, as diabetics, we have difficulty processing them either because we are insulin resistant or because our bodies are no longer able to produce enough insulin which works to assist the glucose to move from the blood stream into the cells of the body to be used as fuel. The media tend to focus on sugar because people talk about blood sugar(blood glucose) but all carbs are broken down into glucose even the healthy ones like porridge and fruit and wholegrains etc. The NHS advocate these wholegrains and fruits as part of a healthy diet but many diabetics cannot cope with the carbohydrate those healthy foods provide. By using a BG meter to test before eating and 2 hours after each meal, it will show you if your body tolerated that meal or if you had too many carbs which will cause an increase in your Blood Glucose reading. You are looking to keep the rise in BG as a result of the food to under 3mmols.... so if your starting reading is 6.8 before you east a meal and your reading 2 hours after eating it is 9.8 or less then that meal was OK but if your levels went up to 11.3, then you ate too many carbs. ... Eventually after a few weeks of modifying your diet in this way, your pre meal readings will start to get lower and you are then looking to keep your post meal readings under 8.5 as a Type 2 diabetic.... but initially they are likely to be higher than that.

Once you figure out which foods and in what portion size your body can tolerate and stay within these guidelines then you only need to test occasionally to make sure your body is continuing to respond the same or when you eat something different that you haven't tested before. Most of us find keeping a food diary with portion sizes as well as before and after readings helps us to figure it all out.

BG meters can be bought relatively inexpensively (approx. £15) but the on going cost of purchasing consumables for them is where the finances tot up and for that reason here on the forum we recommend the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 as reliable meters with relatively cheap test strips (£8 for a pot of 50) whereas some other meters can have test strips which cost 2x or even 3x that amount.

It really is about finding what works for you diet wise and the only person who can figure that out is you with the help of a BG meter, which is why general dietary advice for diabetics is so confusing and conflicted.

You need to learn to recognise carbohydrate rich foods and reading food labels will help you with that. Not the traffic light system on the from of packaging but the Nutritional info usually in small print on the back of food labels, which is expressed as grams per 100grams and sometimes also as the number of grams in a recognised portion size and it will specify that portion size, so it might be 50g for something loose like porridge oats or per biscuit for the likes of Weetabix.

Basically all foods made from grains will be high in carbs and potatoes and fruit (in all its forms:- fresh, dried, frozen and juiced), and beans and lentils, as well as the obvious sweet stuff containing sugar or honey or maple syrup etc.

Hopefully that all makes sense, but if not, please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Hello @Alhayd and welcome to the forum.
Yes, there certainly is a lot of information around and it can be very confusing. It is good to know that @rebrascora response has helped.

As she says it can take a while to work out your best solution, but getting a meter and understanding what foods impact you blood glucose levels is a good step towards this.

We are all different in our responses and it too me a while to find my solution. I will list what I eat now, which may give you some pointers - but you need to find out what is right for you.

As well as cutting out all sugary things I seriously reduce all starchy carbs - bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. Some people can eat some of these in moderation, your tester will tell you how much these effect you.
I eat lots of veg, which helps me feel full - but mainly the less starchy ones that grow above the ground.
Proteins are fine and help me feel full - but I avoid processed food.
Fruit also needs to be limited as it can be high in carb, I limit to one portion a day, usually berries.
I include lots of good fats - oily fish, olive oil, avacado, nuts and a little cheese.

Best wishes and I hope you will keep posting and let us know how it goes, and we will always try to answer any questions.
 
Pleased you get the idea of what I was trying to explain. Don't get me wrong, it can be quite complicated and certainly in the early days you are looking more at trends than individual readings as sometimes you get rogue readings and meters are not 100% accurate but after a few weeks of testing you start to see patterns and get a gut feeling for which foods cause you the most problems and are best avoided and which ones and in what portion size you can get away with.
It takes a bit of work in the early stages but once you get the hang of it, it just becomes a new way of life.

Not sure if you have any/much weight to lose but following a low carb way of eating will also help with weight loss but in reducing your carbohydrate intake it helps to eat a little more fat as this will help to keep you feeling full and provide an alternative source of fuel for your body. The nurse/GP will most likely have recommended following a low fat diet but this just leaves you feeling hungry and may in fact be part of the reason why so many diets fail long term. My advice would be to eat normal varieties of food, not low fat options..... so whole milk instead of skimmed, and whole milk yoghurt rather than low fat ones which usually have extra carbs to make them taste better. Try to avoid processed foods and eat meat and fish and eggs and nuts (go easy with peanuts) with leafy green veg or Mediterranean veg like courgettes and aubergines and peppers and tomatoes and garlic. Cauliflower is a great substitute for mashed potato or couscous or rice and tastes great with a dollop of cream cheese and/or grated cheese. There are lots of tips and ideas here on the forum and some inspirational bakers who make low carb alternatives to the usual high carb breads and cakes, so there is very little that is totally off limits if you are prepared to experiment.
 
Thank you Toucan that is really interesting especially as I have been told to eat lots of fruit and veg (which I love anyway) and make sure I at least have my 5 a day if not more. I definitely think a monitor needs to be the next step because I may be making it worse. I have cut right down on bread and changed to wholemeal/granary when I do eat it. I have also cut right down on chocolate/sweets/biscuits and cakes and rarely eat them and I have stopped having sugar or sweetener in coffee too (although I do find that one hard). I am really thankful for any/all advice because this diagnosis it has made me obsessed about food to the point sometimes that I am afraid of eating.
 
Hello @Alhayd.
It sounds as if you are making some good changes, but take your time. It is worth getting a plan that is right for you that is sustainable for the long term.
Really good that you like veggies ( It took me a while to achieve that!) but be a little careful with the fruit, it can be surprisingly high in sugar.
A book that I find very useful is http://www.carbsandcals.com/thebook.html that colourfully illustrates lots of information about carb and calorie content and portion sizes.
 
Hi Toucan if I am honest I needed to dump the sweets etc! I also got that book and actually took some time to go through it page by page and it throws up some really interesting, such as the difference between the different breads or lack of in some cases.
 
Welcome to the forum @Alhayd

You’ve had some really great pointers already - and it’s good to hear that you have found them helpful.

An important thing to remember is that you will soon become an expert in your own diabetes (even though at times you may not feel like one!)

You’ll begin to get an understanding of how your body responds to different foods - and never be afraid to experiment. While it can be really helpful to read what works for others (and what to avoid!) to give you ideas and suggestions - what matters more is your own ‘enjoyable, sustainable, excellent nutrition, low BG spike menu’. Which will be different to anyone else‘s and will be a combination of your tastes, your aims, and also the specifics of your metabolism and gut biome.

You may have to give things up (though you may be surprised at the things you hardly miss) but other things that have a bit of a reputation for BG chaos may be absolutely fine for you. You just have to work it out for yourself 🙂

The short version would be ‘watch your carbs’...

But ultimately you’ll find that it’s fine to have x and y, while z is always a bit too much bother, and actually not that enjoyable anyway, so you’d prefer blah instead 🙂
 
The other thing I'd like to say is that nobody's innards care what colour the carbs you feed it with, are! So if you are going to eat a slice of bread, it makes no difference whatever really whether it's white or brown - except by eating brown you might feel you're doing the right thing - so can easily lull you into a false sense of security. But a gramme of carb is still a gramme of carb and can never change into fresh air and get blown away by the wind! :D
 
I have been diabetic for a couple of Christmases now and last Christmas got lots of requests for the things I took along for the various last meetings the year before, things such as the sausages I usually buy, the sugar free jelly with berries, the gelatine set yoghurt, whipped to a froth, cheese crackers, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
A lot of normal or ordinary food can seem rather bland and boring alongside a low carb menu.
 
Welcome to the forum @Alhayd

You have certainly got your head round things.
As others have said it is a case of finding what works for you and what you can sustain.
I like the rule of thumb for carbs in veg:
  • Underground - High carbs (potatoes, swede, ...
  • Overground - Medium carbs (beans, peas, ...)
  • On the ground - Low carb (lettuce, celery, ...)
Useful when making swaps to get the carbs down.

Do ask any questions that arise. Nothing is considered silly on here.
 
Drummer said:
I have been diabetic for a couple of Christmases now and last Christmas got lots of requests for the things I took along for the various last meetings the year before, things such as the sausages I usually buy, the sugar free jelly with berries, the gelatine set yoghurt, whipped to a froth, cheese crackers, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
A lot of normal or ordinary food can seem rather bland and boring alongside a low carb menu.
Click to expand...
You are right about food being bland sometimes
 
SB2015 said:
Welcome to the forum @Alhayd

You have certainly got your head round things.
As others have said it is a case of finding what works for you and what you can sustain.
I like the rule of thumb for carbs in veg:
  • Underground - High carbs (potatoes, swede, ...
  • Overground - Medium carbs (beans, peas, ...)
  • On the ground - Low carb (lettuce, celery, ...)
Useful when making swaps to get the carbs down.

Do ask any questions that arise. Nothing is considered silly on here.
Click to expand...
Thank you, that is a really good tip!
 
Alhayd said:
You are right about food being bland sometimes
Click to expand...
Herbs and spices have been around a long time, yet they can sometimes be a surprise, and a welcome one.
 
Have you discovered the Food & Recipes section as yet? Have a trawl through that.

Like all recipes though - you only plump for trying them if the ingredients - and/or the photo - appeal to you. I have a well thumbed copy of Delia's first book c. 40 years old I suppose. Some of the pages have fallen out of the binding from over use and some are still untouched by this human hand.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top