Newbie

[HolmbridgeLad]

Hello, newcomer here! I'm 68 years old, male and currently teetering between being pre-diabetic and Type 2. I was due to start the Newcastle Diet (800 calories a day) with a view to putting myself in to remission. However, I'm due to have surgery (cholecystectomy) in August and the surgeon has asked that pre-surgery I don't put my body under strain by practicing a severe dietary regime. Hopefully, post-operatively I can start my journey to reversing my diabetes.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear you need surgery. Hope it goes smoothly.

Since you are only just flirting with a diabetes diagnosis, a few minor changes to the amount of carbohydrate you eat and perhaps a daily walk if you are able, should drop your HbA1c. Maybe just restricting the naughty stuff like cakes and biscuits and crisps to an occasional special treat and reducing portion sizes of the starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. So more sauce and less pasta, more curry and less rice/naan bread. One less potato or Yorkshire pudding on your Sunday dinner etc. Maybe try Greek natural yoghurt for breakfast with a few berries and seeds and a sprinkle of low sugar granola on top.... or scrambled eggs on just one slice of toast if you would normally have 2 and add in some mushrooms or a sliced tomato. I quite like pickled gherkins with my scrambled egg or salad and cheese coleslaw with an omelette.
Go easy on fruit as it can be quite high in sugar, particularly the more exotic ones like bananas, mangoes and grapes as they are all much higher in sugar than our home grown berries like rasps, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants and blueberries etc and those berries give you both a big flavour hit and they are nutrient dense, so for a relatively small portion, a little goes a long way.

That would be my advice. Nothing drastic, just some trimming to your carb intake to help your body cope with your slightly elevated glucose levels.... at least until after your surgery, but you may find that will be enough to push you back into normal HbA1c territory. Maintaining it there will be an ongoing process.

With the Newcastle diet, you still need to maintain the weight loss afterwards to keep your diabetes in remission (and remission is not a certainty), so it is always something that you need to work on or at least be aware of.

Anyway, good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[HolmbridgeLad]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear you need surgery. Hope it goes smoothly.

Since you are only just flirting with a diabetes diagnosis, a few minor changes to the amount of carbohydrate you eat and perhaps a daily walk if you are able, should drop your HbA1c. Maybe just restricting the naughty stuff like cakes and biscuits and crisps to an occasional special treat and reducing portion sizes of the starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals etc. So more sauce and less pasta, more curry and less rice/naan bread. One less potato or Yorkshire pudding on your Sunday dinner etc. Maybe try Greek natural yoghurt for breakfast with a few berries and seeds and a sprinkle of low sugar granola on top.... or scrambled eggs on just one slice of toast if you would normally have 2 and add in some mushrooms or a sliced tomato. I quite like pickled gherkins with my scrambled egg or salad and cheese coleslaw with an omelette.
Go easy on fruit as it can be quite high in sugar, particularly the more exotic ones like bananas, mangoes and grapes as they are all much higher in sugar than our home grown berries like rasps, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants and blueberries etc and those berries give you both a big flavour hit and they are nutrient dense, so for a relatively small portion, a little goes a long way.

That would be my advice. Nothing drastic, just some trimming to your carb intake to help your body cope with your slightly elevated glucose levels.... at least until after your surgery, but you may find that will be enough to push you back into normal HbA1c territory. Maintaining it there will be an ongoing process.

With the Newcastle diet, you still need to maintain the weight loss afterwards to keep your diabetes in remission (and remission is not a certainty), so it is always something that you need to work on or at least be aware of.

Anyway, good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the advice. My activity levels are normally quite high. I'm a keen fell walker and we have a dog who normally would have 4 or 5 walks a day. Unfortunately he had surgery himself last week (hip replacement) so his own activity levels and mine are much reduced as my wife and I are caring for elderly relatives with reduced mobility. The appeal of the Newcastle diet to me was the short, sharp shock. I've tried numerous conventional dietary regimes and they seem like perpetual dieting and being just one domestic crisis from falling off the wagon and giving in to my cravings for sugary confections.

 

[rebrascora]

I too used to use sugar/sweets and chocolate to cope with stress and I freely admit I was a sugar addict pre-diagnosis. What I love about my low carb way of eating now is that I don't get those cravings anymore and even when those things are being passed around in front of me and offered, I don't find it difficult to refuse. The reason for that is that I have broken the cycle. My body now mostly runs on fat and protein and I don't crave the carbohydrate any more and I feel fitter and healthier than I have for 20+years. I am 2.5 years down the line with it and don't feel deprived and don't want to go back to the way I used to eat. I enjoy my food and my cholesterol levels are reducing despite eating more fat and other health issues like migraines have stopped and I can now enjoy a glass or two of red wine which was my one main known trigger. For me though with Type 1, there is no reversal possible and I cannot afford to slip back into my sugar craving but then I just don't want to. Having control without having to fight it or be tempted is refreshing. I have new lower carb treats which I enjoy now instead.

I am not sure the Newcastle will achieve what you expect unless you keep the weight off and that will be difficult if you don't curb those cravings .... I know from experience that once I go back to eating that sweet stuff after a diet I lose control again and put it back on, but very happy for you to come back and gloat in the glow of your success if it does work for you. 😉🙂😎

 

[Leadinglights]

You may find the dietary regime that is recommended for people with no gall bladder is not so compatible with a regime for managing your blood glucose levels, but carefully looking at portion size of those carbohydrates which they suggest you eat but are quite high in carbs would be a good after surgery plan. But you will need to let your body get accustomed to not having a gall bladder to help process fats.
You will just have to play it by ear to see what you can tolerate, but hopefully the surgery will alleviate the symptoms you must have been having and make you feel better.

 

[HolmbridgeLad]

You may find the dietary regime that is recommended for people with no gall bladder is not so compatible with a regime for managing your blood glucose levels, but carefully looking at portion size of those carbohydrates which they suggest you eat but are quite high in carbs would be a good after surgery plan. But you will need to let your body get accustomed to not having a gall bladder to help process fats.
You will just have to play it by ear to see what you can tolerate, but hopefully the surgery will alleviate the symptoms you must have been having and make you feel better.

Hopefully I'll get some dietary advice that takes both conditions in to account after the surgery. This year was meant to be the year I kicked diabetes in to touch. That remains my goal even if it might have to take a back seat in the short term.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @HolmbridgeLad
Don't dismiss Low Carb just because of gallstones or future gall bladder removal. You don't need a gall bladder in order to digest fat - you only need a dribble of bile. Plenty of Type 2 diabetics without gall bladders are on a Low Carb way of eating (not a calorie restricted diet):

The LCHF Diet and your gallbladder - The Noakes Foundation

Tim Noakes responds to the article by Nathan Geffen from GroundUp relating to his interview where he discusses novel insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging aspects of modern medical practice. Professor Tim Noakes is a National Research Foundation A1 rated scientist, indicating an...

thenoakesfoundation.org

 

[HolmbridgeLad]

Hi @HolmbridgeLad
Don't dismiss Low Carb just because of gallstones or future gall bladder removal. You don't need a gall bladder in order to digest fat - you only need a dribble of bile. Plenty of Type 2 diabetics without gall bladders are on a Low Carb way of eating (not a calorie restricted diet):

The LCHF Diet and your gallbladder - The Noakes Foundation

Tim Noakes responds to the article by Nathan Geffen from GroundUp relating to his interview where he discusses novel insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging aspects of modern medical practice. Professor Tim Noakes is a National Research Foundation A1 rated scientist, indicating an...

thenoakesfoundation.org

I'm open to any form of dieting which leads me to losing weight, 3 stones would be ideal.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @HolmbridgeLad

Hope your op goes well in August, and your recovery is speedy.

Good luck with your intentions to kick diabetes into touch, whichever strategy you end up trying.

While a short sharp shock sounds appealing, it‘s interesting how many forum members have discovered that a more permanent change to their way of eating has seen their tastes change over a fairly short space of time, and have discovered a new found energy, fizz and verve by eating foods that their body seems happier with.

What’s most important is that the approach suits you and your body. There are lots of options - it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ thing 🙂