Newbie

[Beaus]

Hi I've just been told I'm pre diabetic and need to cut out cakes and sweet stuff must admit during covid I've been comfort eating and gone from size 12 to 14 plus I was always a risk as I've been on antidepressants for 30 years very strong ones now as I've other issues as well cheesed off as along with my other health issues my iron levels low and vitamin d level I know I've proberly harmed by pancreas in other ways I can't go into any advice would be appreciated thanks

 

[Vonny]

Hi @Beaus and welcome to the forum 🙂 The best way to reduce your blood glucose is to reduce your carbs generally. That's not just cakes and sweet stuff, but bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. It can seem daunting at first, but it really does work, and you can reduce them gradually. It's great that it's been caught so early because with the right tweaks to your diet you should be able to get into those size 12s again!
Best of luck, and any questions, just shout out to us. There will always be someone who can answer questions.

 

[mopinwil]

By following a low carbohydrate; sugar; salt diet it is possible that tastes change. The effort is worth it and you may even affect your moods. I find I am more positive since following my low carb diet. My GP reported to me that my blood sugars are now low enough and my cholesterol is at a good level. A win win situation worth working towards. Good luck on your journey 🙂 I was also against using statins to reduce cholesterol. My husband insisted he use them but I was not convinced that he was correct in doing so but I am not a medic and it was his choice. I worry because I have seen so much anti-statin reports. The problem is that side affects don't apply to everyone but I have noticed a difference in my husband's moods but maybe that is because he is turning into an old man. Nothing I have not told him myself and he just laughed it off 🙂. Love him dearly.

 

[Leadinglights]

By following a low carbohydrate; sugar; salt diet it is possible that tastes change. The effort is worth it and you may even affect your moods. I find I am more positive since following my low carb diet. My GP reported to me that my blood sugars are now low enough and my cholesterol is at a good level. A win win situation worth working towards. Good luck on your journey 🙂 I was also against using statins to reduce cholesterol. My husband insisted he use them but I was not convinced that he was correct in doing so but I am not a medic and it was his choice. I worry because I have seen so much anti-statin reports. The problem is that side affects don't apply to everyone but I have noticed a difference in my husband's moods but maybe that is because he is turning into an old man. Nothing I have not told him myself and he just laughed it off 🙂. Love him dearly.

A friend visited the other day and mentioned that he suffered a definite change in mood with a number of different statins, he stopped taking and within 2 days was back to normal. He seems to be OK on a low dose of one now. Worth speaking to the G P.

 

[trophywench]

Some statins cross the blood/brain barrier and some don't. They don't automatically prescribe the ones that don't cos much like the slow release metformin, not everyone is affected in 'the mood' department and yes, they are dearer than the others but not by a ridiculous amount ..... However this side effect is much more widely recognised now by GPs so as @Leadinglights has said - even if your husband doesn't recognise it himself, it would be worth him telling his GP that you have commented about him being a bit grumpier than usual.

I know I am frequently grumpier than I used to be but we can't blame statins for that! - just old age and not having such a varied social life what with 'one thing or another' eg always planning our next foray abroad etc.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Beaus

Sorry to hear you’ve been told your glucose levels put you at risk of developing diabetes. Lots of new arrivals in your situation find it easier to behave as it they had already received a diagnosis, and try their best to reduce their BG levels, lose weight and increase activity levels.

As others have said, 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.

That doesn’t mean that you have to completely avoid all of those things… but reducing portion sizes and moderating your total carb intake will have a direct affect on your blood glucose levels.

You might find the information in the Learning Zone, and if you would like some ideas for lower carbohydrate meals you can take a look at the Diabetes UK low carb meal plans.

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

Good luck, and let us know how things go 🙂

 

[Alan S]

any advice would be appreciated thanks

I wrote this to help you begin: Getting Started. I know you will have lots of questions after you read that and the pages it links to. Come back and ask them all.