Newly diagnosed completely at a loss.

[Inka]

Everytime I tried to talk about my diet they shut me down and said carry on eating what you normally eat for now, which I dont think helps.

It does help in a way @Jamie% It shows them how your body is coping with the carbs. That and the results of what are hopefully the Type 1 antibodies tests and the C Peptide should help determine your type and what treatment you need.

 

[Jamie%]

Wow so I have had a single serving of gf porridge with canderel, 1 cup of tea with the same at 7am. Just tested 10.3 I mean I have only looked at food on a shop window.
I have been active this morning, I feel dreadful and its still in double figures albeit the lowest reading I've had yet.

 

[Dragonheart]

Wow so I have had a single serving of gf porridge with canderel, 1 cup of tea with the same at 7am. Just tested 10.3 I mean I have only looked at food on a shop window.
I have been active this morning, I feel dreadful and its still in double figures albeit the lowest reading I've had yet.

Along with the lasagne and chips porridge is a high carb choice. Not sure which you use but many powdered or granulated sweeteners are mixed with maltodextrin or dextrose as a bulking agent. It might be effectively calorie free but it very much can still raise blood glucose the same way as sugar does and that’s before any discussion about gut biome or artificial effects.

Ultimately carbs are the thing that most significantly raises glucose and is the aspect that’s most in our control. An awareness of what’s high or low carb will be needed however you are diagnosed either for dosing insulin or choosing food that won’t raise you too much.

Once you’ve learned which type you are you can work out if your food choices need balancing with injected insulin (type 1) or if type 2 to reduce the amount of carbs to some degree or other - depending on your preferences about aiming for remission and medications etc.

 

[Drummer]

Wow so I have had a single serving of gf porridge with canderel, 1 cup of tea with the same at 7am. Just tested 10.3 I mean I have only looked at food on a shop window.
I have been active this morning, I feel dreadful and its still in double figures albeit the lowest reading I've had yet.

Isn't the porridge high carb though? Check on the packet. Starches are just as much carbs as sugars.
Maybe make lagagna with leek strips rather than pasta until things settle down and the test results come back.

 

[Jamie%]

Isn't the porridge high carb though? Check on the packet. Starches are just as much carbs as sugars.
Maybe make lagagna with leek strips rather than pasta until things settle down and the test results come back.

The porridge might have carbs but the portion size was small about a third of a cereal bowl. Surely I can't exist on zero carbs.
I had a modest roast dinner at lunch time and it only jumped 1.5 it just seems so inconsistent.

 

[Inka]

The porridge might have carbs but the portion size was small about a third of a cereal bowl. Surely I can't exist on zero carbs.
I had a modest roast dinner at lunch time and it only jumped 1.5 it just seems so inconsistent.

Sounds fine @Jamie% Even if you turn out to be Type 2, there’s no need to eat zero carbs. In fact, some diets include a fair amount of carbs, eg the whole food plant-based diet which is very low fat and can help insulin resistance.

People here eat a variety of diets:

A broad church - low carb is not the only way

Just a gentle reminder to members that our forum is supposed to be a friendly and supportive place, which encourages members to find their own way through the available options to find a diabetes management approach that meets their ambitions, and is appealing and sustainable for them. While...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

.

 

[Inka]

Isn't the porridge high carb though? Check on the packet. Starches are just as much carbs as sugars.
Maybe make lagagna with leek strips rather than pasta until things settle down and the test results come back.

I have a bowl of porridge some days for breakfast, and a larger bowl than @Jamie% had by the sounds of it. It’s certainly not “high carb”.

 

[Leadinglights]

The porridge might have carbs but the portion size was small about a third of a cereal bowl. Surely I can't exist on zero carbs.
I had a modest roast dinner at lunch time and it only jumped 1.5 it just seems so inconsistent.

It is just the way the body works, something like porridge seems to be one food that some people struggle with but others are fine. A roast dinner is a mixture of protein, fats and carbs so your body likely handles it differently to a food which is 'pure' carbs.

 

[Jamie%]

I was told mixing protein and carbs kind of offset them.
That's why I thought lasagne was a good mixture of that with meat and gf pasta.
Obviously thatdoesnt seem to work lol.

 

[Jamie%]

Sounds fine @Jamie% Even if you turn out to be Type 2, there’s no need to eat zero carbs. In fact, some diets include a fair amount of carbs, eg the whole food plant-based diet which is very low fat and can help insulin resistance.

People here eat a variety of diets:

A broad church - low carb is not the only way

Just a gentle reminder to members that our forum is supposed to be a friendly and supportive place, which encourages members to find their own way through the available options to find a diabetes management approach that meets their ambitions, and is appealing and sustainable for them. While...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

.

Thanks I hold out some hope, I just don't know how I'm going to cope energy levels wise without my fuel. I tend to dip very quickly when running low I get very desperate, shaky and irritable and my job can be relentless.
I know this sounds whingey and whiney I only have a few years before I can retire so I just need to keep going for a little while longer.

 

[Inka]

It doesn’t sound whingy or whiny @Jamie% Anything that affects what you eat can be stressful. Eating isn’t something we can avoid, so to suddenly have to think about it when you haven’t had to think previously, is really hard sometimes.

Once you’ve got the results of your tests, you’ll be better placed to move forward. Not only that, knowing your type should bring some reassurance.

 

[Leadinglights]

I was told mixing protein and carbs kind of offset them.
That's why I thought lasagne was a good mixture of that with meat and gf pasta.
Obviously thatdoesnt seem to work lol.

It is most likely the chips that did the damage.
Some pasta is low carb, black bean or edamame bean but pea pasta although gluten free is still quite high carb so you need to be careful about the quantity.

 

[Merluza]

I would get back to them and discuss the possibility of T1.

 

[Dragonheart]

I have a bowl of porridge some days for breakfast, and a larger bowl than @Jamie% had by the sounds of it. It’s certainly not “high carb”.

But you are not type 2 with insulin resistance and everyone’s mileage varies.

Many of us find even small amounts of porridge give big rises.

2/3rds carbs is certainly not low carb and definitely what I’d call high carb.

 

[Dragonheart]

Thanks I hold out some hope, I just don't know how I'm going to cope energy levels wise without my fuel. I tend to dip very quickly when running low I get very desperate, shaky and irritable and my job can be relentless.
I know this sounds whingey and whiney I only have a few years before I can retire so I just need to keep going for a little while longer.

Not whingey if it affects your life. The feelings you describe can come from dropping lower than you are used to - even if it’s still higher than it should be. Or from changing levels quickly or from actually being low. Testing is the only way to tell the situations apart especially in the early days.

If you do find you are type 2 and want to try low carb the energy comes from body fat and dietary fat and proteins rather than fast hitting carbs. They fill you up for longer too. But it does take a bit of time to adapt to a different fuel source and can feel pretty rough for a few weeks. Longer term you’ll find you get less hungry not more and can keep going longer without the crash that being reliant solely on carbs can cause. It’s not about starving yourself. It’s about having different foods not less. Biggest single suggestion I can give is have a good read of the options open to you, consider the source eg if they have a financial or moralistic bias rather than nutritional. And ask questions of those that have done the methods you are considering.

 

[Inka]

But you are not type 2 with insulin resistance and everyone’s mileage varies.

Many of us find even small amounts of porridge give big rises.

2/3rds carbs is certainly not low carb and definitely what I’d call high carb.

No, I’m not - and the OP might not be either, so it’s premature to demonise carbs.

Although the percentage of carbs in oats is around 62%,a bowl of porridge doesn’t contain a “high amount” of carbs. Fair enough if you can’t tolerate even a small bowl but that doesn’t mean the amount of carbs in the bowl is high, just that you personally can’t tolerate them. Some Type 2s here can. A moderate bowl of porridge is around 19g carbs for the oats.

 

[Dragonheart]

No, I’m not - and the OP might not be either, so it’s premature to demonise carbs.

Although the percentage of carbs in oats is around 62%,a bowl of porridge doesn’t contain a “high amount” of carbs. Fair enough if you can’t tolerate even a small bowl but that doesn’t mean the amount of carbs in the bowl is high, just that you personally can’t tolerate them. Some Type 2s here can. A moderate bowl of porridge is around 19g carbs for the oats.

No one is “demonising” carbs. We are explaining their effect. Every post I’ve made recognises the OP may or may not be type 2.

And I already agreed mileage does vary between individuals. Oats however are a food that commonly disproportionately raises blood glucose in some people, especially type 2 as the OP may be.

A food that is 66% carbs is definitely a high carb food. A low carb food item will be in the single figures % wise. Whether a bowl of that food/meal is a high carb meal or not depends on how much of it is eaten. This is the moderate bowl/30g/4 tbsp of oats that would give 19g of carbs with a teaspoon for scale, plus any milk or toppings used. I suspect many would be having a bigger bowl in order to stay full for any length of time.

For some type 2 that amount 19g of carbs is as much as they can tolerate in a day let alone a single meal.

 

[Inka]

Low carb is up to 130g carbs a day. I don’t see how a bowl of 19g of carbs can be considered high. As I said, I appreciate some people can’t tolerate oats, but 19g carbs isn’t high. I feel sorry for those who can only tolerate 19g carbs per day. But again, that’s not because 19g is high - if it was you wouldn’t have used it as an example of how few carbs some Type 2s can tolerate.

 

[Dragonheart]

Low carb is up to 130g carbs a day. I don’t see how a bowl of 19g of carbs can be considered high. As I said, I appreciate some people can’t tolerate oats, but 19g carbs isn’t high. I feel sorry for those who can only tolerate 19g carbs per day. But again, that’s not because 19g is high - if it was you wouldn’t have used it as an example of how few carbs some Type 2s can tolerate.

Low carb includes keto which can be as low as 20g a day, up to about 50g. Mainstream low carb is 50 -130g, the 130 being a maximum.

There’s a difference between a high (low) carb food and a high (low) carb meal. The food is intrinsically high, low or medium whereas a meal of that same food can vary depending on quantity eaten.

And my point was a high carb food that is 2/3 carbs means many of us can only eat a very small amount of it to make the meal itself a more reasonable carb level overall thus avoiding raising glucose unreasonably. 20g a meal is fine for some. Not others.

That 19g is a small bowl and won’t fill many up for long. Better to choose a lower carb option we can eat more of that will fill us for longer without that rise for those that don’t tolerate it well. As I said - test, on several occasions and ensure the person eating knows which reaction they have to it before making assumptions.

 

[Drummer]

The porridge might have carbs but the portion size was small about a third of a cereal bowl. Surely I can't exist on zero carbs.
I had a modest roast dinner at lunch time and it only jumped 1.5 it just seems so inconsistent.

There is no daily requirement of carbs for Humans.
My breakfasts used to be an ordinary meal, as in steak and mushrooms or a chop and stirfry, and I ate only twice a day. As I am getting older I often do not eat two meals as I am not hungry.
I call grains high carb due to their high percentage of starch, typically 65 to 70 percent, nothing to do with being able to eat a small amount and it only having a few tens of gm of carbs in the bowl or on the plate.