Newly diagnosed.

[Lynda Wales]

Hi, I've just been diagnosed with Diabetes and would like to understand what I can and cannot eat. I'm not in any medication and am type 2. Thankyou.

 

[Drummer]

The first thing to do is evaluate the carbohydrates you eat - the starches and sugars.
They are the problem foods - but depending on how far you have travelled into the realms of diabetes determines how serious a cut back you need to aim for.
If your Hba1c is not much above the start point of 48 then changing a few high carb foods for lower ones over a period of weeks should reduce glucose spikes after meals.
If Hba1c is rather high then getting a glucose meter with affordable strips is a good idea, and then cutting back a little week by week, month on month heading for normal numbers by swapping to low carb options is the way to go.
The essential food groups are protein and fat.
Most people can eat meat, fish, seafood, eggs and cheese - all full fat dairy. Berries, as the lowest carb fruits are usually OK, but I keep them frozen and have them maybe twice a week.
It is not a bad or boring way to eat.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi, I've just been diagnosed with Diabetes and would like to understand what I can and cannot eat. I'm not in any medication and am type 2. Thankyou.

Welcome to the forum, I sure you will find lots of useful advice and suggestions. It is good that you have been given the opportunity to make some changes to your lifestyle to bring down your blood glucose level, I assume your HbA1C is not too high but knowing what it is will indicate how much work you will need to do.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that make the body unable to cope with carbohydrates so reducing them in your diet is the way to reduce your blood glucose level. Many people find that a low carb approach is successful so restrict their Total carb intake to less than 130g per day but you will see that many on the forum need to go lower to keep their level where they need it to be.
Foods to be careful of are things like potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, cereals, pastry and tropical fruits but also cutting out cakes, biscuits and sugary drinks. Basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, vegetables, salads and fruits like berries.
This link may help you with menu ideas https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
The Learning Zone (orange tab at the top) will have lots of information for you to look through.
Please feel free to ask any specific questions.

Keeping a food diary noting everything you eat and drink and estimating the carbs is useful for seeing where you can make some saving on the carbs you are having.
Carbs and Cals book or app is a good resource for finding the carb value of a whole range of foods as is the nutritional information on packets etc looking for TOTAL carbs not just sugars.

 

[Lynda Wales]

The first thing to do is evaluate the carbohydrates you eat - the starches and sugars.
They ware the problem foods - but depending on how far you have travelled into the realms of diabetes determines how serious a cut back you need to aim for.
If your Hba1c is not much above the start point of 48 then changing a few high carb foods for lower ones over a period of weeks should reduce glucose spikes after meals.
If Hba1c is rather high then getting a glucose meter with affordable strips is a good idea, and then cutting back a little week by week, month on month heading for normal numbers by swapping to low carb options is the way to go.
The essential food groups are protein and fat.
Most people can eat meat, fish, seafood, eggs and cheese - all full fat dairy. Berries, as the lowest carb fruits are usually OK, but I keep them frozen and have them maybe twice a week.
It is not a bad or boring way to eat.

Welcome to the forum, I sure you will find lots of useful advice and suggestions. It is good that you have been given the opportunity to make some changes to your lifestyle to bring down your blood glucose level, I assume your HbA1C is not too high but knowing what it is will indicate how much work you will need to do.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that make the body unable to cope with carbohydrates so reducing them in your diet is the way to reduce your blood glucose level. Many people find that a low carb approach is successful so restrict their Total carb intake to less than 130g per day but you will see that many on the forum need to go lower to keep their level where they need it to be.
Foods to be careful of are things like potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, cereals, pastry and tropical fruits but also cutting out cakes, biscuits and sugary drinks. Basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, vegetables, salads and fruits like berries.
This link may help you with menu ideas https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
The Learning Zone (orange tab at the top) will have lots of information for you to look through.
Please feel free to ask any specific questions.

Keeping a food diary noting everything you eat and drink and estimating the carbs is useful for seeing where you can make some saving on the carbs you are having.
Carbs and Cals book or app is a good resource for finding the carb value of a whole range of foods as is the nutritional information on packets etc looking for TOTAL carbs not just sugars.

 

[Lynda Wales]

Thankyou, my HbA1C, think that's how you put it?? Was 49. I've cut all sugar , cake biscuits , potatoes, pasta, rice, and have lost nearly a stone and a half in 6 weeks, but I'm wondering if I could have 2 small slices of reduced sugar wholemeal bread a day. I'm really struggling with the no bread thing. .

 

[Leadinglights]

Thankyou, my HbA1C, think that's how you put it?? Was 49. I've cut all sugar , cake biscuits , potatoes, pasta, rice, and have lost nearly a stone and a half in 6 weeks, but I'm wondering if I could have 2 small slices of reduced sugar wholemeal bread a day. I'm really struggling with the no bread thing. .

Your weight loss has been fairly quick so you have been making some good choices, but you were only just in the diabetic zone and more modest changes are a good idea as gradual reduction in blood glucose is less likely to cause problems with eyes and nerves, I would suggest that a slice of bread will probably be OK for you but maybe not 2 slices at one meal.
Many people use home testing with a blood glucose monitor to see what foods they can tolerate as everybody is different in their tolerance to carbohydrates.
I hope you are making sure you have protein and healthy fats to compensate for the lower carbs.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Lynda Wales, welcome to the forum.

It seems like you've done some great work so far so I'm hoping you'll see the results. The tricky thing with diabetes is that it varies for different people.

The best way to find out what works for you is to test two hours after a meal and see what impact your meal has had on your blood sugar levels. You can find out more about doing so here https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/testing.

Given your numbers were quite good, I'd imagine that the changes you've made, if done consistently , should be enough to keep you in a good place.

 

[Drummer]

Thankyou, my HbA1C, think that's how you put it?? Was 49. I've cut all sugar , cake biscuits , potatoes, pasta, rice, and have lost nearly a stone and a half in 6 weeks, but I'm wondering if I could have 2 small slices of reduced sugar wholemeal bread a day. I'm really struggling with the no bread thing. .

The main source of carbohydrate in bread is the starch. In the UK sugar is not added to bread in excess - in the US bread is very sweet.
You might like cheese waffles, also called chaffles, or keto naan bread - which are far lower in carbs.

 

[Lynda Wales]

Your weight loss has been fairly quick so you have been making some good choices, but you were only just in the diabetic zone and more modest changes are a good idea as gradual reduction in blood glucose is less likely to cause problems with eyes and nerves, I would suggest that a slice of bread will probably be OK for you but maybe not 2 slices at one meal.
Many people use home testing with a blood glucose monitor to see what foods they can tolerate as everybody is different in their tolerance to carbohydrates.
I hope you are making sure you have protein and healthy fats to compensate for the lower carbs.

The main source of carbohydrate in bread is the starch. In the UK sugar is not added to bread in excess - in the US bread is very sweet.
You might like cheese waffles, also called chaffles, or keto naan bread - which are far lower in carbs.

 

[Gwynn]

Just into the diabetic range....just. so minor adjustments to diet and increased exercise should sort things out.

Minor adjustments? Well, your battle is with the carbohydrates that the body can not process. So reducing (not eliminating) those in your diet is the way to go.

I reduced mine to less than 130g carbohydrates a day. Many on this forum have done this also, some even stricter. But to do that you have to analyse what you are eating now and see where the carbohydrate hits are. 130g or less might be a bit too far for you so see what you are consuming now and decide on what would suit/help you....aiming for a refuction.

Bread in small amounts may be ok. It is for me

May be?

Well, here's the rub. Everyones body reacts differently to different foods. So what I may be able to tolerate in, lets say, bread, you might not. Many here advocte getting a blood glucose test meter so that they can see which foods affect them and which dont (if you go down that route and ask I am sure many on here willgive you advice abkut that). Personally, you just being in the diabetic range, I might not go down that route, especially if you would have to self fund a meter and the test strips.

Exercise can be important if weight loss is part of the strategy to get your blood glucose under better control. I started with diet only as exercise was impossible for me at diagnosis. But I have since introduced exercise as part of my health strategy. Intersstingly, I got my HbA1c into the normal range without exercise but I had already lost a lot of weight.

Regarding weight loss and diet and exercise. It is advised not to go at it too strongly as that can cause problems of its own. Better to make minor adjustments at first, ramping up gradually if needed.

Good luck on your journey.

It will be interesting to see if bread does cause yoy problems...or not. Do let us know how you get on.

 

[trophywench]

Just remember that anything made with normal wheat flour in it, is always going to be heavy in carbohydrate. Pastry, cake, bread, pasta, crumble, sauces thickened with flour. Of course if it's sweetened whatever, more carbs from the sugar.

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

Thankyou, my HbA1C, think that's how you put it?? Was 49. I've cut all sugar , cake biscuits , potatoes, pasta, rice, and have lost nearly a stone and a half in 6 weeks, but I'm wondering if I could have 2 small slices of reduced sugar wholemeal bread a day. I'm really struggling with the no bread thing. .

Well done on your removal of beige food from your diet! I expect you will suceed in getting HBa1C numbers down. Have you tried Liv Life Bread? it's really quite tasty and it's only 80 cal and 3g of carbs a slice. I discovered it on this forum. X

 

[Burylancs]

Hi, I've just been diagnosed with Diabetes and would like to understand what I can and cannot eat. I'm not in any medication and am type 2. Thankyou.

Hi,
When I was diagnosed T2 30 years ago it was commonplace to hear it said that there was no special diet for diabetes, diabetics should be eating the basic healthy diet that all humans should be eating. Easy said than done ! Especially in 2022. The standard advice for new Type 2s since the 1950s is to moderate carbohydrates, lose weight and increase exercise. Traditionally the advice for T2s was to adopt a new life style including a diet that could maintain control of the bgs. You've got time to work on a suitable approach for yourself. Which suggests a medium to long haul rather than quick fix fad diets. In practice the two mantras on the Support Groups for new T2s are 'Test.test, test' and 'Eat to your meter'.