Nutritionist Advice

[Gucci69]

Today I attended my first nutritionist appointment. He was pretty happy with my current diet. I did learn a few things.

I need to spread out fruit portions throughout the day and not have say 3 portions in one sitting.

6 grapes is a portion. That surprised me.

Even natural 0% fat free yoghurt I need to check the labels for sugar content.

Ensure Where possible all main meals have carbs/protein/veg etc which is something I tend not to do for lunch.

 

[trophywench]

Well nutritionally you don't need to 'specifically' eat any carb - only those that happen to be in vegetables (NOT spuds) and/or fruit. I see no mention whatever of fat - yet fat IS an essential food along with the protein.

There's an awful lot of fructose in sweet fruit, hence grape skins are really little bags, made to contain sugar! That's why only 6.

 

[ColinUK]

Today I attended my first nutritionist appointment. He was pretty happy with my current diet. I did learn a few things.

I need to spread out fruit portions throughout the day and not have say 3 portions in one sitting.

6 grapes is a portion. That surprised me.

Even natural 0% fat free yoghurt I need to check the labels for sugar content.

Ensure Where possible all main meals have carbs/protein/veg etc which is something I tend not to do for lunch.

0% fat yoghurt can have more sugar in it than full fat yoghurt. And did they mention buying live yogurt as that helps support a healthy gut biome?

 

[Drummer]

Oh lordy - where do they find them?
You are diabetic, so can't deal with carbohydrates - three portions of fruit a day? I don't have three in a week, and then only the lowest carb count berry mix I can find.
Fat free yoghurt? but your ability to cope with fat isn't broken - you need the fat, our brains and nervous systems are composed of and protected by fats - and you can use it for energy if you don't have the carbs in your diet.
That person really is not your friend.
Have you got a blood glucose meter? That will tell you what you can and can't eat, what you can cope with in our diet.
Personally, my maximum intake of carbs is 40 gm per day - that controls both blood glucose and weight. I am very sensitive to carbs, others can cope with more, and I want normal levels - not spikes or constantly elevated ones. I might be heading for 69 years old, but I want to go on feeling no more than 40 for as long as possible.

 

[Jodee]

Full fat live natural yoghurt would be better, it will help you absorb other nutrients particularly vitamins A, D, E and K,

Yes you need to spread portions of fruit, and yes you need to check the back of carton or pack for the total carb content (which will tell of which amount are sugars, but its the total carbs are the thing to watch.

Protein is important, half plate of veg as Jenny says not potato. go lighter on white pasta, bread and rice, you can get brown pasta and rice and bread of course, still have smaller quantities, they just take longer to metabolise so not inclined to spike blood sugars as white equivalent does.

Don't forget eggs, a good source of protein with minimal carbs

 

[Drummer]

Ah - watch out for brown carbs - my gut obviously never got the memo about them, they spike my blood glucose just the same as the white ones - and I think for longer, just going by the couple of times I made the experiment. I also spike eating legumes - I can manage a small serving of beans, or runner/French beans - oh and beansprouts, otherwise best avoided.
I have one slice of bread, 4 carbs per slice, when I eat kippers as the flavour is too strong for me to enjoy without it.

 

[ColinUK]

Ah - watch out for brown carbs - my gut obviously never got the memo about them, they spike my blood glucose just the same as the white ones - and I think for longer, just going by the couple of times I made the experiment. I also spike eating legumes - I can manage a small serving of beans, or runner/French beans - oh and beansprouts, otherwise best avoided.
I have one slice of bread, 4 carbs per slice, when I eat kippers as the flavour is too strong for me to enjoy without it.

Have you tried switching the kippers for something like smoked haddock? Gentler flavour and maybe wouldn’t need the bread? Oh and you could top them with a lovely poached egg!

 

[Drummer]

Have you tried switching the kippers for something like smoked haddock? Gentler flavour and maybe wouldn’t need the bread? Oh and you could top them with a lovely poached egg!

Oh I have all sorts of fish, all the strange ones which turn up at the supermarket - kippers are sort of Marmite in fish form.....

 

[Grannylorraine]

Today I attended my first nutritionist appointment. He was pretty happy with my current diet. I did learn a few things.

I need to spread out fruit portions throughout the day and not have say 3 portions in one sitting.

6 grapes is a portion. That surprised me.

Even natural 0% fat free yoghurt I need to check the labels for sugar content.

Ensure Where possible all main meals have carbs/protein/veg etc which is something I tend not to do for lunch.

When you say nutritionist, is this someone you are seeing at a hospital or via your diabetes team? I am just asking because I saw a dietician and despite what people think, nutritionists are not the same thing.

I hope you find what works for you with lowering your blood glucose levels, as we know what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.

 

[Sharron1]

When you say nutritionist, is this someone you are seeing at a hospital or via your diabetes team? I am just asking because I saw a dietician and despite what people think, nutritionists are not the same thing.

I hope you find what works for you with lowering your blood glucose levels, as we know what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.

I just wondered how you were a have to get an Hba1c test so soon after the March one? You are lucky my surgery insisted I wait a year and yes a year it is. I thought it was because I went from 74 to 39.9 and they were ok with that. I only wanted it a couple of months short of a year to fit it in with work. Alas a year it has to be.

 

[Grannylorraine]

I just wondered how you were a have to get an Hba1c test so soon after the March one? You are lucky my surgery insisted I wait a year and yes a year it is. I thought it was because I went from 74 to 39.9 and they were ok with that. I only wanted it a couple of months short of a year to fit it in with work. Alas a year it has to be.

Because the 69 was up on the previous year, and the practice nurse sent me to a Diabetes Specialist at Hospital with a view to being put on insulin rather than tablets. The June one was done for the specialist appointment, as I had to wait that long to get an appointment, I then had a further one done in September which was almost identical to June one as I had 3 monthly appointments with the specialist. I have now been discharged back to the surgery so will go back to yearly tests, don't know if that will be March, June or September until I get the text from the docs asking me to make an appointment and pick up a blood test form.

 

[ianf0ster]

@Sharron1, I suspect that they did this because 'officially' you no longer have T2 . HbA1c of 39.9 is a non-diabetic level, in fact it is below the 'pre-diabetic range'.
When a T2D is in remission (something that many doctors still claim is impossible), the normal practice is to monitor them annually.