Prediabetic needing help

[BrendaW]

Hi. Im 71 prediabetic and very confused so looking for help.
I have HC1A 43 down from 47. My weight has dropped to 9stone 3lb. Have been on the 9 month diabetic prevention course run by ICS Health and Wellbeing. I have other health issues - high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gastritis and migraines bought on by eating anything in the onion family i.e. onion, leek garlic, a lot of joint pain, peripheral neuropathy. Also have diabetic symptoms i.e constantly thirsty, needing toilet, skin irritation(any remedy for this would be gratefully received). My main struggle is how to treat diabetes with the other health problems. I have been on low fat diet for some years because of high cholesterol so wonder about introducing high fat content to diet. a lot of diabetic recipes include onion and garlic. I would add that I AM a hands on mother and grandma who doesnt like sitting in the armchair for long! Ive asked for appointment with diabetic nurse but none in March and they not booking April yet. So if anyone can give me any tips I would very much appreciate it.

 

[Kaylz]

I don't see it as there is such a thing as a "diabetic" recipe, diabetics struggle to tolerate carbohydrates, if you can't tolerate what a recipe has then adapt it to suit with what your body does tolerate and just because a recipe states an ingredient doesn't mean you have to use it

Also low fat products generally contain more carbohydrates than full fat versions due to the things they add to try and make it taste better
xx

 

[Toucan]

Hello @BrendaW
Firstly, very well done on reducing your blood glucose reading, and your weight loss. This can be quite challenging to do, particularly with the other eating restrictions that you have to deal with.

Yes indeed onions and garlic are often the starting base for many recipes, I think mainly to add flavour.
Is it an option to replace these with other flavourings such as herbs and spices?
I use root ginger a lot as well as paprika, turmeric, and herbs like mint, coriander, basil. It would depend on the recipe on which ones would work best.

I also need to try and lower my cholesterol, so I tend to use the unsaturated fats like olive and nut oils, avocados etc.

Best wishes and well done on what you have already achieved - not easy to find the time to think about these things when you are also a hands on Mum and Grandma, particularly during lock down.

 

[BrendaW]

Thank you Kaylz and Toucan. I think this is my main problem. Which is best to follow a diet that is diabetic friendly but may raise my cholesterol nd bp or vice versa. If I had diabetes which I will do everything I can to prevent I would do a finger prick to know how I was doing but with prediabetes the blood test is only once a year once in 42-47 range. This is a long time if you are not achieving the right results. Think the best to do is as you say Toucan concentrate on unsaturated fats and herbs that I can tolerate. Thank you again for the advice.

 

[Inka]

Hi @BrendaW 🙂 Have a look at whole food plant based diets. They vary in the amount of carbs and some are pretty low. Most of those are low fat and would hopefully help some of your other health problems.

Names to look at would be Joel Fuhrman, Michael Greger and Neal Barnard amongst others.

You could simply omit any onions, etc that don’t agree with you.

 

[trophywench]

Cutting down on the carbohydrates we eat, often reduces the cholesterol level as well as the blood glucose! Eating low fat does not reduce cholesterol.

 

[ianf0ster]

@trophywench, To be picky I disagree about Low Fat not reducing cholesterol. The big problem with Low Fat for the most part is that it decreases the HDL by much more than it does Triglycerides or LDL.

 

[trophywench]

Well yeah @ianf0ster - lowering the very things we don't usually need reducing - whereas lowering the carb in the diet reduces the thing we DO wish to reduce - as it's the balance between the 3 elements of serum chol that matter more than the actual 'TOTAL'. 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thank you Kaylz and Toucan. I think this is my main problem. Which is best to follow a diet that is diabetic friendly but may raise my cholesterol nd bp or vice versa. If I had diabetes which I will do everything I can to prevent I would do a finger prick to know how I was doing but with prediabetes the blood test is only once a year once in 42-47 range. This is a long time if you are not achieving the right results. Think the best to do is as you say Toucan concentrate on unsaturated fats and herbs that I can tolerate. Thank you again for the advice.

Have you considered buying an affordable BG meter (eg the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 which both have test strips at around £8 for 50)? That way you can take the menu that suits your weight loss goals, and the other conditions you are juggling, and begin to tweak it based on the blood glucose outcomes you see.

You can check immediately before a meal/snack and then again 2hrs later. Ideally you are looking for a rise of only 2-3mmol/L between the two readings. If a meal comes under that rise, then your metabolism and your diabetes are happy with it. 🙂

If you get a bigger ’spike’ in BG than 2-3 then you can consider reducing the portion of carbohydrate, or perhaps swapping it to a different type. You may well find that your body copes better with certain sorts of carbs, and others (though apparently the same amount of carbs) cause a much bigger BG fluctuation.

 

[Drummer]

I was eating low fat and high carb for almost 2 years before diagnosis. I then went low carb and ate natural fats - my cholesterol went down, not up.

 

[Leadinglights]

Even when I was first diagnosed as pre diabetic, it was useful to test so I could see just what foods/meals would be Ok and enable me to reduce my levels. Some shocks and definitely things to avoid in combination i.e. a pasta dish followed by pancakes, never again.
Pity things fell apart and we were there again but just in diabetic zone this time.