Prediabetic

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Brisul

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At risk of diabetes
Hi
I have just found out I’m prediabetic , my mum and all her sisters were diabetic . So I’m here to get my diet on track try and lose some weight and learn what I should and shouldn’t eat to try and prevent diabetes .
 
Hello and welcome. You are in the right place here, and with a family history of diabetes, are hopefully better prepared than the people whose diagnosis comes out of the blue.
I suggest you work through the Learning Zone, for the best way forward for a pre diabetic. I am reluctant to say "should and shouldn't eat" as every person's body is different, and reacts differently to various foods. I prefer to say "be mindful of what you are eating, and in moderation with high carb foods". Current thinking is to follow a reduced carb diet, the suggested amount being less than 130gm per day in total (food, drink, snacks, treats). This does not mean NO carbs - in fact that's virtually impossible as even the humble lettuce has carbs. As you are pre diabetic and need to lose weight, a few tweaks to your lifestyle should hopefully do the trick. I had to experiment to find out what carb level suited me, and now aim for 75-90gm a day. But I am full blown Type 2. Some people are more sensitive to carbs, so have less, and others can eat more.
The first thing to do is start a totally honest intake diary - food, drink, snacks. The foods to look out for are bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereals, many fruits, processed foods, plus of course cakes, biscuits, sweets, pastries. Brown versions have just as many carbs as white versions, but may be slower acting. The way to find out which foods affect you is by testing, immediately before and 2 hours after first bite, to see how your blood glucose rises. You would have to fund a glucose monitor and strips yourself. (Others will make suggestions). I also got an app which keeps my food diary for me (easier than working out each item), and measures amongst other things, calories and carbs. That way you will soon work out which foods affect you and which do not.
I tested for a few weeks to get the idea, and now I just test for new foods. For example, I can eat a couple of new potatoes, or a medium slice of no sugar added wholemeal bread from a 400gm loaf. But I can't take rice, pasta or strangely, apples! Instead I look for substitutes, such as cauliflower rice/mash, roasted squash wedges, black bean pasta, courgetti. The forum Food/carb queries and recipes will give you lots of ideas.
5 years into my journey I still plan my daily food and keep the diary. I have found lots of different foods and enjoy experimenting. My slow cooker is my new best friend. I also went back to the swimming pool after more than 50 years, and now do 2/3 aquafit classes a week. I know others who cycle, or do classes like yoga or pilates. Even a daily walk is good for you, dog optional.
Best wishes
 
@Brisul You could also look at Forks Over Knives, Joel Fuhrman, Rip Esselstyn, Michael Greger (How Not To Die), etc. They promote a low fat whole food plant-based diet, which has been shown to help diabetes. There are a number of diets that might help you. You need to find what works for you as an individual. Also, of course, there are other health considerations apart from diabetes that you’ll want to consider.

Diabetes U.K. has some Meal Planners here:

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk

In addition, if you have any weight to lose, particularly abdominal fat, then losing that will help, as will exercise.
 
There is a lot to read through with all those suggestions but when you are ready another one to add to the mix. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
I found the principals successful rather than the meal plans as such but there are many options there based on real food.
 
Felinia said:
Hello and welcome. You are in the right place here, and with a family history of diabetes, are hopefully better prepared than the people whose diagnosis comes out of the blue.
I suggest you work through the Learning Zone, for the best way forward for a pre diabetic. I am reluctant to say "should and shouldn't eat" as every person's body is different, and reacts differently to various foods. I prefer to say "be mindful of what you are eating, and in moderation with high carb foods". Current thinking is to follow a reduced carb diet, the suggested amount being less than 130gm per day in total (food, drink, snacks, treats). This does not mean NO carbs - in fact that's virtually impossible as even the humble lettuce has carbs. As you are pre diabetic and need to lose weight, a few tweaks to your lifestyle should hopefully do the trick. I had to experiment to find out what carb level suited me, and now aim for 75-90gm a day. But I am full blown Type 2. Some people are more sensitive to carbs, so have less, and others can eat more.
The first thing to do is start a totally honest intake diary - food, drink, snacks. The foods to look out for are bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereals, many fruits, processed foods, plus of course cakes, biscuits, sweets, pastries. Brown versions have just as many carbs as white versions, but may be slower acting. The way to find out which foods affect you is by testing, immediately before and 2 hours after first bite, to see how your blood glucose rises. You would have to fund a glucose monitor and strips yourself. (Others will make suggestions). I also got an app which keeps my food diary for me (easier than working out each item), and measures amongst other things, calories and carbs. That way you will soon work out which foods affect you and which do not.
I tested for a few weeks to get the idea, and now I just test for new foods. For example, I can eat a couple of new potatoes, or a medium slice of no sugar added wholemeal bread from a 400gm loaf. But I can't take rice, pasta or strangely, apples! Instead I look for substitutes, such as cauliflower rice/mash, roasted squash wedges, black bean pasta, courgetti. The forum Food/carb queries and recipes will give you lots of ideas.
5 years into my journey I still plan my daily food and keep the diary. I have found lots of different foods and enjoy experimenting. My slow cooker is my new best friend. I also went back to the swimming pool after more than 50 years, and now do 2/3 aquafit classes a week. I know others who cycle, or do classes like yoga or pilates. Even a daily walk is good for you, dog optional.
Best wishes
Click to expand...
Thank you very much that is all very helpful .
 
Inka said:
@Brisul You could also look at Forks Over Knives, Joel Fuhrman, Rip Esselstyn, Michael Greger (How Not To Die), etc. They promote a low fat whole food plant-based diet, which has been shown to help diabetes. There are a number of diets that might help you. You need to find what works for you as an individual. Also, of course, there are other health considerations apart from diabetes that you’ll want to consider.

Diabetes U.K. has some Meal Planners here:

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk

In addition, if you have any weight to lose, particularly abdominal fat, then losing that will help, as will exercise.
Click to expand...
Sounds good as I’m a vegetarian.
 
Welcome to the forum @Brisul

As you can see there are lots of different options and approaches that different people choose to help them manage their diabetes. This can feel a bit contradictory and confusing, because some of these different schools of thought either increase or reduce different food groups. Which can be a little perplexing when comparing different approaches! Especially at the more extreme edges with contradictory ‘eat this’ ‘avoid this’ lists. 🙂

Many of the forum find it more useful to sit away from the edges of the spectrum, where greater flexibility means that approaches are more likely to make a sustainable new ‘way of eating’.
 
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