Prediabetic

[Sulfate]

Diabetes and pre-diabetes are conditions where you have to ‘be your own expert’ quite a bit @Sulfate and advocate for yourself a surprising amount. You sound very organised so you might have already done this anyway, but if not, compile a short list of questions for your GP. Don’t let them grab hold of the conversation and talk over you, take control and get your questions in.

Where can I find out roughly how many carbs max I should be eating a day please?

 

[Sulfate]

Hi and welcome. I can see why you are a bit puzzled as you are slim and fit. And your meals certainly sound very healthy. So I had a look at your diet, and ran it through my app for calories and carbs.

Diabetes UK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day. I assumed low or fat free, medium slices/portions, 1oz cheese, 220gm baked potato, baked chicken quarter, 75gm noodles, semi skimmed milk. Your breakfast came to 330 cals with 28gm carbs. Your cheese sandwich lunch came to 350 cals and a whopping 48.5gm carbs. Your baked potato with prawns, smoked salmon, cheese and salad came to 520 cals and 60.9 gm carbs. So those 3 meals came to 1200 cals and 137.4gm carbs. This is before you take into account drinks and any snacks, like fruit you may have. 6 mugs of tea would add 110 cals and 11.4gm carbs. Your chicken salad meal was 325 cals and 25.4gm carbs. The prawn stir fry was a surprising 534 cals and 44.9 gm carbs.

It is my gut feeling - and I am ready to be disagreed with - that your diet is a bit carb heavy for a pre diabetic person. You might look to reducing your carb intake with a few tweaks. For example, an open sandwich on a small slice of wholemeal or low carb bread, piled with salad. Replacing the noodles in your stir fry with cauliflower rice, or using Bare Naked carb free noodles. Most of us avoid breakfast cereals, but when I do have some, I only have 25gm oat based cereal, with unsweetened almond milk and 40gm mixed berries. My breakfast of choice is a poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes. Others have the berries and yogurt without the cereal. I love a baked potato, but look for the smallest ones and fill up with protein. I'm hoping with just a few carb tweaks you can get your next HbA1c below the magic 42.

PS: I got my latest HbA1c yesterday, and had dropped 17 points - so I treated myself to an Indian takeaway. Back on the carb count today!

I have downloaded Nutracheck and will give it a go. How do I find out how many carbs I should be aiming for to reduce my HbA1c?

 

[Inka]

Where can I find out roughly how many carbs max I should be eating a day please?

There’s no one answer to that @Sulfate Not an amount anyway. The general answer is as many/few as you as an individual need to keep your blood sugar in a normal range. That number will vary depending on a number of factors.

If someone had an HbA1C the same as yours and was eating 400g carbs a day, they might only need to reduce that to 220g to allow their body to maintain a normal blood sugar. You’ve reduced your carbs, and you seem to be eating very roughly 130g per day or just below, so, as a starting point, you could try maybe reducing your intake to 100g per day and see if that has any effect. Remember too that exercise will help your sensitivity. This can be something like a 20 min walk after your evening meal or even keeping active around the house rather than sitting down.

 

[Inka]

A blood glucose meter (no, I’m not on commission!) will help guide your food choices and show you whether a meal works for you. I’m Type 1 not Type 2, but if I was Type 2 I’d definitely get a meter as it would provide helpful information used appropriately.

 

[Leadinglights]

Getting a glucose monitor and establishing a testing regime is key to being able to make those subtle changes to your carb intake. If you don't want to lose weight you could increase your fat by having full fat yoghurt and cheese without adding carbs.
As you are already having quite a low carb diet then just a few substitutions and portion reduction may be sufficient. By increasing veg and salad and a bit more fat and protein will help you in not feeling hungry and maintain weight.
Less than 130g per day is regarded as low carb but some people do go lower than that, But testing will show you what you need to do.
A couple of inexpensive reliable monitors are The GlucoNavil and Spirit TEE2. The cost of the strips is the consideration and those monitors have the cheapest strips. You will get a few lancets and strips with the kit but will need to buy extra strips at the same time, you can unofficially reuse the lancets but may choose to buy more. Monitor about £15 strips £13 for 100. Certainly if diabetic you don't need to pay VAT but not sure about if prediabetic.

 

[Drummer]

Ordinary type twos usually find that there is a reduction in the increase after meals if they cut back on the amount of carbs they eat - I saw a reduction from 17.1 at diagnosis to under 7 at all times, just from low carb meals.
The simplest option - as your levels are only a little elevated might be to reduce the high carb options - grains, potatoes and sugary fruit, increase the protein and fats and wait for the next Hba1c test.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Hi and welcome. I can see why you are a bit puzzled as you are slim and fit. And your meals certainly sound very healthy. So I had a look at your diet, and ran it through my app for calories and carbs.

Diabetes UK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day. I assumed low or fat free, medium slices/portions, 1oz cheese, 220gm baked potato, baked chicken quarter, 75gm noodles, semi skimmed milk. Your breakfast came to 330 cals with 28gm carbs. Your cheese sandwich lunch came to 350 cals and a whopping 48.5gm carbs. Your baked potato with prawns, smoked salmon, cheese and salad came to 520 cals and 60.9 gm carbs. So those 3 meals came to 1200 cals and 137.4gm carbs. This is before you take into account drinks and any snacks, like fruit you may have. 6 mugs of tea would add 110 cals and 11.4gm carbs. Your chicken salad meal was 325 cals and 25.4gm carbs. The prawn stir fry was a surprising 534 cals and 44.9 gm carbs.

It is my gut feeling - and I am ready to be disagreed with - that your diet is a bit carb heavy for a pre diabetic person. You might look to reducing your carb intake with a few tweaks. For example, an open sandwich on a small slice of wholemeal or low carb bread, piled with salad. Replacing the noodles in your stir fry with cauliflower rice, or using Bare Naked carb free noodles. Most of us avoid breakfast cereals, but when I do have some, I only have 25gm oat based cereal, with unsweetened almond milk and 40gm mixed berries. My breakfast of choice is a poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes. Others have the berries and yogurt without the cereal. I love a baked potato, but look for the smallest ones and fill up with protein. I'm hoping with just a few carb tweaks you can get your next HbA1c below the magic 42.

PS: I got my latest HbA1c yesterday, and had dropped 17 points - so I treated myself to an Indian takeaway. Back on the carb count today!

130g?
Do you have a link to that, I've never seen anything like that on here?

Usually most people tailor their diet to one that suits them, and is sustainable, while giving a good BG.

 

[Leadinglights]

130g?
Do you have a link to that, I've never seen anything like that on here?

Usually most people tailor their diet to one that suits them, and is sustainable, while giving a good BG.

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

Ta, I probably missed it, to be fair, I looked at

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/i-have-type-2-diabetes.

and clicked through to the Mediterranean diet option.

 

[Inka]

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

Thats just for people looking to follow a Low Carb diet. I can’t see any recommendation that people must eat less than 130g. In fact, the page says:

“There is no such thing as a special diet exclusively for people with type 2 diabetes. No two people with diabetes are the same. So there isn’t a one-size-fits-all way of eating for everyone with diabetes.”

Which echoes what Mike said in his ‘broad church’ thread a while ago.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thats just for people looking to follow a Low Carb diet. I can’t see any recommendation that people must eat less than 130g. In fact, the page says:

“There is no such thing as a special diet exclusively for people with type 2 diabetes. No two people with diabetes are the same. So there isn’t a one-size-fits-all way of eating for everyone with diabetes.”

Which echoes what Mike said in his ‘broad church’ thread a while ago.

I don't think there was any implication of that but you yourself suggested that @Sulfate tried 100g per day as 130g was what she was already having and others asked for the info.

 

[Inka]

I don't think there was any implication of that but you yourself suggested that @Sulfate tried 100g per day as 130g was what she was already having and others asked for the info.

Yes, I did - but I’m not claiming my advice was official DUK advice and I gave it as a suggestion in response to the OP’s 130g not improving their HbA1C. I also said that 225g might work for someone with the same HbA1C. Earlier in this thread it was said that DUK themselves advised less than 130g. I didn’t think that was true but left it. Then another member questioned it too so I looked at the source - which didn’t say that. I still haven’t seen that on the DUK site.

Is the answer not each individual should eat the amount of carbs that works for them? Or does DUK in fact recommend specific carb amounts? I haven’t found any such recommendation but if you have I’d be happy to see that and accept that.

“Diabetes UK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day” - that was what was said and what I and others were querying.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Yes, I did - but I’m not claiming my advice was official DUK advice and I gave it as a suggestion in response to the OP’s 130g not improving their HbA1C. I also said that 225g might work for someone with the same HbA1C. Earlier in this thread it was said that DUK themselves advised less than 130g. I didn’t think that was true but left it. Then another member questioned it too so I looked at the source - which didn’t say that. I still haven’t seen that on the DUK site.

Is the answer not each individual should eat the amount of carbs that works for them? Or does DUK in fact recommend specific carb amounts? I haven’t found any such recommendation but if you have I’d be happy to see that and accept that.

“Diabetes UK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day” - that was what was said and what I and others were querying.

It's not DUK advice.
It's more a suggestion for the percentage of members on here who choose a "low carb" diet, of what a ballpark figure should be, should they consider low carb as an option.

 

[Sulfate]

Thanks all for your really helpful advice. I will post an update when I have spoken to my GP. I have downloaded Nutracheck which I think will be very helpful, as something I was eating tonight was only green for sugar which has been my guide but the carbs were a massive 75g!! Has anyone taken part in the Diabetes prevention programme? My GP referred me but to be honest it hasn't helped me at all.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks all for your really helpful advice. I will post an update when I have spoken to my GP. I have downloaded Nutracheck which I think will be very helpful, as something I was eating tonight was only green for sugar which has been my guide but the carbs were a massive 75g!! Has anyone taken part in the Diabetes prevention programme? My GP referred me but to be honest it hasn't helped me at all.

The best advise is to look at the total carbohydrate as some things can say low sugar but still be high carb, and 'healthy' foods can be deceptively high carb. But with your app you should be able to check things out and be able to make better choices.
I have done the MYDESMOND program on line version. fairly basic but does have some good suggestions but you will learn more from this site.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I found the DESMOND course very good.
I did the group meeting a long time ago, not the online course.
Like everything, you need to go in with an open mind, and you'll get out as much as you put into it.

 

[Sulfate]

The best advise is to look at the total carbohydrate as some things can say low sugar but still be high carb, and 'healthy' foods can be deceptively high carb. But with your app you should be able to check things out and be able to make better choices.
I have done the MYDESMOND program on line version. fairly basic but does have some good suggestions but you will learn more from this site.

I definitely will and already have learnt more. I want to get my HbA1c back to 41, that's my goal.

 

[Perfect10]

Hi Sulfate, I am also prediabetic but have managed to reduce my HbA1c level.
You may just need a few tweaks to your diet like a lower carb bread, swopping rice or potatoes for cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash a couple of times a week etc. There is lots of help and advice on this forum. You may find yourself reading labels on everything you buy for a while just to get to know the carb heavy foods.

 

[Felinia]

Yes, I did - but I’m not claiming my advice was official DUK advice and I gave it as a suggestion in response to the OP’s 130g not improving their HbA1C. I also said that 225g might work for someone with the same HbA1C. Earlier in this thread it was said that DUK themselves advised less than 130g. I didn’t think that was true but left it. Then another member questioned it too so I looked at the source - which didn’t say that. I still haven’t seen that on the DUK site.

Is the answer not each individual should eat the amount of carbs that works for them? Or does DUK in fact recommend specific carb amounts? I haven’t found any such recommendation but if you have I’d be happy to see that and accept that.

“Diabetes UK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day” - that was what was said and what I and others were querying.

I stand corrected

 

[Sulfate]

Hi Sulfate, I am also prediabetic but have managed to reduce my HbA1c level.
You may just need a few tweaks to your diet like a lower carb bread, swopping rice or potatoes for cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash a couple of times a week etc. There is lots of help and advice on this forum. You may find yourself reading labels on everything you buy for a while just to get to know the carb heavy foods.

Hi Perfect 10 thanks so much for your post, it's good to have contact with another prediabetic.
Can you tell me which low carb bread you use and cauliflower rice etc and anything else which has helped you?