Recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic (44 HbA1c). I can no longer eat any foods that I actually enjoy. Looking for advice/suggestions on alternatives

[CyberpunkV]

Hello. I am in my early 30s and recently had a blood test showing that I have HbA1c of 44. Anything between 42-48 is classed as pre-diabetic. I am also slightly overweight. My BMI is 25.8. I am currently feeling a bit demoralised about my situation and I'm looking for some advice about dietary changes. I have no idea what I am supposed to eat as sugar and carbs are present in so many foods that I eat. I am also a very fussy eater.

For breakfast I usually a bowl of breakfast cereal which, like the vast majority of cereals, has sugar and carbs in it. I also occasionally have toast with butter on. I drink tea with sweeteners and semi-skimmed milk. I also drink a glass of milk most days. For lunch/dinner I either have sandwiches on white bread, or I have ready meals from M&S (usually pasta). I also have soup from a carton which is advertised as healthy, but has sugar and carbs in it. I only drink tea, diet coke and milk. I love tea but it now seems I can't even have it with artificial sweeteners. I don't drink alcohol at all. Have been told that I can't get Metformin on the NHS as I'm not fully diabetic, but I feel as though I'd be better off accepting reality, which is that I'm not going to be able to get my blood sugar down naturally.

I may as well get used to being on medication now. I don't want to live off water, almonds, brazil nuts and kale for the rest of my life. The idea of avoiding sugar and carbs entirely just doesn't seem plausible to me when they are ubiquitous in everything. I can't even have bananas, oranges or pears because they have naturally occurring sugars in them. Is starving myself the only option then? I welcome any advice.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @CyberpunkV 🙂 Who said you had to live off kale and almonds?! You don’t need to avoid all carbs, just reduce them. If you can lose a little weight that will help too, as will increasing your exercise, eg walking after a meal.

You don’t need Metformin, you just need to tweak your diet a little, lose a few pounds and up your exercise a bit 🙂 Many people with Type 2 can reduce their HbA1C to non-diabetic/pre-diabetic levels.

 

[debinfrance]

Have you considered cooking from scratch, soup is not difficult to make, neither is a home made pasta dish where you can control what goes in, add some pulses and a smaller proportion of pasa. The freezer is your friend if you go out to work. Perhaps adding eggs to your breakfast repertoire, take a protein-rich salad in a bowl for lunch for example. I do eat nuts ( chopped on my breakfast yogurt), but in my opinion kale is only fit to be fed to cattle😉 I try to avoid bread, maybe a bit at the weekends but there are plenty of good things to eat out there.
I was offered metformin when my pre-d was diagnosed but preferred to go without and work on my diet.

 

[Leadinglights]

The best way to accept your diagnosis is not to think of what you can't eat but what you can eat.
You are only in the middle of the zone so some modest changes to your diet should be sufficient.
A sandwich with 1 slide of bread (open sandwiches were all the rage in the sixties), alternative non wheat pasta like edamame bean or black bean will be less carbs or just half portion of pasta and plenty of the sauce.
Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, vegetables and salads and fruit like berries are all good foods as they are low carb generally.
Have a look at this link as you may find some recipes and meals that you like but it will show you just what variety of foods you can still eat. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Drummer]

As you are only in the early stages @CyberpunkV why not make some small changes - you can eat protein and fat from any source, so swap the carbs?
Instead of pasta use a low carb option - slices of leek instead of lasagne, chopped cauliflower rather than rice, mashed swede or cauliflower instead of potatoes.
Carb includes sugars, as sugar and starch is digested into simple sugars, which are the problem.
If you can reduce your intake of carb then there is a good chance that your blood glucose levels will reduce too - if you don't eat starchy veges then eating an apple or pear isn't a problem if it is still within the range of carbs you can cope with.
I eat a rather small amount of carbs, under 40 gm a day - but I was left struggling for a decade after a test indicated an inability to deal with carbs. Rather than act on it my GP just stopped requesting the test..... I suspect that I become more broken than I needed to be and lower HbA1c is impossible now, not on diet control anyway - but you have been diagnosed in the early stages so might find that you can revert to normal numbers.