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Klinkhammer

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Type 2
Hi.
Im 62 and just found out im type 2. Always enjoyed good health and fitness and never been overweight, so its a bit of shock. I accept i have to make a few life style changes but i seem to be getting conflicting info about diet.
Hope to find some answers here in the near future.
Thanks in advance to all
 
Diagnosed this week as type 2.
Saw the doc and nurse who gave me lots of info and giving me time to try to control it by diet.
I was advised to download an interesting app called, Freshwell. This was interesting
But looking on DiabetesUK site and the food groups/ and recipes seem to be in conflict with what the docs and Freshwell advise.
For example, a red food to avoid on Freshwell is melon, but on Diabetesuk it seems ok?
Same for pasta.
How do you find out the truth?
I dont need to loose weight. Currently been given Metformin but not yet taking it.
Thanks in advance
 
Hi and welcome.

Can yu tell us a bit about how your diagnosis happened? ie. Was it found during a routine blood test/MOT or were you symptomatic and if so, which symptoms? Or perhaps some other means?

Have you been prescribed any medication for the diabetes and do you know your HbA1c result? This is the blood test used to diagnose and monitor your diabetes and is usually a number in excess of 47 but can be into 3 figures if things are quite badly amiss.

As regards diet, yes it can be quite confusing and it takes a bit of getting your head around and it does vary from one person to the next to a certain extent.
In general, all carbohydrates break down into glucose through digestion and are absorbed into your blood stream where as a diabetic, your body is struggling to balance them, so in theory, the less carbs you eat, the less glucose is going into your blood stream and therefore the better your body can manage to balance it. Some foods release their glucose faster than others and sometimes the body can cope with the slower releasing ones better, but which foods release fast and which slowly can come down to your individual digestive system, so for instance, porridge which being made of grains (oats) is high carb, can be slow release for some people and rocket fuel for others like me. Added to that, some people have diabetes because their body's Blood Glucose (BG) balancing mechanism isn't working effectively because it isn't releasing insulin quickly enough or their body has become numb to that insulin (insulin resistance) and others because it isn't able to produce/release enough insulin. Added to that, peoples tastes are different so they prefer different foods to others. And then there are the marketing strategies which hope to tap into people's vulnerability and suggest particular foods are beneficial for diabetes when they may not be.

The two main approaches are losing weight via a short term low calorie diet (usually 800cals a day) to try to burn off any visceral fat around the liver and pancreas which will hopefully enable them to work more efficiently again to balance your BG levels.
Reduce the amount of carbohydrate you eat so that you are not putting as much glucose into your blood stream and therefore gives your body an easier job of dealing with it, that is can hopefully manage.

Carbohydrates are both sugars (refined and naturally occurring) and starchy foods like grains or grain products, so bread, pasta, rice, couscous, pastry (basically anything made with flour) and potatoes, even sweet potatoes..
Things like cakes and biscuits contain both sugars and starchy carbs so even low sugar options may still have a lot of carbs due to the flour content, so don't be fooled by opting for low sugar options with bakes goods. The total carb content is the important information.
There are natural sugars in fruits and vegetables, so whilst these are considered healthy options, choosing mostly from the lower carb fruits and veg is helpful. So berries are the lowest carb and the likes of bananas and mangos and grapes are at the other end of the scale. Apples and oranges etc are somewhere in the middle. Most of us have a few berries with our breakfast as our daily fruit ration. Berries are packed with beneficial nutrients so a small portion provides most of what we need. Bananas are a very rare treat for me and when I have one, I choose a slightly under ripe one and I have half one day and the other half the next, to reduce the carb input. Similarly as regards portion control, I have half an apple for lunch quite regularly with some cheese and the other half the next day, but that is more of a regular treat as apples are medium carb.

I have my bolognaise on a bed of broccoli or green beans or shredded cabbage or spiralized courgette instead of spaghetti. Similarly I have curry on a bed of veg as above or grated cauliflower... referred to as cauliflower rice. I have butternut squash or celeriac or swede roasted instead of potatoes or even made into chips and that will go with steak and salad or gammon or bacon and eggs or lamb or pork chops. Cauliflower also works really well mashed as a masked potato alternative and can be used with bangers or to top cottage/shepherd's/fish pie and topped with plenty of grated cheese. Anyway, just a few meal ideas for you.

If any of the above doesn't make sense then ask and going low carb can cause issues with some diabetes medication so it is important to know what you are prescribed before making drastic changes and to be honest, any changes you make to diet should be slow and steady to give your body a chance to adjust, especially if your HbA1c is high, because your eyes are particularly vulnerable to sudden changes in blood glucose levels. Following a low carb way of eating can be a very powerful tool in managing diabetes, more powerful than most oral medication and indeed some people have come off insulin after adopting this way of eating, so it is important to make changes slowly to allow your body to adjust without risk, particularly to the very fine blood vessels in your retina.

The way I did it was to stop all the sweet stuff first for a couple of weeks and then started to whittle down the bread and pasta and potatoes the next few weeks and then fruit and finally my morning porridge was the last thing to get ditched.
 
Thank you.
I had been feeling generally unwell for several months, like i was getting the flu but it never developed, and was ongoing for a long time. I was tired all the time and dometimes sleeping in day, which is something i dont do normally. I was also sweating heavily for no reason and unable to sleep at night.
A blood test showed a high crp level and sugar level was 68. A second test saw the crp level back to normal but my sugar kevel was then 72.
I dont eat a lot biscuits or chocolate so its no loss cutting them out. I can knock the wine off the list easily and was probably having too much anyway.
My main problem is i dont want/need to lose weight.
I accept i need a reduction in carbs but the info im looking at seems contradictary. Hence, The point about being ok and not ok
I know all people are different.
Many thanks
Tony
 
Klinkhammer said:
Diagnosed this week as type 2.
Saw the doc and nurse who gave me lots of info and giving me time to try to control it by diet.
I was advised to download an interesting app called, Freshwell. This was interesting
But looking on DiabetesUK site and the food groups/ and recipes seem to be in conflict with what the docs and Freshwell advise.
For example, a red food to avoid on Freshwell is melon, but on Diabetesuk it seems ok?
Same for pasta.
How do you find out the truth?
I dont need to loose weight. Currently been given Metformin but not yet taking it.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum
The conflict comes largely from the DUK site following the more traditional NHS way but the Freshwell approach if you read the intro recognises that that way is too high in carbs for many who are trying to manage their condition with dietary changes.
Everybody is different in how their body tolerates carbohydrates and the only way YOU will know is the test with a home blood glucose monitor, testing before you eat and after 2 hours where an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l indicates your meal is OK. This also allows you to find which foods you are OK with as well as those that should be avoided or only had in small portions or occasionally.
For things like melon there will be a difference in the carbs depending on what type of melon it is, the sweeter ones being higher carb but still something that people may tolerate better than say apples.
I followed the principals in the Freshwell approach and reduced HbA1C from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months and down to 38 in another 6 months.
I do not have rice, the pasta I have is black bean or edamame bean as it is low carb, I do have a small amount of bread.
and only a 15-20g portion of a low carb granola on full fat Greek yoghurt and berries (being the lowest carb fruit)
If you don't need to lose weight then make sure your meals have plenty of protein and healthy fats as once you cut the carbs down you likely will if you don't.
 
The other thing to consider is that Diabetes UK caters for everyone with diabetes.
This includes those of us with Type 1 who are much less likely to have insulin resistance so can eat carbs provided we inject insulin.
 
Hi @Klinkhammer and welcome to the forum and to the world of those who have problems with automatic blood glucose control but do not fit the "Daily Mail" stereotype of somebody who has T2 diabetes. There are a lot of us about and a fair few on the forum. I am on a one man campaign to get the T2 label reformed simply because it encompasses too many causes of poor blood glucose control into one box. A bit more subdivision and the better targeting would, in my opinion, improve treatment outcomes no end.

Cutting the carb intake, along with some medication, was my route to keeping my blood glucose under control with the carb reduction being the most significant factor. I did not go to extremes and institute some fancy diet or other, I did all that was necessary by looking at my diet and doing some nudging and shifting, some elimination and some recipe adjustment to get my carb intake down. All generally done by trial and error, looking at carb levels of things, and reducing intake of the big contributors. I'm not an advocate of magic, instant solutions. A bit of understanding combined with a bit of dicipline and dogged determination is much more likely to work.

As an exercise, sit down with a pencil and paper and list in detail everything you consume in a week. Then start working out the carb contents of everything. Then look for the low hanging fruit (sometimes literally) and deal with those. You can make big changes by a bit of portion control on things like potatoes, changing your breakfast routine or even changing what bread you eat. One tip is to ignore lebels on the front of packets, particularly if described as healthy. Go for the nutrional info panel on the back which will give you the information you really need.

Read around the forum and see what others have done to get their levels down and from those experience you can workout a route to suit you. There will be one somewhere, you just got to tease it out.
 
Klinkhammer said:
Diagnosed this week as type 2.
Saw the doc and nurse who gave me lots of info and giving me time to try to control it by diet.
I was advised to download an interesting app called, Freshwell. This was interesting
But looking on DiabetesUK site and the food groups/ and recipes seem to be in conflict with what the docs and Freshwell advise.
For example, a red food to avoid on Freshwell is melon, but on Diabetesuk it seems ok?
Same for pasta.
How do you find out the truth?
I dont need to loose weight. Currently been given Metformin but not yet taking it.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

People with diabetes eat varied diets. There are also different types of diabetes, eg Type 1 and Type 3c. Although they’re less common than Type 2, we like to make recipes too!

I like the Diabetes U.K. recipes as they’re all carb-counted (people with Type 1 can eat a normal diet pretty much but have to count carbs to calculate their mealtime insulin).

You find the truth for you and your Type 2 (which is often linked to insulin resistance) by seeing what works for you as an individual. Using a blood glucose meter can help you find meals/foods that work best for your blood sugar.
 
Leadinglights said:
I have replied in your other thread. @everydayupsanddowns maybe these could be amalgamated.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum @Klinkhammer 🙂

I’ve merged your threads together to keep your replies in one place, and make it easier for members to follow the conversation.

I’m always a little cautious about predefined red and green lists of
foods, partly because of the experiences I frequently see expressed on the forum, and how individual reactions can be even to foods with well established ‘slow release carbs‘ reputations like porridge.

Plus as you point out, it can cause frustration and confusion for anyone looking for reliable information.

Given the individual variability, a popular approach on the forum is to use a food’s reputation as a guide, but then to check it yourself with the help of a BG meter to find the sources of carbs and portion sizes that work for you as an individual. 🙂
 
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