Total newbie!

[Proud to be erratic]

Not even water?

Good question. Personally I thought water would be fine and I also thought a glass of wine would also be fine; but not beer which has carbs that ultimately need to be accounted for. At this early stage keep things simple, however in due course you could (should?) use the structured testing to find out if a glass of wine makes much difference to you - if you are in the habit of having some alcohol with a meal. The confusion creeps in because alcohol can distort BG readings, usually temporarily but not always and the goal right now is to find meals you enjoy and that your body manages to metabolise these satisfactorily.

The 2 hour interval is pretty important since it provides consistency in comparing one event to another. It may be that for you the 2 hr point might be the peak of your BG rise from dealing with a meal. But different meals can have different metabolic responses, frequently influenced by the fat content of that meal. For example your meal this evening of stir-fry veg and a salmon fillet cooked in the air fryer was not only naturally low carb, but also very low fat. Hence no appreciable change between start of meal and 2 hrs later. A slice of pizza would be considered carb high and "finger licking" greasy; the fat content would be highly likely to be slowing down your ability to metabolise such a meal.

The fp numbers are displayed to one decimal point, but this is marketing hype; in practice your readings of 6.3 then 6.1 are effectively the same, ie about 6. It is better to mentally round the nos to the nearest whole number and manage your own expectations: great result, no change. 6 at start then 9 after 2 hrs, would be satisfactory at this stage, but also a meal that wouldn't hurt by being tweaked: a few less carbs in the production or a smaller portion on your plate. 6 at meal start then 12 after 2 hrs: not great - rethink that meal choice.

All these test devices and their strips are manufactured to a cost that keeps them widely affordable and the industry standards allow a +/- 15% margin for accuracy. So try not to get too bogged down or concerned by minor variations; there is a lot of science involved in getting results but overall the management of one's BG is more art than science and it helps to stay relaxed about results. This relaxing "concept" also applies to weighing and measuring. It is good to try to be accurate as one goes along, preventing small errors from accumulating and becoming a big error. Kitchen scales may show a weight to the nearest gram, but in practice a single gram is a tiny quantity when isolated on a set of scales and really makes no difference.

 

[Alan44]

Hi @BTSfan2196 and welcome to the forum.
You have had some excellent advice which I can't really add to, other than to say that when I was diagnosed my hba1c was 51 (not to dissimilar to yours) and I had a text from my surgery directing me to this site.

Having asked a lot of questions and read a lot of threads I decided I would just try and control the controllable's ie
1) Weight
2) Diet
3) Exercise

In 3 months I lost 2st
I changed my diet to low carb (less than 130g per day) and a calorie intake to less than 1200
Increased my exercise as much as I could

My next hba1c (3 months later) was 46 down from 51 and the notes on my records, said "safe and satisfactory for this patient", that said I am 71.

I also got a finger prick tester and just tested every other morning (fasting), just to get a trend and my readings which went from 7.5 to the mid 5's in 3 months.

IMHO, with a hba1c of 53 I would try the lifestyle change first, before medication ( I should say I'm not medically trained), but that is just my opinion.

You should also be getting another hba1c blood test 3 months after the first one to confirm diagnoses

I wish you well and keep asking the questions

Alan 😉

 

[BTSfan2196]

Good question. Personally I thought water would be fine and I also thought a glass of wine would also be fine; but not beer which has carbs that ultimately need to be accounted for. At this early stage keep things simple, however in due course you could (should?) use the structured testing to find out if a glass of wine makes much difference to you - if you are in the habit of having some alcohol with a meal. The confusion creeps in because alcohol can distort BG readings, usually temporarily but not always and the goal right now is to find meals you enjoy and that your body manages to metabolise these satisfactorily.

The 2 hour interval is pretty important since it provides consistency in comparing one event to another. It may be that for you the 2 hr point might be the peak of your BG rise from dealing with a meal. But different meals can have different metabolic responses, frequently influenced by the fat content of that meal. For example your meal this evening of stir-fry veg and a salmon fillet cooked in the air fryer was not only naturally low carb, but also very low fat. Hence no appreciable change between start of meal and 2 hrs later. A slice of pizza would be considered carb high and "finger licking" greasy; the fat content would be highly likely to be slowing down your ability to metabolise such a meal.

The fp numbers are displayed to one decimal point, but this is marketing hype; in practice your readings of 6.3 then 6.1 are effectively the same, ie about 6. It is better to mentally round the nos to the nearest whole number and manage your own expectations: great result, no change. 6 at start then 9 after 2 hrs, would be satisfactory at this stage, but also a meal that wouldn't hurt by being tweaked: a few less carbs in the production or a smaller portion on your plate. 6 at meal start then 12 after 2 hrs: not great - rethink that meal choice.

All these test devices and their strips are manufactured to a cost that keeps them widely affordable and the industry standards allow a +/- 15% margin for accuracy. So try not to get too bogged down or concerned by minor variations; there is a lot of science involved in getting results but overall the management of one's BG is more art than science and it helps to stay relaxed about results. This relaxing "concept" also applies to weighing and measuring. It is good to try to be accurate as one goes along, preventing small errors from accumulating and becoming a big error. Kitchen scales may show a weight to the nearest gram, but in practice a single gram is a tiny quantity when isolated on a set of scales and really makes no difference.

Thank you for your reply. This is really helpful and makes a lot of sense. My aim is to lose weight as well as bringing my BG down so I am hoping that making these choices about my meals will be the way forward. I appreciate your detailed answer!

 

[BTSfan2196]

Hi @BTSfan2196 and welcome to the forum.
You have had some excellent advice which I can't really add to, other than to say that when I was diagnosed my hba1c was 51 (not to dissimilar to yours) and I had a text from my surgery directing me to this site.

Having asked a lot of questions and read a lot of threads I decided I would just try and control the controllable's ie
1) Weight
2) Diet
3) Exercise

In 3 months I lost 2st
I changed my diet to low carb (less than 130g per day) and a calorie intake to less than 1200
Increased my exercise as much as I could

My next hba1c (3 months later) was 46 down from 51 and the notes on my records, said "safe and satisfactory for this patient", that said I am 71.

I also got a finger prick tester and just tested every other morning (fasting), just to get a trend and my readings which went from 7.5 to the mid 5's in 3 months.

IMHO, with a hba1c of 53 I would try the lifestyle change first, before medication ( I should say I'm not medically trained), but that is just my opinion.

You should also be getting another hba1c blood test 3 months after the first one to confirm diagnoses

I wish you well and keep asking the questions

Alan 😉

Thanks Alan. The more I read, the more I feel that I want to try without the medication first. I feel I’m in a good mindset to do this and I am willing to do the work!
Congratulations on your success - your hard work has clearly paid off and I hope I can have a similar story in the future! Thanks for replying.

 

[inquisitive23]

IMHO (and of the World Health Organisation!) at 53 GPs should offer the option of diet and exercise. Medication to follow only if that fails. All things equal I'd suggest you target HbA1c of 35-38 and aim to keep down there for good.

I followed a real food version of the Newcastle diet to get my FBG down from three figures to normal in 7 days and my HbA1c down to 39 in 3 months. Now I know there are easier ways to go about it. And so does Prof Roy Taylor, watch this talk.

Suggest you have a look at these:
1. https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/A_5_page_low_carb_diet_leaflet_Unwin_2021-converted.pdf
(maybe all you need to know)
2. What should we eat? https://www.zoeharcombe.com/2021/08/what-should-we-eat/
(read the weight loss section)
3. https://www.lowcarbfreshwell.com/documents/8/Freshwell_Red_Amber_Green.pdf
(explore the website, great graphics, app not for me)
4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfenN1cLfGNHa7qBp9KDh1u1iqxvTGJF/view
(more comprehensive than #3)
5. https://realmealrevolution.com/the-books
(get the original RMR book on Abe Books for the price of a coffee. Well presented with simple recipes from a master chef, and an excellent essay on the science from Prof Tim Noakes)

These are all variations on the same theme. I track my nutrients with Cronometer (free version) and eat low GL foods so no need to track my BG all the time. Get rid of your excess visceral fat and you should be good to go.

Hi, Thanks for this. I dont want to be on Metformin for the rest of my life.
Hi All, I am a newly diagnosed Diabetic (Type 2) 30th Sep 24. I am 50. I have never visited the surgery since 2012; then, I go for a checkup at the end of Sep 24 as I turned 50. I have been diagnosed with this.
I wear CGM. I was at 93 mmol/mol at the time of the test (non-fasting) and got it down to around an estimated 7.5 mmol/l in the last 2.5 months (according to sugr app).
When I take protein, my blood sugar level doesn't increase. Immediately, when I take fruit, rice (a staple food), chickpeas, or any carb, I am not able to eat any food I love. I am vegetarian, lactose intolerant, and not overweight. My BMI is standard, i.e. 22. My visceral fat is 4.6%, and my subcutaneous fat is 22.6%, both are standard.
I have never been a friend of unhealthy baked foods; I have been very disciplined and have not been a fan of frozen fast food. I cook my food so, I know what goes in. I only go to a restaurant occasionally, maybe 2-3 times a year or when I am away for work, which I have not been for the last 3-4 years due to COVID and the nature of work. My negative is my fibre intake is not good, apart from cooked indian food. I always eat sparingly. Yes, I have had a binging problem since a young age for a few weeks on a favourite food and then stop. No one has to put a stop to it; my body and mind stop doing it. I never have a craving again for that food.
My blood pressure is normal, and the Chol:HDL ratio is 2.8 mmol/l. However, I have a high LDL (3.3 mmol/L), which increases my cholesterol to 5.9 mmol/l. I am based in the UK so that the measurements will be confusing.
My objective is to go into remission and still follow a healthy diet as a normal, healthy person. I want to avoid any age-related uncertainties where possible.
However, when I went to see nurse on 16th, she said my reading is 63 mmol/mol, which is different from the app. I really don't understand. It felt like they didn't want you to recover but manage this on medicine.

TIA

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi, Thanks for this. I dont want to be on Metformin for the rest of my life.
Hi All, I am a newly diagnosed Diabetic (Type 2) 30th Sep 24. I am 50. I have never visited the surgery since 2012; then, I go for a checkup at the end of Sep 24 as I turned 50. I have been diagnosed with this.
I wear CGM. I was at 93 mmol/mol at the time of the test (non-fasting) and got it down to around an estimated 7.5 mmol/l in the last 2.5 months (according to sugr app).
When I take protein, my blood sugar level doesn't increase. Immediately, when I take fruit, rice (a staple food), chickpeas, or any carb, I am not able to eat any food I love. I am vegetarian, lactose intolerant, and not overweight. My BMI is standard, i.e. 22. My visceral fat is 4.6%, and my subcutaneous fat is 22.6%, both are standard.
I have never been a friend of unhealthy baked foods; I have been very disciplined and have not been a fan of frozen fast food. I cook my food so, I know what goes in. I only go to a restaurant occasionally, maybe 2-3 times a year or when I am away for work, which I have not been for the last 3-4 years due to COVID and the nature of work. My negative is my fibre intake is not good, apart from cooked indian food. I always eat sparingly. Yes, I have had a binging problem since a young age for a few weeks on a favourite food and then stop. No one has to put a stop to it; my body and mind stop doing it. I never have a craving again for that food.
My blood pressure is normal, and the Chol:HDL ratio is 2.8 mmol/l. However, I have a high LDL (3.3 mmol/L), which increases my cholesterol to 5.9 mmol/l. I am based in the UK so that the measurements will be confusing.
My objective is to go into remission and still follow a healthy diet as a normal, healthy person. I want to avoid any age-related uncertainties where possible.
However, when I went to see nurse on 16th, she said my reading is 63 mmol/mol, which is different from the app. I really don't understand. It felt like they didn't want you to recover but manage this on medicine.

TIA

Welcome to the forum
You may be having a bit of confusion about the different measurements so to clarify. The two results of 93mmol/mol and 63mmol/mol will be from an HbA1C test which is basically the average blood glucose over the 3 months prior to the test and yours show you are well over the diagnostic level of 48mmol/mol but shows good progress from your first test to the second.
The number you are getting from either finger prick readings or a CGM will be in mmol/l and show your blood glucose at a moment in time which will go up and down throughout the day and night in response to a number of things but mostly the food you eat.
It is ALL carbohydrates that convert to glucose not just sugary foods but some people do tolerate some carbs better than others so will adjust there diet accordingly. Some people find they cope with bread but not rice or pasta and others will be the other way round, similarly some people tolerate pulses better than others but you have the benefit of a CGM so that will help you see what foods and meals work well for you. For those who are Type 2 the aim is to be 4-7mmol/l fasting and before meals and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal if it is more then your meal is too carb heavy.
This link has a vegetarian meal plan which may give you some ideas but obviously some may not suit you if you have other food restrictions https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Many find the book or app Carbs and Cals very useful as it has the carb values for different portion sizes of a whole range of foods, I believe there is a World Food version which covers ethnic foods and meals.
Do browse around the forum as there are other links which you may find useful.
There are quite a few others who are vegetarian and there are recipes in the food and recipes section.