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Totally Confused With Food Advice

C

Cold1880

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi Everyone
I have been a Type 2 for 25 years.Have totally fallen off the rails.Wentfrom HBA1C of 68 two years ago(not great i know) to 93 last week.I exercise walking every day.Just seen everyone around me was having a life and eating what they wanted and i was miserable watching every bite i ate.Anyway im now trying to eat healthily again but im getting totally conflicting reports about food.For instance i eat one banana a day at my 10 o clock tea break.You go one place and it says a good option because of the fibre and then another place says too high in sugar.This is only one example of conflicting information.Also things like muesli,is this not a good option even though its got oats and nuts and no added sugar.It appears from information on the net this is not good.Just where the heck do i find out things i can eat.I dont want my life reduced to measuring everything i eat.Im 6' 1" and 14st 7lbs and takes a lot o fill me.In fact im almost always hungry.Are there any links to the foodstuffs i can eat without a sugar fountain coming out my ears.
 
Cold1880 said:
Hi Everyone
I have been a Type 2 for 25 years.Have totally fallen off the rails.Wentfrom HBA1C of 68 two years ago(not great i know) to 93 last week.I exercise walking every day.Just seen everyone around me was having a life and eating what they wanted and i was miserable watching every bite i ate.Anyway im now trying to eat healthily again but im getting totally conflicting reports about food.For instance i eat one banana a day at my 10 o clock tea break.You go one place and it says a good option because of the fibre and then another place says too high in sugar.This is only one example of conflicting information.Also things like muesli,is this not a good option even though its got oats and nuts and no added sugar.It appears from information on the net this is not good.Just where the heck do i find out things i can eat.I dont want my life reduced to measuring everything i eat.Im 6' 1" and 14st 7lbs and takes a lot o fill me.In fact im almost always hungry.Are there any links to the foodstuffs i can eat without a sugar fountain coming out my ears.
Click to expand...
I think you are perhaps getting a bit confused with the emphasis on sugar as it is ALL carbohydrates which convert to glucose, so foods like potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, pastry, crisps, tropical fruits as well as the more obvious things like cakes and biscuits and sugary drinks including fruit juice. But basing meals on protein, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, dairy, cheese with vegetables, salads, fruit like berries but with only small portions of any high carb foods.
Everybody is different in how well they tolerate particular carbs and quantities and can depend on what medication people take so it is not a simple 'eat this, don't eat that' but there are some guidelines that people base their dietary approach on. Many find a low carb approach is successful and that is regarded as being no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day so it is largely your choice what you have as long as you keep to what YOUR body can tolerate.
This link has some good explanation, menu plans based on the suggested amount of carbs per day or per meal. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
You can still have enjoyable tasty meals by making good choices.
 
@Cold1880 welcome to the forum. When I was diagnosed in July I was told my cholestral was high so cut out processed meat pastry rice bread etc. I then cut pasta too. It was summer and I was eating fish chicken and veg. If I went to a cafe I had bread as there were few choices. Having found the forum I started having eggs or full fat yoghurt and seeds or nuts for breakfast plus occasional fry ups less beans and hash browns for a late breakfast/brunch
I found i wasn't hungry and was losing weight. However in September l was put on an SGLT2 which required at least 130 grams of carbs. I found this difficult.
I used to have porridge pre diabetes but know I need to test my bodies response to it but haven't been testing recently. I havent had a banana since diagnosis but am thinking of having half one day half the next. My reading is now 44. I saw the diabetes nurse last week and I'm going to go on a course about what to eat. She seemed surprised at what I have dropped and said I should eat brown instead of white rice brown bread etc. I have occasionally bought rye bread and had a slice with smoked Salmon and cream cheese. She told me not to bother testing or if I did just look for trends. I'm on steroids pending an eye op and last year consultant said my BG should be monitored but the nurse said no point for a short course.

I have eaten things that maybe I shouldn't but balanced it with a walk or a swim or a healthy meal or snack later. For good health you want to keep your BG steady. It is a little higher first thing then will go up after eating but hopefully no more than two mol.
Hard boiled eggs are a good snack.
I see @ leading lights has posted a link to freshwell the information is good.
If you have a physical job a banana may be a good break item as it is easily carried filling and doesn't need washing but maybe once or twice a week not everyday. I like raw veg with humus.
Any medication you may be on will have an affect on what you can eat. I have recently had a half portion of cottage pie plus extra veg. Portion control of carbs is your friend.
Here is a site in the New Forest that has all the links you can wish.
I'm sorry I have waffled but I am a little confused at the recent advice from the nurse!
newforestpcn.co.uk

Diabetes & Metabolic Health | New Forest PCN

newforestpcn.co.uk newforestpcn.co.uk
 
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Welcome to the forum @Cold1880

Sorry to hear you’ve been getting confusing and conflicting information from different sources. Unfortunately that is not particularly unusual.

One of the tricky things about the “what can I eat” question is that it can end up being very individual. Different people can find the same food is pretty gentle on their BG levels, but acts like rocket fuel for someone else.

In general it is the carbohydrates that have the biggest capacity to raise glucose levels. Sugars are likely to do that quickly, but other things can also give a surprisingly rapid BG rise, even some with a high fibre reputation.

That doesn’t mean you have to try to avoid carbs entirely, but being careful about portion size, looking for swaps and lower-carb alternatives, and adding in healthy fats to slow the absorption of carbs can all be good strategies.

Plus experimenting for yourself and seeing which foods suit your individual diabetes best. You can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and again 2hrs after eating, to see what the differences are, to identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG (initially in a way the numbers themselves matter less than the differences between them). Ideally you would want to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark. Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing portion sizes of the carbs where you see bigger rises. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.

Over weeks and months of experimentation you can gradually tweak and tailor your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline, your budget and your BG levels - and a way of eating that is flexible enough to be sustainable long-term.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
 
Hello @Cold1880
the treatment of type 2 by avoiding high carb foods but eating just about anything else, has been known about and found effective for a very long time, so it seems strange that people have been misled for so long by those who should know better. There is absolutely no need to watch every bite - no reason to be weighing out foods, no reason to be hungry, ever.
I would urge you not to eat high carb foods or anything labelled as healthy (that is always suspicious) until you can check your reaction to it with a blood glucose monitor.
Typically a type 2 can eat meat, fish, cheese, eggs, full fat dairy as the backbone of their diet.
Low carb fruit such as berries is normally OK - I make a sugar free jelly and put the berries into that to bulk them up a bit.
Salads, stir fries, low carb vege mixtures, seem fine even for me, with a very low carb tolerance, I make stews regularly in cold weather topping up the pressure cooker with more onion, tomato, celery, vege mix and meat at intervals adding some curry powder at intervals as well as dipping into the pot for liquid for casseroles or basting a joint or seething chops or less than juicy steaks.
 
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