type 2 diagnosed Tuesday,what food?

[belugalad]

Hi folks I was informed that I have type 2 diabetes on Tuesday,I'm mid 40's.
I'm trying to modify my diet and had decided to cut out bread and potatoes completely,I'm at home 24/7 as I'm a carer so I usually have something like beans on toast with or without a poaced egg for lunch or scrambled eggs on toast,so I'm now thinking can I still have the toast with these meals and are the beans ok to have?I have half a tin of beans and 1 slice of wholemeal toast,I would alo like to know people thought on how many eggs can be consumed in a day,I have 2 when I have them scrambled,if they are ok does it matter how often you have them over the week,also are tins of soup ok to have,I noted soup as a healthy thing to have on a list on this site,but do they mean a homemade one?
If anyone has any tips for simple healthy meals for lunch that don't cost the earth that would be much apprecieated

 

[Kaylz]

Do you have access to a meter and test strips? Unfortunately there is no one size fits all with diabetes and where one could rave about something having no effect on them, the next person along could be sky high if they ate it, if you have access to a meter and test strips the best way to tell what is suitable for you is to test before you eat and then again 2 hours after eating, ideally you'd be looking for a rise no more than 2-3mmol

Its the carbohydrates that are the main issue so there are options for lower carb bread such as Burgen and Hovis do a Lower Carb bread too, as for the tinned soups it would depend what was in it and what the carbs were, many type 2's don't eat very many carbs as they find it easier to manage their levels that way so they set out to only eat a small amount of carbs per day

As for healthy meals you could try salads or the likes xx

 

[Ljc]

Homemade soups would be better as you know exactly what is in them and could well be lower in carbohydrates than those that come in a tin or packet. To save time which having looked after both parents for a long time I know it’s hard , apologies if I am teaching you to suck eggs , I found batch cooking and freezing food in suitable sized portions a great help, I used to use a stick blender to make some soups.

As @Kaylz has already said, their is no one size that fits all as we are all very individual in how the various carbohydrates affect us. , this is where a glucose meter helps a great deal as we don’t want to cut out foods our body handles well nor do we want to be eating something that is considered healthy ie porridge which unknowingly is spiking our BGs.
If your Gp as is most likely won’t fund a glucose meter and test strips and you may be afford to self fund your own even if only for a short time
This is the cheapest one we know of to self fund
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/

To make the best use of a tub of test strips when funds may be a bit tight

testing-on-budget by Alan S.

Personally though I like baked beans and am on insulin so could if I wanted to have more as I would just have more insulin, I tend to have two dessert spoons now.

As for eggs I honestly can’t say as through choice I don’t t eat many of them.

 

[grovesy]

Sometimes it is also the portion size can make a difference.

 

[belugalad]

Do you have access to a meter and test strips? Unfortunately there is no one size fits all with diabetes and where one could rave about something having no effect on them, the next person along could be sky high if they ate it, if you have access to a meter and test strips the best way to tell what is suitable for you is to test before you eat and then again 2 hours after eating, ideally you'd be looking for a rise no more than 2-3mmol

Its the carbohydrates that are the main issue so there are options for lower carb bread such as Burgen and Hovis do a Lower Carb bread too, as for the tinned soups it would depend what was in it and what the carbs were, many type 2's don't eat very many carbs as they find it easier to manage their levels that way so they set out to only eat a small amount of carbs per day

As for healthy meals you could try salads or the likes xx

Hi @Kaylz thanks for your help,I think I will get the Hovis bread that you have mentioned,as a slice of toast is versatile as the foundation of a few lunchtime meals,a few slices a week wont be too bad I hope,I will get more information soon and as you say I can test myself after various food items as a trial,and I do love salads I had one last night,I could incorporate them in to my lunch routine xx

 

[belugalad]

Homemade soups would be better as you know exactly what is in them and could well be lower in carbohydrates than those that come in a tin or packet. To save time which having looked after both parents for a long time I know it’s hard , apologies if I am teaching you to suck eggs , I found batch cooking and freezing food in suitable sized portions a great help, I used to use a stick blender to make some soups.

As @Kaylz has already said, their is no one size that fits all as we are all very individual in how the various carbohydrates affect us. , this is where a glucose meter helps a great deal as we don’t want to cut out foods our body handles well nor do we want to be eating something that is considered healthy ie porridge which unknowingly is spiking our BGs.
If your Gp as is most likely won’t fund a glucose meter and test strips and you may be afford to self fund your own even if only for a short time
This is the cheapest one we know of to self fund
https://www.amahttp://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2007/04/teting-on-budget.htmlzon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/dp/B0068JAJFS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1506485682&sr=1-1&keywords=sd%2Bcodefree%2Bmeter%2Bmmol%2Fl&linkCode=sl1&tag=xfm-21&linkId=f39210144fdc26c27738e45b6d957003&th=1

To make the best use of a tub of test strips when funds may be a bit tight

teting-on-budget by Alan S.

Personally though I like baked beans and am on insulin so could if I wanted to have more as I would just have more insulin, I tend to have two dessert spoons now.

As for eggs I honestly can’t say as through choice I don’t t eat many of them.

Thanks Lin @Ljc,I used to make a home made vedge soup,I think I will make some at the weekend it's overdue,thanks for the links that's a great help,I hope that they might supply me with some testing strips as my only income is carers alowance,I would buy the meter that you have provided the link for,I will have to wait and see what happens at the meeting,I'm doing my best though and not sticking my head in the sand.

 

[Drummer]

I found a very low carb bread at Asda - only 4 gm of carbs per slice. It looks like a brown brick, in clear plastic and is labelled protein bread. It is expensive compared to ordinary bread, but it is very low carb. I use it to make huge sandwiches or to eat with kippers.
A slice of ordinary bread would be quite a chunk of my daily carbs - and I eat most of my carbs in the evening, so the protein bread is ideal for mornings.

 

[belugalad]

I found a very low carb bread at Asda - only 4 gm of carbs per slice. It looks like a brown brick, in clear plastic and is labelled protein bread. It is expensive compared to ordinary bread, but it is very low carb. I use it to make huge sandwiches or to eat with kippers.
A slice of ordinary bread would be quite a chunk of my daily carbs - and I eat most of my carbs in the evening, so the protein bread is ideal for mornings.

Hi @Drummer that huge sandwich sounds nice!I haven't had kippers in years,I will have to get some,I will be having a meeting on the 3rd and wil be given some advice then,at the moment I am just making sure I eat plenty of vedge chicken and tuna,I have ditched potatoes,You have encouraged me to get some kippers today,I haven't had them in years.
How do you work out how many carbs you can have a day?Do you have to test daily and base that on your blood score,I'm interested to know how that works

 

[Drummer]

It was not so much a case of working out what I could eat as going back to my Atkins diet level of 50 gm of carbs a day - and then seeing everything start to come right - it was right for me back in the day, so it was my way back to feeling a lot younger.
I got a meter and started testing to fine tune my eating - I moved most of the carbs to my evening meal, having just 10 gm or so with my first meal as that stopped my levels rising. I have dropped down to 40 gm of carb per day to try to lose more weight, as I gained so much on the 'healthy' high carb foods the dietician and drs declared necessary.
It is a couple of years now since I dropped to a Hba1c of 41, and I have been managing to stick to low carb as I really like the foods and how I feel when I have normal blood glucose.

 

[belugalad]

Hi @Drummer I'm glad you found a system to suit you,the body is a complicated thing indeed

 

[rebrascora]

I find that a mushroom omelette with or without added extras of bacon/ham/onion/cheese or aubergine works well as a staple instead of breakfast cereal or sandwiches or beans on toast. I keep chickens so I have lots of fresh eggs and have 2-3 eggs several times a week, sometimes every day. I have a handful of salad leaves with it and avocado and cucumber and sometimes a few cherry tomatoes. It really hits the spot for me and I feel sated for the rest of the day when I have one for breakfast, apart from maybe a small chunk of cheese or a handful of nuts or berries if I get the nibbles and like @Drummer I have my main portion of carbs in the evening in the form of a few potatoes with meat or fish and lots of veg. I am particularly into cabbage/spinach sweated down in a little melted butter. Goes great with bacon or gammon and potatoes.

 

[belugalad]

I find that a mushroom omelette with or without added extras of bacon/ham/onion/cheese or aubergine works well as a staple instead of breakfast cereal or sandwiches or beans on toast. I keep chickens so I have lots of fresh eggs and have 2-3 eggs several times a week, sometimes every day. I have a handful of salad leaves with it and avocado and cucumber and sometimes a few cherry tomatoes. It really hits the spot for me and I feel sated for the rest of the day when I have one for breakfast, apart from maybe a small chunk of cheese or a handful of nuts or berries if I get the nibbles and like @Drummer I have my main portion of carbs in the evening in the form of a few potatoes with meat or fish and lots of veg. I am particularly into cabbage/spinach sweated down in a little melted butter. Goes great with bacon or gammon and potatoes.

Thanks @rebrascora That appeals to me,I have cherry toms in my fridge already and have been reading good things about tomatoes,I have avacados at the moment after discovering them a month ago,Tesco have single ones on promotion at the moment for 39p,is bacon ok then?Mind you I suppose it would be just small slithers for the omellette.
Is there any reason for keeping the carbs for the evening meal?

 

[Drummer]

Bacon is fine - it has no carbs - if you are concerned about the salt or other things, boil it for a minute or so before frying to dissolve them.
The reason for eating most carbs in the evening was because I found that I was more insulin resistant early in the day, so the 10 gm of carb in the morning had the same effect as 30 in the evening.

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks @rebrascora That appeals to me,I have cherry toms in my fridge already and have been reading good things about tomatoes,I have avacados at the moment after discovering them a month ago,Tesco have single ones on promotion at the moment for 39p,is bacon ok then?Mind you I suppose it would be just small slithers for the omellette.
Is there any reason for keeping the carbs for the evening meal?

A bit of bacon in an omelette is not going to do you any harm and increasing your intake of healthy fats from meat, dairy (fry your omelette in butter) and avocados helps to make up for the calories you are no longer getting from carbs. Do go steady on the cherry tomatoes and ration them as they do contain natural sugars. Avocados are great and with a green salad they provide the creaminess that you would normally get from mayonnaise. Including green salad leaves or cabbage/kale/spinach with meals whenever possible is beneficial.
For me having carbs on an evening means that I am at less risk of having a hypo through the night (as I am on insulin) and it fits in with having a proper meal in the evening. ie meat, veg and potatoes or pasta and sauce. If I have starchy foods like bread or pasta (even wholemeal versions) or potatoes or porridge more than once a day the spikes in my BG sit on each others shoulders and go through the roof!
A BG spike from sugar (ie fruit) will last a couple of hours. The spike from those starchy foods will last 8-10hrs, so 2 consecutive meals with starchy foods mean that my BG is high for the whole day and half the night, so whilst I avoid added sugar now, I worry less about simple carbs like sugar from fruit but I am very careful about the complex carbs in bread and potatoes. Very sad that my breakfast porridge caused me problems but I try to focus on how much I enjoy my omelette and not think about the things that my body no longer tolerates.

 

[belugalad]

A bit of bacon in an omelette is not going to do you any harm and increasing your intake of healthy fats from meat, dairy (fry your omelette in butter) and avocados helps to make up for the calories you are no longer getting from carbs. Do go steady on the cherry tomatoes and ration them as they do contain natural sugars. Avocados are great and with a green salad they provide the creaminess that you would normally get from mayonnaise. Including green salad leaves or cabbage/kale/spinach with meals whenever possible is beneficial.
For me having carbs on an evening means that I am at less risk of having a hypo through the night (as I am on insulin) and it fits in with having a proper meal in the evening. ie meat, veg and potatoes or pasta and sauce. If I have starchy foods like bread or pasta (even wholemeal versions) or potatoes or porridge more than once a day the spikes in my BG sit on each others shoulders and go through the roof!
A BG spike from sugar (ie fruit) will last a couple of hours. The spike from those starchy foods will last 8-10hrs, so 2 consecutive meals with starchy foods mean that my BG is high for the whole day and half the night, so whilst I avoid added sugar now, I worry less about simple carbs like sugar from fruit but I am very careful about the complex carbs in bread and potatoes. Very sad that my breakfast porridge caused me problems but I try to focus on how much I enjoy my omelette and not think about the things that my body no longer tolerates.

Thanks @rebrascora I see what you mean and with regards breakfast I have started to have porridge,I haven't had a consulation yet which is due on the 3rd,I might just go back to bran flakes

 

[Pine Marten]

Hi @belugalad, welcome to the forum. I've not much to add to all the excellent suggestions already given!

Eggs are fine, and I sometimes have an omelette for lunch with some salad. For breakfast I usually have some permutation of mushrooms/couple tomatoes/eggs/bacon on one slice of Hovis or Burgen. Waitrose do a very low carb bread called LivLife, which is 3.8 carbs per small slice. I have porridge only very occasionally as it spikes me somewhat, and I don't have any sort of cereals at all. I suppose I have about 100gm of carbs per day and my last HbA1c was 5.4 (= 36), so it seems to be alright for me!

Lots of green veg, fish, good quality meat, nuts, seeds etc are all good 🙂

 

[belugalad]

Hi @belugalad, welcome to the forum. I've not much to add to all the excellent suggestions already given!

Eggs are fine, and I sometimes have an omelette for lunch with some salad. For breakfast I usually have some permutation of mushrooms/couple tomatoes/eggs/bacon on one slice of Hovis or Burgen. Waitrose do a very low carb bread called LivLife, which is 3.8 carbs per small slice. I have porridge only very occasionally as it spikes me somewhat, and I don't have any sort of cereals at all. I suppose I have about 100gm of carbs per day and my last HbA1c was 5.4 (= 36), so it seems to be alright for me!

Lots of green veg, fish, good quality meat, nuts, seeds etc are all good 🙂

Hi @Pine Marten I'm 46 years of age and I haven't ever made an omelette my mum used to make lovely omelettes,I'm going to have to make one,today I'm going to have spiralised courgette with a poached egg and mushrooms fried in low cal rapeseed spray witha few cherry toms for lunch,I'm going to enjoy trying alternative foods.
How do people work out or decide how many gramms of carbs they're going to have a day?

 

[Pine Marten]

I'm not much of a cook but omelettes are dead easy! And that sounds a very nice lunch, belugalad....

Dunno about others but I don't count carbs rigorously but have a rough estimate. Around 100 a day seems to suit me, but I know others are lower.

 

[Drummer]

Thanks @rebrascora I see what you mean and with regards breakfast I have started to have porridge,I haven't had a consulation yet which is due on the 3rd,I might just go back to bran flakes

Porridge and bran flakes are both going to be high carb - grain is typically 2/3rds carbs by weight.
Rapeseed oil is not a good choice - the euric acid it contains is really bad for the nervous system as it attacks the myelin sheath of nerves and there is some evidence of a link with dementia. Olive oil or a natural animal fat is a better choice.

 

[belugalad]

Porridge and bran flakes are both going to be high carb - grain is typically 2/3rds carbs by weight.
Rapeseed oil is not a good choice - the euric acid it contains is really bad for the nervous system as it attacks the myelin sheath of nerves and there is some evidence of a link with dementia. Olive oil or a natural animal fat is a better choice.

Hi @Drummer Thanks I can get an olive oil spray tomorrow,I hadn't realised that about the porridge I thought it was something that was recommended at one time,just checked the packet though we always have it at home and yes it is full of carbs isnt it,I got kippers so I will have them tomorrow for breakfast