Type 2 just diagnosed

[Tinners]

Hello, good to find this forum got diagnosed Thursday been put on metformin , just trying to to get my head around what I should or shouldn't eat, over the initial shock and worry about the future got good support at home any advice would be great due back at doctors in 3 weeks for blood checks, what stage do dieticians get involved? It's all a bit strange at the moment

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but you have come to the right place for support and advice. Unfortunately most of us have not found NHS dieticians overly helpful because the NHS is a bit behind the curve with modern thinking on diabetes management. The advice here on the forum is tried and tested and works for many people to the point that quite a few have come off medication and pushed their diabetes into remission mostly through diet and increasing their activity levels... this doesn't have to be anything strenuous, just a brisk daily walk is as good an anything if you are able. We base this advice on self testing and tailoring your diet to your body's response to foods

Basically us diabetics have problems with carbohydrates.... these are sugars and starches. Our bodies break all carbs down into glucose which is absorbed into out blood stream. Normal people respond by producing insulin which escorts the glucose into the cells where it can be used as fuel for our muscles and organs. With diabetes, either we struggle to produce enough insulin to remove as much glucose from out blood as it should or our bodies have become resistant to the insulin we produce and it ignores it and too much glucose stays in our blood stream, which causes problems. The simple answer is that if we eat less carbohydrates we put less glucose into our blood stream and our bodies can cope better at removing what is there.

The easiest way to go about this is by removing carbohydrate rich foods from our diet or significantly reducing them and using a BG meter to test before and 2 hours after food to identify which foods cause us the most problems and work at reducing the portion size of those foods or eliminating them altogether. The obvious first port of call is anything containing sugar and that is not just the cakes and biscuits and sweets but also surprisingly fruit in all it's forms, fresh, frozen, died and juiced. That is not to say you should not eat fruit but ration it and choose lower carb options like a few berries or half an apple rather than a banana which is one of the highest carb fruits and maybe not have fruit every day.

The other main group of carb rich foods are starches and these are anything made from grains and flour, like bread, pasta, rice, couscous, breakfast cereals are often the worst offenders as they are a mixture of starches and sugars. Even otherwise healthy porridge can cause some of us problems. Root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potato and cassava and parsnips and carrots and beetroot are also high in carbs so need to be restricted. A BG meter will show you if your body will cope better with some of these items than others and it can be highly individual. Some people can get away with porridge whilst others can't. Some can manage a few potatoes but not pasta. If you really love pasta then a BG meter will tell you how much you can get away with as a portion size and which types ie wholemeal or spelt pasta might be better than ordinary pasta. You are looking for your BG to rise my no more than 3 mmols 2 hours after eating as a result of the food you ate which is why testing before and at 2hrs after is important.

Unfortunately most health care professionals discourage home testing unless you are on medication which can drop your BG dangerously low, so they do not prescribe BG meters and strips and people wanting to do so, need to self fund. Meters are relatively inexpensive to buy @ approx. £15 for a basic meter but the on going cost of buying test strips for them is where the finances stack up and for this reason we recommend people who are self funding buy the BG meters which have the cheapest test strips, which are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 which are £8 for a pot of 50 as oppose to 2x or even 3x more expensive for some other meters.

We also recommend that people keep a food diary along with their readings so that they can look back and see what worked and what didn't and make adjustments next time they have that meal if necessary.

Hopefully that mostly makes sense, but anything you don't understand, just ask.

 

[Tinners]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but you have come to the right place for support and advice. Unfortunately most of us have not found NHS dieticians overly helpful because the NHS is a bit behind the curve with modern thinking on diabetes management. The advice here on the forum is tried and tested and works for many people to the point that quite a few have come off medication and pushed their diabetes into remission mostly through diet and increasing their activity levels... this doesn't have to be anything strenuous, just a brisk daily walk is as good an anything if you are able. We base this advice on self testing and tailoring your diet to your body's response to foods

Basically us diabetics have problems with carbohydrates.... these are sugars and starches. Our bodies break all carbs down into glucose which is absorbed into out blood stream. Normal people respond by producing insulin which escorts the glucose into the cells where it can be used as fuel for our muscles and organs. With diabetes, either we struggle to produce enough insulin to remove as much glucose from out blood as it should or our bodies have become resistant to the insulin we produce and it ignores it and too much glucose stays in our blood stream, which causes problems. The simple answer is that if we eat less carbohydrates we put less glucose into our blood stream and our bodies can cope better at removing what is there.

The easiest way to go about this is by removing carbohydrate rich foods from our diet or significantly reducing them and using a BG meter to test before and 2 hours after food to identify which foods cause us the most problems and work at reducing the portion size of those foods or eliminating them altogether. The obvious first port of call is anything containing sugar and that is not just the cakes and biscuits and sweets but also surprisingly fruit in all it's forms, fresh, frozen, died and juiced. That is not to say you should not eat fruit but ration it and choose lower carb options like a few berries or half an apple rather than a banana which is one of the highest carb fruits and maybe not have fruit every day.

The other main group of carb rich foods are starches and these are anything made from grains and flour, like bread, pasta, rice, couscous, breakfast cereals are often the worst offenders as they are a mixture of starches and sugars. Even otherwise healthy porridge can cause some of us problems. Root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potato and cassava and parsnips and carrots and beetroot are also high in carbs so need to be restricted. A BG meter will show you if your body will cope better with some of these items than others and it can be highly individual. Some people can get away with porridge whilst others can't. Some can manage a few potatoes but not pasta. If you really love pasta then a BG meter will tell you how much you can get away with as a portion size and which types ie wholemeal or spelt pasta might be better than ordinary pasta. You are looking for your BG to rise my no more than 3 mmols 2 hours after eating as a result of the food you ate which is why testing before and at 2hrs after is important.

Unfortunately most health care professionals discourage home testing unless you are on medication which can drop your BG dangerously low, so they do not prescribe BG meters and strips and people wanting to do so, need to self fund. Meters are relatively inexpensive to buy @ approx. £15 for a basic meter but the on going cost of buying test strips for them is where the finances stack up and for this reason we recommend people who are self funding buy the BG meters which have the cheapest test strips, which are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 which are £8 for a pot of 50 as oppose to 2x or even 3x more expensive for some other meters.

We also recommend that people keep a food diary along with their readings so that they can look back and see what worked and what didn't and make adjustments next time they have that meal if necessary.

Hopefully that mostly makes sense, but anything you don't understand, just ask.

Hi thank you for the reply looks like a bit of a journey ahead and things to learn, a meter sounds like a good investment as I am just going on food labeling at the moment but cut a lot of bad carbs out already so I will see how the week progresses thank you again for the reply and advice it's much appreciated as it's all abit like rocket science at the minute
Take care

 

[rebrascora]

It is very overwhelming at first, but you don't have to change everything all at once and in fact slow steady changes are thought to be more sustainable as well as better for your health.... sudden changes in BG levels can cause damage to the small blood vessels and nerves. It is usually more noticeable in your vision than anywhere else and blurry vision is common. This may resolve as your BG levels become more stable.

As regards labelling, I am not sure if you are aware but the traffic light system on the front of food packaging is of little use to us diabetics. We need to look for the nutritional information panel usually in tiny print on the back or side and take note of the total carbohydrates, rather than the sugar.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Tinners

Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy. Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life.

When it comes to managing your diabetes, diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint! It’s usually best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.

For a bit more background information, the ‘useful links’ thread is a mine of helpful information - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book, as very helpful starting points.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!