Up and down

[DiabeticDad]

Hey all,
I'm recently diagnosed within the last 2 months.
Not sure of blood figures except when I was diagnosed with a pin prick blood meter, I was 30.3 mmol. Pretty high i I know. My vision was blurry, I was tired all the time but felt like I was on quadruple espressos all the time, frequent toilet breaks and thrirsty ....oh my word thrirsty ...still thirsty even now.
Prescribed the usual Metformin and Gliclazide and that with a crash diet of cutting all carbs out dropped my sugar levels to a fluctuating between 5 and 10 mmol.
Working out my diet is a nightmare. My cholesterol is too high on a low carb, and I'm always ravenous so my blood sugar levels are still all over. Stressed out is an understatement.
I can't work out what to eat yet to keep me satisfied and not hungry all the time, whilst still keep my cholesterol down. I'm trying to exercise more but with no carbs to burn and back to being hungry and falling off the wagon and eating weird things.
I've cut out pasta, rice, bread, sugar, potatoes etc.
Lunch today was some cheese, some almond milk and some almonds...my fridge is bare to stop me eating cakes and crisps etc.
Have to say this is really getting me down.
Anyone else needing to keep the fats and sugars down? How is it done?

 

[Josh DUK]

Hello @DiabeticDad ,

Thank you so much for joining our online community. I thought i would share two links with you that would be helpful.

We have the learning zone that will help with your diabetes.

Landing Page | Diabetes UK Learning Zone

learningzone.diabetes.org.uk

I thought I would also share some of our recipes which some of our users think are quite helpful.

Recipes

Post links to your favourite recipes here! If it's not your own recipe, please share where the recipe came from

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.
I believe some people find that their cholesterol levels rise before they drop when they start eating low carb. There is a discussion on another thread about cholesterol which might be helpful for you to read and may help you to come to a decision but there is no harm in eating more generally accepted good fats like olive oil and nuts and avocado and eggs are certainly back on the menu now and oily fish of course, so don't feel that you have to eat a low fat diet to reduce your cholesterol.... there are plenty of fats (oils) which are not controversial. That said, my personal belief is that dietary fats are only a problem if you are eating a lot of carbs, but of you eat low carb, you have to get calories from some other source and there are only 3 food groups which provide calories.... protein, fat and carbohydrates. If you cut right back on carbs then you need to eat more of the other two groups to give you energy. They both break down much slower in the digestive tract so they keep you feeling full for longer and provide slow release energy, rather than carbs which are like rocket fuel.
It is not surprising that you are knackered (if you will excuse my northern colloquialism) if you are eating low carb and not eating more protein and fat.

 

[rebrascora]

Here is the link to the Cholesterol thread I mentioned

Cholestrol query

Hi, I have been reading posts re cholestrol and have some questions. Hope someone can answer them. My GP was emphatic and told me it was impossible to lower cholesterol by changing foods, is that because (and I don't know why, just a guess) the liver is responsible for producing the bad stuff? I...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Nishikoi]

Hey all,
I'm recently diagnosed within the last 2 months.
Not sure of blood figures except when I was diagnosed with a pin prick blood meter, I was 30.3 mmol. Pretty high i I know. My vision was blurry, I was tired all the time but felt like I was on quadruple espressos all the time, frequent toilet breaks and thrirsty ....oh my word thrirsty ...still thirsty even now.
Prescribed the usual Metformin and Gliclazide and that with a crash diet of cutting all carbs out dropped my sugar levels to a fluctuating between 5 and 10 mmol.
Working out my diet is a nightmare. My cholesterol is too high on a low carb, and I'm always ravenous so my blood sugar levels are still all over. Stressed out is an understatement.
I can't work out what to eat yet to keep me satisfied and not hungry all the time, whilst still keep my cholesterol down. I'm trying to exercise more but with no carbs to burn and back to being hungry and falling off the wagon and eating weird things.
I've cut out pasta, rice, bread, sugar, potatoes etc.
Lunch today was some cheese, some almond milk and some almonds...my fridge is bare to stop me eating cakes and crisps etc.
Have to say this is really getting me down.
Anyone else needing to keep the fats and sugars down? How is it done?

I switched to wholegrain cereals and almond milk wholegrain is a slow release carb. I replaced crisps with lentil curls and pea snacks in crisp aisle low calorie and low carb. I have wholegrain or sourdough bread. All these are slow release carbs. It took me 3 or 4 month for metformin to make a difference its not a quick fix it has to build up in your system. I go to the gym after bran flakes and almond milk and I'm OK but if I'm hungry I have a hand full of unsalted nuts. Your doing everything right don't panic and give it time. Your body will need to get used to the new way of life

 

[rebrascora]

@Nishikoi
Not everyone's digestive system subscribes to the slow release or low GI principle. The glucose from a small portion of porridge hit my blood stream 30mins after eating it yesterday and peaked at 50mins after eating and actually that is an interstitial fluid reading from a Libre sensor which is about 10mins behind blood glucose so it probably hit my blood stream at 20mins and peaked at 40, so not much different to eating a Mars Bar for me... not that I eat those anymore.

Lentils spike my levels just like potato and I don't think they are any lower carb. Those crisps will only be lower calorie because they are baked instead of fried in oil and they are more heavily processed than hand cooked crisps, so not something I would choose on a regular basis.
Also, do be aware that bran flakes are full of sugar as well as starches. 65g carbs per 100g of which 14g are sugar for Kellogg's. All Bran is a better option as it has less sugar but tastes like eating cardboard to me! There are low carb Granolas which are quite nice. The "Eat Natural" "Low Sugar" or "Protein" Granolas only have 33g and 34g carbs per 100g respectively which is surprisingly almost half the carbs of Bran Flakes... just something for you to consider.

 

[Nishikoi]

@Nishikoi
Not everyone's digestive system subscribes to the slow release or low GI principle. The glucose from a small portion of porridge hit my blood stream 30mins after eating it yesterday and peaked at 50mins after eating and actually that is an interstitial fluid reading from a Libre sensor which is about 10mins behind blood glucose so it probably hit my blood stream at 20mins and peaked at 40, so not much different to eating a Mars Bar for me... not that I eat those anymore.

Lentils spike my levels just like potato and I don't think they are any lower carb. Those crisps will only be lower calorie because they are baked instead of fried in oil and they are more heavily processed than hand cooked crisps, so not something I would choose on a regular basis.
Also, do be aware that bran flakes are full of sugar as well as starches. 65g carbs per 100g of which 14g are sugar for Kellogg's. All Bran is a better option as it has less sugar but tastes like eating cardboard to me! There are low carb Granolas which are quite nice. The "Eat Natural" "Low Sugar" or "Protein" Granolas only have 33g and 34g carbs per 100g respectively which is surprisingly almost half the carbs of Bran Flakes... just something for you to consider.

I don't mean to sound rude but the bran flakes I eat aren't kellogs and nutrition on pack shows carbs are much lower than you suggest. I follow my breakfast with an excersise workout you need some carbs for energy and this person was asking for ideas. I can only say what has worked for me. I'm a regular gym goer my glucose post meals are about 8.4 I have lost 10 kg in weight and my a1c levels have come down from 67 to 49 so I must be doing something right. The lentil curls are low carb I've checked and not same as a potion of lentils on a dinner plate also same with pea snacks. I appreciate everyone is different. I was suggesting some healthy swaps. Excersise uses energy. Wholegrain are slow release energy. Porridge is not the same it's processed oats and you need more of those in a breakfast bowl than bran flakes this person is also type2 I see you are type 1 so diet for you may be different. Granola are high in sugar even fruit sugars. I wouldn't eat kellogs they all add sugar and low sugar granola has sugar my bran flakes dont

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @DiabeticDad

You can see already that what works for one doesn’t work another. Each of us has to find out what works for us. As someone with Diabetes our bodies cannot produce enough insulin (or in the case of T1 virtually no insulin as the Beta cells are destroyed) or the insulin produced does not work well.

By reducing carbs some people can get their glucose level in the blood down low enough to match their insulin available. Once you know more about the carbs that are in what you eat you can start to make swaps, change portion sizes and/or increase exercise levels. It is. Juggling act that we gradually get better at.

A useful strategy at the start can be to keep a food diary and keep a record of the amounts of carbs.
@Josh DUK has already put up some links which can be helpful.

Come back with any questions that you have. No one will mind.

 

[Drummer]

Do check how you react, as some of the foods which are described emphatically as not raising BG levels or slow release cause my levels to spike.
I'd not be all that concerned about cholesterol levels - the more checks done the more it seems to be better to have higher rather than lower levels certainly in old age, and LDL cholesterol is important in fighting off viruses, apparently....
The usual foods eaten for low carb also include the fat which comes along with them naturally, which seems to be both satisfying and energising. I have salads with tuna or eggs and cheese, stir fries with meat or fish or seafood - you should not be hungry eating low carb as it provides all the nutrients required, if done right.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @DiabeticDad and welcome to our forum.
Well done on getting your blood sugar levels down, and hopefully over time the cholesterol will improve as well.
I have the same problem, so tend to limit my fats to the so called 'healthier' ones e.g oily fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts and a little cheese.
The main saviour for me on low carb though, that stops me feeling hungry is to eat loads of vegetables. In pre-diabetic days I ate very few vegetables, but I have learned to love them and make them a significant part of my diet.

I eat mainly those that grow above or on the ground as these are the lower carb ones. So it is loads of crunchy salad with a nice dressing ( I keep a bowl in the fridge ready to add to whatever else I'm eating), lot of home made veggie soups in the freezer, for a quick de-frost in the microwave to fill up on, and many veggie replacements in other meals, especially cauliflower and celeriac used as mash or rice. There are several recipes for these in the recipe link that @JoshUk posted.

I hope you find a good solution that works for you.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @DiabeticDad

Hope you manage to find your way through the maze of food choices to find what works for you.

Have you tried a ‘test review adjust’ type approach?

An old consultant of mine was of the opinion that since the liver makes most of your cholesterol, there was only so much you could do (or I suppose conversely not do?) to affect your cholesterol by dietary means.

I’m not sure how true that holds empirically, but mine seems fairly stable despite a slightly more relaxed relationship to fats in recent years (though I am far more a moderate carber than a low carber)

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂