What food?

[Brando77]

hallo, only been diagnosed a couple weeks and I was wondering what type of food I should be eating as I had lost weight having the flu. I train with weights (until flu and diabetes diagnosis) and walk a lot but need info on food I should be eating to build myself up again.
I don't want to mess up so early on.
Thanks.

 

[Beck S]

So definitely eat some carbs, don't cut them out altogether, because you still need the energy, particularly if you're exercising. The normal thing to avoid is white, starchy carbs (white bread, pasta, rice, noodles, potatoes, all the nice stuff), but you can have small portions of them really - one tablespoon of cooked rice or pasta, 2 small potatoes, 6 chips. Wholemeal versions of these are generally better to go for as the fibre can often slow down glucose absorption into the blood and be better for you.

Veg is still good to eat, even though they do have carbs in them, but they contain a lot of the nutrients you need so they're still good, I avoid veg grown underground, such as parsnips and swede for the main part, although not always and go for most other veg. I eat a lot more of it now to take the place of my lost white carbs. The RDA for carbs 260g; personally I am for about 100-120g a day, it seems to work for me but you may find you can tolerate more or not so much. You will need to compensate for the lost energy from the cut in carbs though, so increasing your fat and protein intakes will help a lot.

Meat is all pretty safe ground - only thing would be to watch out for a lot of sausages as they're higher in carbs. The more meat content the better. Dairy is alright as well - lactose can raise your levels too, but things like cheese are good. Nuts can be good as well for snacks.

You might find that some of these food disagree with your BG levels, so if you test before you eat and then 2 hours after, you can see what food you can tolerate and what you can't.

eCheck out the What did you Eat yesterday thread for meal ideas, a few of us post in there and it's great for ideas.

 

[Brando77]

Thanks Beck S, sounds good, I'm on Gliclazide so they gave me a tester. Small wholemeal portions it is. Damn, I'm gonna miss those succulent honey roasted parsnips

 

[Martin Canty]

I'm on Gliclazide so they gave me a tester

A word of caution here, as you reduce your carb intake watch out for Hypo's.... I spent 3 months having frequent hypo's while on a similar drug, some were quite serious.

 

[Dave W]

Hi Brando and welcome to the exclusive club of diabetics! Getting to grip with diet is quite a steep learning curve and there is much information to digest, and some of it can be conflicting, so my advice would be to browse the internet and look at some of the most recent research findings as many of the 'truths' that have shaped official advice over the past decades are now being challenged and there are indications that NHS/NICE and other bodies are slowly overcoming their inertia and starting to change tack.
One thing I would suggest is that if you want to understand how what you eat impacts on your diabetes and blood glucose you should start to test your BG before and after meals. It's true that high carbs foods push up BG, but we are all different in our reactions and what pushes up mine might not do the same with someone else. (I can't eat porridge, others can.)
You have to be rather careful with bread as it is all high in carbs, though some breads are higher than others, white bread is particularly high in carbs.
Here's just some data about breads from the Composition of Foods Dataset, this is the dataset used by food manufacturers to print the data on the back of packaged foods.
Bread, White Crusty Bloomer - 52g/100g
Bread, Seeded - 43.8g/100g
Bread, Wolemeal - 42g/100g
Bread, Burgen,Linseed oil and Soya - 25g/100g
Protein Roll, High Protein, Lidl - 9g/100g

I know that eating a slice of bread really pushes up my BG, but once in a while I find I can't resist a half slice with cheese anad marmite! The Lidl rolls are pretty safe from the carbs aspect but I'm not that keen from the taste point of view though lots of other folk enjoy them.

 

[Brando77]

A word of caution here, as you reduce your carb intake watch out for Hypo's.... I spent 3 months having frequent hypo's while on a similar drug, some were quite serious.

Thanks for the info. I test a lot especially before sleeping. My diagnosis was 20.7 and now under 10, cut the carbs big time and will go on wholemeal versions but still need to bulk up a bit after flu. This forum is such a help. 🙂

 

[Brando77]

Hi Brando and welcome to the exclusive club of diabetics! Getting to grip with diet is quite a steep learning curve and there is much information to digest, and some of it can be conflicting, so my advice would be to browse the internet and look at some of the most recent research findings as many of the 'truths' that have shaped official advice over the past decades are now being challenged and there are indications that NHS/NICE and other bodies are slowly overcoming their inertia and starting to change tack.
One thing I would suggest is that if you want to understand how what you eat impacts on your diabetes and blood glucose you should start to test your BG before and after meals. It's true that high carbs foods push up BG, but we are all different in our reactions and what pushes up mine might not do the same with someone else. (I can't eat porridge, others can.)
You have to be rather careful with bread as it is all high in carbs, though some breads are higher than others, white bread is particularly high in carbs.
Here's just some data about breads from the Composition of Foods Dataset, this is the dataset used by food manufacturers to print the data on the back of packaged foods.
Bread, White Crusty Bloomer - 52g/100g
Bread, Seeded - 43.8g/100g
Bread, Wolemeal - 42g/100g
Bread, Burgen,Linseed oil and Soya - 25g/100g
Protein Roll, High Protein, Lidl - 9g/100g

I know that eating a slice of bread really pushes up my BG, but once in a while I find I can't resist a half slice with cheese anad marmite! The Lidl rolls are pretty safe from the carbs aspect but I'm not that keen from the taste point of view though lots of other folk enjoy them.

Cheers, I'll log my readings from now on. Gotta start learning about carbs.....thought my college days were over 🙂

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome from a fellow T2, on metformin.

I'm on Gliclazide so they gave me a tester.

The meter will be because of the risk of hypos, going low. I've not been on this drug, and not at particular risk of hypos myself (so I've been told).
Test when you wake, before you eat and 2 hours after. You may need to tests at other times (hopefully others can advice on this).
What sort of levels have you got so far, and when?

 

[Dave W]

Cheers, I'll log my readings from now on. Gotta start learning about carbs.....thought my college days were over 🙂

If you are comfortable using MS Excel, it's great for recording and graphing trends and it has the advantage over most ready built apps that you can tailor it to your own needs.

 

[Martin Canty]

When I was on Glyburide & experimenting with my diet I was doing the usual testing (Fasting Blood Glucose, before/after meals etc). After an unfortunate incident when I went to 2.4 while out & about I started to test when I was feeling a little off; most of the time it was false hypo's but I had a fair few 4's & 3's. Though I was in despair about my D in those days, it did teach me a lot about how to read my body.

 

[Vince_UK]

If you are comfortable using MS Excel, it's great for recording and graphing trends and it has the advantage over most ready built apps that you can tailor it to your own needs.

I use Excel for most things including recording my levels etc.You are correct and I like the fact I can tailor it any which way I want to. Save it in the Cloud and it is portable.

 

[Brando77]

Welcome from a fellow T2, on metformin.


The meter will be because of the risk of hypos, going low. I've not been on this drug, and not at particular risk of hypos myself (so I've been told).
Test when you wake, before you eat and 2 hours after. You may need to tests at other times (hopefully others can advice on this).
What sort of levels have you got so far, and when?

I haven't got the hang of it but around 7-8 in the morning 5-6 afternoon and mostly 7 and 8s evening, started on meds 7th Feb, initial diagnose readings of 20+. I will test before and after meals now.. Thanks.

 

[Ralph-YK]

That 20+, was that a HbA1c? (Blood taken from your arm)
Or a finger prick test using a hand held meter?

 

[Ralph-YK]

I believe the 5-6, before eating, falls right on the (standard?/general?/default?) targets.

 

[Brando77]

That 20+, was that a HbA1c? (Blood taken from your arm)
Or a finger prick test using a hand held meter?

From finger.....later, the blood from my arm was taken, sent off, and had a phone call to get to clinic as it was high. 🙂

 

[kevin griffiths]

Hi Brando and welcome to the exclusive club of diabetics! Getting to grip with diet is quite a steep learning curve and there is much information to digest, and some of it can be conflicting, so my advice would be to browse the internet and look at some of the most recent research findings as many of the 'truths' that have shaped official advice over the past decades are now being challenged and there are indications that NHS/NICE and other bodies are slowly overcoming their inertia and starting to change tack.
One thing I would suggest is that if you want to understand how what you eat impacts on your diabetes and blood glucose you should start to test your BG before and after meals. It's true that high carbs foods push up BG, but we are all different in our reactions and what pushes up mine might not do the same with someone else. (I can't eat porridge, others can.)
You have to be rather careful with bread as it is all high in carbs, though some breads are higher than others, white bread is particularly high in carbs.
Here's just some data about breads from the Composition of Foods Dataset, this is the dataset used by food manufacturers to print the data on the back of packaged foods.
Bread, White Crusty Bloomer - 52g/100g
Bread, Seeded - 43.8g/100g
Bread, Wolemeal - 42g/100g
Bread, Burgen,Linseed oil and Soya - 25g/100g
Protein Roll, High Protein, Lidl - 9g/100g

I know that eating a slice of bread really pushes up my BG, but once in a while I find I can't resist a half slice with cheese anad marmite! The Lidl rolls are pretty safe from the carbs aspect but I'm not that keen from the taste point of view though lots of other folk enjoy them.

i have found that sour dough bread hardly spikes me, started to eat this since i started to inject, everything else bar burgen does tend to spike me quite a bit

 

[Brando77]

i have found that sour dough bread hardly spikes me, started to eat this since i started to inject, everything else bar burgen does tend to spike me quite a bit

I ate Sour dough mostly before I became diabetic....hope it agrees with me 🙂

 

[HOBIE]

hallo, only been diagnosed a couple weeks and I was wondering what type of food I should be eating as I had lost weight having the flu. I train with weights (until flu and diabetes diagnosis) and walk a lot but need info on food I should be eating to build myself up again.
I don't want to mess up so early on.
Thanks.

Have a look at the post about Porridge.

 

[Brando77]

Have a look at the post about Porridge.

Nice, mind, haven't stopped eating it...well....except now I don't smother it in honey. :/

 

[HOBIE]

I find Porridge does not spike me ,tastes nice, & keeps me full for hours. 😎