Diet help

[EwaP]

Hi all,

My name is Ewa and I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a week ago. I wasn't shocked, to be honest I kind of expected it. Not because I am massively overweight but I have been straggling with PCOS for years and extra weight around abdominal area (which is really annoying). My HbA1c is 92 - really high. I was on 1 metformin tablet (500mg) a day for a week and as from today I need to take it twice a day. I have noticed that it takes good couple of hours for metformin to work.. Yesterday evening (before dinner) my glucose level was 6.7. I ate fried turkey with a quarter of medium size avocado, fist size portion of lamb lettuce, half of tomato and two table spoons of spinach with cream. I woke up this morning and my glucose level was 10.7 and I felt extremely tired.

I don't experience any side effects of metmorfin and it does't make me feel less hungry (unfortunately!). I only eat carbs with my breakfast (cereal, porridge), I eat meat with veggies for lunch and the same for dinner. Since I eliminated carbs I started to put on weight which is really worrying.

Would you recommend any good dietician who could design appropriate eating plan for me? I am really good at sticking to them but not creative and patience enough to create them myself.

 

[noblehead]

Welcome @EwaP

I'm going to tag @daisy1 as she has some excellent information which she provides to new members of the forum. Good luck.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Are you on any medication for the PCOS just in case that is contributing to weight gain. Reducing the carbs does reduce weight so there must be another explanation. The cereal and porridge at breakfast are not ideal and eggs & bacon or muesli with cold milk might be better. Do you know what your total daily carbs might be in gms? Metformin can take a week or two to have an effect and the dose can be increased to 2000gm; it's useful if you do have excess weight.

 

[daisy1]

@EwaP

Hello Ewa and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It gives a lot of detail on diet and carbohydrates which should help you with your levels and weight. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Roytaylorjasonfunglover]

Hi all,

My name is Ewa and I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a week ago. I wasn't shocked, to be honest I kind of expected it. Not because I am massively overweight but I have been straggling with PCOS for years and extra weight around abdominal area (which is really annoying). My HbA1c is 92 - really high. I was on 1 metformin tablet (500mg) a day for a week and as from today I need to take it twice a day. I have noticed that it takes good couple of hours for metformin to work.. Yesterday evening (before dinner) my glucose level was 6.7. I ate fried turkey with a quarter of medium size avocado, fist size portion of lamb lettuce, half of tomato and two table spoons of spinach with cream. I woke up this morning and my glucose level was 10.7 and I felt extremely tired.

I don't experience any side effects of metmorfin and it does't make me feel less hungry (unfortunately!). I only eat carbs with my breakfast (cereal, porridge), I eat meat with veggies for lunch and the same for dinner. Since I eliminated carbs I started to put on weight which is really worrying.

Would you recommend any good dietician who could design appropriate eating plan for me? I am really good at sticking to them but not creative and patience enough to create them myself.

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/patient-profile-hansraj/

 

[4ratbags]

Hi and welcome to the forum. When going low carb it can take time for your body to adjust. Are you eating enough fat as it is one of the keys to losing weight when doing LCHF.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome,

Have a look at this thread. You may find it helpful.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-new-low-carb-guide-for-beginners.68695/

Are you testing before and 2 hours after your cereal/porridge breakfast? If not, I suggest you do. It is unlikely they will be doing you any favours.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Hi all,

My name is Ewa and I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a week ago. I wasn't shocked, to be honest I kind of expected it. Not because I am massively overweight but I have been straggling with PCOS for years and extra weight around abdominal area (which is really annoying). My HbA1c is 92 - really high. I was on 1 metformin tablet (500mg) a day for a week and as from today I need to take it twice a day. I have noticed that it takes good couple of hours for metformin to work.. Yesterday evening (before dinner) my glucose level was 6.7. I ate fried turkey with a quarter of medium size avocado, fist size portion of lamb lettuce, half of tomato and two table spoons of spinach with cream. I woke up this morning and my glucose level was 10.7 and I felt extremely tired.

I don't experience any side effects of metmorfin and it does't make me feel less hungry (unfortunately!). I only eat carbs with my breakfast (cereal, porridge), I eat meat with veggies for lunch and the same for dinner. Since I eliminated carbs I started to put on weight which is really worrying.

Would you recommend any good dietician who could design appropriate eating plan for me? I am really good at sticking to them but not creative and patience enough to create them myself.

Hi and welcome. It's likely that if you see a dietician they will tell you to eat carbs with every meal, which is not advice that most people here have found helpful. Your eating plan for lunch and dinner sounds really good as it is. For breakfast I have full fat greek natural yoghurt with berries, which is about 5% carb.

I think your blood sugar will come down over the next few weeks, so keep working on it and you will see the results soon.