Newly diagnosed type 2

paulsutt

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,
Newly diagnosed type 2. Very confused about diets. I'm overweight and obviously need to lose weight. I've read a low carb diet is good but not sure?

Now on Metformin. Bit worried as I've noticied my eyesight has become blurry far sighted. Dilated eye test in a couple of weeks.

Any advice on diets and what's worked best for you would be appreciated as I've read loads of conflicting things about fruits etcetc

Many thanks
Paul
 

chalup

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,745
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Hi and welcome to the forum. I am going to tag @daisy1 for you to send out her info package to you. It is well worth a thorough read and will answer a lot of your questions regarding blood sugar levels and diet. It also contains a link to the free low carb program on this site. Blurry vision is a common occurrence when glucose levels are changing and usually settles quite quickly once things stabilize. You will not want to change any eyeglasses prescriptions until you know things have settled. In the meantime a pair of cheap OTC glasses may help. Make sure the eye doctor knows you are diabetic. I personally cannot eat any fruit at all as it sends my blood sugar into orbit. Please read daisy's post when she gets it to you and then come back with any questions and someone will be along to answer.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,850
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I can eat berries and other low sugar fruits, but starches cause elevated glucose for hours after eating - you really need a glucose meter to see how you react as we are all different.
I know that if I follow the same rules which allow me to lose weight my blood glucose levels remain low - in fact they were dropping week on week along with my weight.
 

Maggie/Magpie

Well-Known Member
Messages
279
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Butternut Squash, Cabbage and confrontation.
Hi and Welcome to the forum.
Relatively newly diagnosed as well, only 3 months in.
The vision problem occurs for me when my blood sugars goes up but provided I keep them at a reasonable level is no problem.
I was scepticle as well about the LCHF diet at first but decided to give it a go. It's worked a lot for me, in 3 months Ive reduced my HBA1C from 53 to 40, lost 1 stone 9 lbs and have blood sugars in the range of 5.5 -7. So give it a try your self, don't consider it yet another diet but as a life style change it seems to be easier to accept some how. I too have a lot of weight to loose and I'm on metformin slow release. The most common side effect of metformin is loose bowels if that happens ask your Gp for the slow release type as its not such a issue. It is also recognised that metformin in some people actually helps with weight loss so for us larger people is a good one to be on.
Good luck with it all
Maggie
 
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Mbaker

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,339
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Available fast foods in Supermarkets
Hi @paulsutt, I would recommend raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, red / black currents and blueberries. Greek full fat plain yogurt, nuts (brazil, macadamia, hazel, pecan, almond and cashew (possibly minimise these due to higher carb). Flax and sun flower seeds. Oily fish. White and red meat if this suits you. Salad and plenty of vegetables (kale, spinach and broccoli are good choices). Lots of water / herbal teas. Cinnamon, ginger and turmeric. Eggs, mushrooms (can stretch to the occasional full English minus beans, toast and hash browns). There are loads more choices for LCHF.
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@paulsutt

Hello Paul and welcome to the forum :) Here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope it will be useful for you. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to answer.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 well over 220,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.