NUTS

Lee Terence

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone, I have beens told underground food is not good for T2, But i have been nuts are ok, can anyone please let me know, which is true and if nuts are good for us T2, does it have to be certain nuts?

i know google is there but same time google is not always correct and as fellow diabetics i would prefer your advice the most. i have only been told im T2 from yesterday, This is all new to me, sorry for all the questions i post as stupid as some of my questions may be, im just trying to understand T2, as well as unknowingly try reduce sugar and lose weight same time.
 

mouseee

Well-Known Member
Messages
690
Some nuts have more carbs than others. Helpful thing about nuts is that they are labelled with carbs etc. Have a look at the carbs and choose lowest. I use nuts as occasional snacks.
I can tell how worried you are and how you are desperate to get this right. You aren't going to learn everything overnight. As you learn, keep an eye on labels and stick with things that are less than 10g carbs to 100g. It's a good guide.
If you stick eating meat or fish with veg you can't go far wrong while you find your way.
Have you got a bg monitor? If not, they have a good one in Tesco at the pharmacy counter and that would be where I'd be off to today.
Test before a meal, at first bite and two hours after. See if its spiked bg. Remember, it'll take a while for the overall numbers to come down. But they will come down!!
 

MissMuffett

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,054
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Good morning @Lee Terence and welcome to the forum. No question is a stupid question and this forum is very supportive and friendly so ask as many questions as you want!

There are supposed to be ‘better’ nuts ie macadamia nuts but I haven’t got a stop mechanism and before you know it I’ve eaten way too many so I tend to avoid them. Everyone has a different reaction and the best thing is get a BG monitor and test strips, test your BG before you eat a handful and then 2 hrs after the first mouthful. If your result has gone up by more than 2 mmols then that’s a spike and so best avoided. In fact as you’re getting used to what food you can tolerate as most of us do this test with unfamiliar food down our T2 journey.

Edit: Oops sorry I’ve just repeated what @mouseee has said :p
 

becca59

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,875
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Avoid peanuts as they are a legume. I’m a type 1 and finish my meal each day with a couple of brazils a handful of walnuts and 10 almonds. My Libre doesn’t flicker. So for me they are great and I don’t need insulin to cover. Test and see how you react. Hopefully well as they are nutritious and very filling.
 

KennyA

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,961
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone, I have beens told underground food is not good for T2, But i have been nuts are ok, can anyone please let me know, which is true and if nuts are good for us T2, does it have to be certain nuts?

i know google is there but same time google is not always correct and as fellow diabetics i would prefer your advice the most. i have only been told im T2 from yesterday, This is all new to me, sorry for all the questions i post as stupid as some of my questions may be, im just trying to understand T2, as well as unknowingly try reduce sugar and lose weight same time.
I'd turn it round. It's not that some foods are good for us, high carb foods may be bad for us.

The usual thing is that underground vegetables are higher in carbohydrate - that covers things like potatoes. Swede is not one of those - around 3% carb. https://www.dietdoctor.com is a good and reliable (in my experience) source.

You also have to remember that it's not just the percentage carb that matters, it's also how much of the food you eat. I eat (for example) a mixed pickle that's about 25% carb - because I eat only 10g (one teaspoon) of it at a time, total carb 2.5g. I wouldn't (usually) eat 250g of an 8% vegetable because that's 20g total, and I aim for about 20g in a full day.

All nuts are not the same. You can check here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts. I eat almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts regularly. I'll get through a 200g Lidl bag in about 2 weeks.

The key thing that will help you understand how you deal with particular foods is using a glucose meter. Tagging @Rachox who has an up to date list.

The normal pattern is to test just before you eat - this establishes a baseline. Eat whatever it is - if it contains carb, your blood glucose will start to rise after about 15-20 minutes as the carb is digested to glucose and absorbed into your bloodstream. At that point your body starts producing insulin and the action of the insulin moves the glucose out of your blood stream and into your skeletal muscle cells and the nervous system where it's used as fuel. The glucose peak will probably be reached somewhere in the first hour, and then start to fall.

You're not testing to find the peak. You're testing to see how well your system deal with whatever carb/glucose load you've placed on it.

By +2 hours your system should have cleared all or almost all of the glucose out of the blood. The test at +2 hours shows how well your system operated. That's why the ideal is that at +2 you are both a) under 7.8 and b) within 2 points of your starting reading. Non-diabetic people generally manage this because a) they produce enough insulin to do the job and b) their cells are not insulin resistant.

T2s on the other hand usually have some problem with insulin resistance. This means that we often do not clear the excess glucose from the blood (so you get a much higher reading at +2 hours than you should) and that excess glucose is stored as bodyfat. The obvious solution to having too much glucose after a meal is not to eat it (ie carb) in the first place.
 

coby

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,084
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Social mixing most sport, Soaps!
Hi everyone, I have beens told underground food is not good for T2, But i have been nuts are ok, can anyone please let me know, which is true and if nuts are good for us T2, does it have to be certain nuts?

i know google is there but same time google is not always correct and as fellow diabetics i would prefer your advice the most. i have only been told im T2 from yesterday, This is all new to me, sorry for all the questions i post as stupid as some of my questions may be, im just trying to understand T2, as well as unknowingly try reduce sugar and lose weight same time.
@Lee Terence I love nuts, but because I keep them in an airtight container in my kitchen then I get two or three brazils out, plus about three or four Pecans and walnut halves, then put the container away. I have them with my coffee break at around 11am in my lounge (well away from the box of nuts) and have found this works well for me since I only eat what's in front of me :D
 

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,916
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi @Lee Terence and thanks for the tag @KennyA , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 

Outlier

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,596
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Are there Significant Others in your home that could help? I love nuts, and the only way I would stop eating them would be when I fainted. But my husband buys them, hides them, and most days gives me a tiny container of T2-friendly nuts (in my case, walnuts and Brazil nuts, sometimes hazelnuts) just before dinner. It means I can eat nuts without causing myself problems. You may well be a different personality and have no problems keeping to a few nuts, but the important thing is to know ourselves and avoid stresses that can be worked round.
 

Paul_

Well-Known Member
Messages
452
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Just to add, it largely depends how good you are at controlling portion sizes as to what should be "off the menu".

Peanuts, for example, aren't the best nuts for carb content. However, if it's peanuts that you're specifically wanting, just make sure you control the portion appropriately. Sure, you'd be able to have more almonds or Brazil's for example, but if only peanuts will do it for you then they're still an option.

Very few foods are completely banned for me on my new diet regime. I have, however, learnt how to portion control more effectively in order to be able to say that. Testing, as @KennyA outlined above, is the best way to find out what you personally can tolerate for carb intake. It also allows you to see how you react to foods/meals and dial down the portion sizes of carby items if needed. It's been the most effective of all the tools I've learned when developing my low carb diet.
 

ianf0ster

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,431
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
exercise, phone calls
A good example of a food most would think 'off the table' is chocolate. But I eat a few squares of dark chocolate (Lindt 90%) and that's well withing my carb limit for a day. A whole 100gm bar is only 14 gms carbs, so even if I lose control and end up eating half a bar it's not a disaster!
 

rhaardoerfer

Active Member
Messages
35
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I eat a lot of nuts. They are great brain food. I started eating a lot of walnuts as I also had a fatty liver when I was diagnosed with diabetes last August. I tolerate them well and my brain has been functioning so well despite cutting out most carbs. I also eat boiled peanuts - it’s a thing in the southern US and it doesn’t do much for my BG.
 
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aris

Well-Known Member
Messages
126
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Careful with Brazil nuts. Hey are high in selenium, which is good for you in small quantities, but toxic in large quantity.
 
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coby

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,084
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Social mixing most sport, Soaps!
Careful with Brazil nuts. Hey are high in selenium, which is good for you in small quantities, but toxic in large quantity.
Yes I agree about the Brazil nuts. I allow myself just three per day as it appears to be the daily requirment, but also love walnuts and pecans:) Oh and almonds haha
 

aris

Well-Known Member
Messages
126
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Yes I agree about the Brazil nuts. I allow myself just three per day as it appears to be the daily requirment, but also love walnuts and pecans:) Oh and almonds haha

For myself, nuts are like crisps. Can't leave a bag unfinished.
 
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