Pre-diabetes with an awful diet!

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

Hey all,

Pre-diabetic trying to work out his diet to work his way out of this.

Trying to get my head round foods and how they affect blood glucose is a minefield, multiple websites saying contrary things!

I'm sure lots lots of my questions have been answered elsewhere so I'm going to hunt through.
So far my quick wins are changing from white bread/pasta to brown and eating more fruit (Though I'm aware all three still have an affect) - Any quick wins any one can think of?

Butall x

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hey all,

Pre-diabetic trying to work out his diet to work his way out of this.

Trying to get my head round foods and how they affect blood glucose is a minefield, multiple websites saying contrary things!

I'm sure lots lots of my questions have been answered elsewhere so I'm going to hunt through.
So far my quick wins are changing from white bread/pasta to brown and eating more fruit (Though I'm aware all three still have an affect) - Any quick wins any one can think of?

Butall x

....Ah... Yeah... Uh... Hate to be the barer of bad news, but carbs don't care what colour they are, brown or white, they'll have to be processed anyway. Which your body, alas, isn't very good at anymore. And fruit isn't nature's candy for the heck of it. Lots of sugars in there, save for berries, really... https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- give that a read, it might help. And yes, the internet is absolutely loaded with contradicting advice, which is why you'd do well to start testing. You can weed out the sense from the nonsense with a meter, and it won't try to sell you anything... It'll just tell you whether what you ate was okay for you or not. (Instructions on how to test effectively are also in the link). I thought low carb high fat was nuts, keto even more so, but... My meter didn't lie to me. Hence non-diabetic blood sugars these past 7 years.

I'm sorry. You sounded quite happy to have found swaps, but a carb is a carb is a carb...

Good luck!
Jo

 

[Antje77]

So far my quick wins are changing from white bread/pasta to brown and eating more fruit (Though I'm aware all three still have an affect) - Any quick wins any one can think of?

Hi @Butallthefoodilikeisbad , welcome to the forums!

I can think of lots of quick wins, but it all depends on what foods you like.
Considering your username, am I correct in assuming you don't like bacon and eggs, cheese, butter, chicken legs, pork belly, cream, steak, mayonnaise, veggies, or pork scratchings?

Please share foods you do like and we'll see what quick wins we can come up with based on that.

And like @JoKalsbeek said, a meter is the perfect tool to find out which websites are correct.

Trying to get my head round foods and how they affect blood glucose is a minefield, multiple websites saying contrary things!

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

....Ah... Yeah... Uh... Hate to be the barer of bad news, but carbs don't care what colour they are, brown or white, they'll have to be processed anyway. Which your body, alas, isn't very good at anymore. And fruit isn't nature's candy for the heck of it. Lots of sugars in there, save for berries, really... (link removed so i can post) <-- give that a read, it might help. And yes, the internet is absolutely loaded with contradicting advice, which is why you'd do well to start testing. You can weed out the sense from the nonsense with a meter, and it won't try to sell you anything... It'll just tell you whether what you ate was okay for you or not. (Instructions on how to test effectively are also in the link). I thought low carb high fat was nuts, keto even more so, but... My meter didn't lie to me. Hence non-diabetic blood sugars these past 7 years.

I'm sorry. You sounded quite happy to have found swaps, but a carb is a carb is a carb...

Good luck!
Jo

But is brown bread and pasta not better for slower releasing carbs and therefore not such a high spike in blood sugar?

Ah so grapes have been my big go to in terms of fruit, following from a bit of googling i did! - Thanks for the link il give that a go!

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

Hi @Butallthefoodilikeisbad , welcome to the forums!

I can think of lots of quick wins, but it all depends on what foods you like.
Considering your username, am I correct in assuming you don't like bacon and eggs, cheese, butter, chicken legs, pork belly, cream, steak, mayonnaise, veggies, or pork scratchings?

Please share foods you do like and we'll see what quick wins we can come up with based on that.

And like @JoKalsbeek said, a meter is the perfect tool to find out which websites are correct.

I love Bacon and eggs (Eggs are probably my favorite food)

I have a seriously limited variety in food which I've been working hard to change over the last couple of years.
Peppers and onion and my go to veggies and i like chicken as long as its covered in spice or flavour (Don't like roast chicken)

Im starting to look over the 30 day meal plan that this site links too and tbf there are quite a few meals there i would enjoy so im going to start from there and look into a meter

 

[Antje77]

But is brown bread and pasta not better for slower releasing carbs and therefore not such a high spike in blood sugar?

Many of us don't notice much of a difference between the two, and it's always the question what is worse, a lower but longer spike or a shorter sharper spike. (I don't think anyone knows the answer for sure by the way.)

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

Thats interesting - Such a wide variance in suggestions online, its helpful to speak with people who clearly have experienced this!

Thank you for your help everyone

 

[JoKalsbeek]

But is brown bread and pasta not better for slower releasing carbs and therefore not such a high spike in blood sugar?

Ah so grapes have been my big go to in terms of fruit, following from a bit of googling i did! - Thanks for the link il give that a go!

Like Antje said, the spike's either relatively short and high, or long and elevated... Either way, it'll have to go through. And if you love bacon and eggs, would you believe those won't spike you at all, nor raise your blood sugars significantly? Chicken's an excellent source of protein and fats, so both filling and nutritional;y sound. I have a feeling a new diet's going to suit you better than you feared when deciding on a username.

 

[Antje77]

I love Bacon and eggs (Eggs are probably my favorite food)

I have a seriously limited variety in food which I've been working hard to change over the last couple of years.
Peppers and onion and my go to veggies and i like chicken as long as its covered in spice or flavour (Don't like roast chicken)

Perfect! More bacon and eggs and less or no toast is a great breakfast.
Just don't flavour your chicken with something consisting of almost pure sugar and you'll be fine.

Im starting to look over the 30 day meal plan that this site links too and tbf there are quite a few meals there i would enjoy so im going to start from there and look into a meter

There is this thread where we share what we eat, it's a good place to get ideas on food: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today-low-carb-forum.75781/page-2822

If you're looking into getting a meter I'll tag @Rachox for you, she knows all about meters in the UK with affordable test strips.

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

Chicken's an excellent source of protein and fats, so both filling and nutritional;y sound. I have a feeling a new diet's going to suit you better than you feared when deciding on a username.

Well bacon and eggs makes me happy as I have a Saturday morning breakfast!

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

Perfect! More bacon and eggs and less or no toast is a great breakfast.
Just don't flavour your chicken with something consisting of almost pure sugar and you'll be fine.

There is this thread where we share what we eat, it's a good place to get ideas on food: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today-low-carb-forum.75781/page-2822

If you're looking into getting a meter I'll tag @Rachox for you, she knows all about meters in the UK with affordable test strips.

Again thank you!

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

So i wasn't given any readings when i got the letter through for Pre-diabetes so not sure what i should be looking for

@JoKalsbeek - The meter that @Rachox had sent the link through to another person measures it in mmol/L

Are their any threads which explain the readings you should be looking for, im guessing its not as simple as simply aiming for XYZ mmol/L as that would be too easy and if i learnt one thing about health, its that its never straight forward of easy

 

[KennyA]

Hey all,

Pre-diabetic trying to work out his diet to work his way out of this.

Trying to get my head round foods and how they affect blood glucose is a minefield, multiple websites saying contrary things!

I'm sure lots lots of my questions have been answered elsewhere so I'm going to hunt through.
So far my quick wins are changing from white bread/pasta to brown and eating more fruit (Though I'm aware all three still have an affect) - Any quick wins any one can think of?

Butall x

All of this advice following is based on my experience and is assuming you want to try a low carb lifestyle. Personally I aim for a maximum of about 20g carb/day: if find it easier to have next to none rather than try to count and remember. You probably will want to set your sights somewhere differently - you almost certainly don't need to go so low.

My first recommendation is to forget everything you think you know about healthy eating.

Secondly, a carb is a carb. I don't see any difference in practice whatsoever between "low GI" and "high GI" items - and those with the same GI score affect me in radically different ways. The aim of lowering your blood glucose is to prevent the damage to nerves and capillaries that high blood glucose does: so you really don't want either very high levels, or less elevated levels for long periods. High levels for long periods is right out.

Fruit (apart from a few berries) is packed with sugar. Tropical fruit - bananas for example - more so.

Bread, potatoes, rice and pasta are all very carb heavy.

Meat, fat, cream and cheese are either carb free or have only very small amounts of carb (some cheese).

You don't need to be hungry, ever.

You also don't have to do what other people do - we all seem to react slightly differently to things and it's important to establish what works for you. This may be different to 98% of the rest of us.

Beware snake-oil salesmen. If there was some pill or drink for sale that would "reduce blood glucose" we'd all know about it.

As well as the DCUK site, this - https://www.dietdoctor.com/ is very useful

Best of luck. It's all do-able, bit of willpower needed.

 

[KennyA]

So i wasn't given any readings when i got the letter through for Pre-diabetes so not sure what i should be looking for

@JoKalsbeek - The meter that @Rachox had sent the link through to another person measures it in mmol/L

Are their any threads which explain the readings you should be looking for, im guessing its not as simple as simply aiming for XYZ mmol/L as that would be too easy and if i learnt one thing about health, its that its never straight forward of easy

Hiya - for the UK - normal HbA1c is in the range 38-42mmol/mol. It's "normal" because that's where almost all non-diabetic people are. You would automatically be diagnosed as diabetic if your blood glucose reaches 49 mmol/l (two readings needed).

Fingerprick readings are given in mmol/litre.

US sources often use mg/dl for fingertpricks, and percentages for HbA1c. It's easy to be confused.

The two graphics below might help illustrate.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

So i wasn't given any readings when i got the letter through for Pre-diabetes so not sure what i should be looking for

@JoKalsbeek - The meter that @Rachox had sent the link through to another person measures it in mmol/L

Are their any threads which explain the readings you should be looking for, im guessing its not as simple as simply aiming for XYZ mmol/L as that would be too easy and if i learnt one thing about health, its that its never straight forward of easy

Nothing is ever straightforward and easy, no. The meters we use give us our current blood sugar level in mmol/l. A HbA1c is an average of 3 months worth of blood glucose, and is measured in mmol/mol. Entirely different test. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html gives you the ranges you're aiming for with a at-home meter. Forget about fasting blood tests in the morning, because those numbers are the last to some down, and won't change for the time being, most likely. Waste of strips, they're better used around meals because those'll be more informative. At this point, anyway. What you want to know is what your blood sugars are before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite. If they're up no more than 2.0 mmol/l or less, you're all good. And that means that you didn't put more into your body than it could handle. That, in turn, means your over-all blood sugar levels'll go down. You're prediabetic, so it is likely you'll see normal numbers a lot sooner than someone with a diabetic HbA1c would, so give yourself a week or two after the diet change, and then start looking at the charts of what normal blood sugars should be (roughly somewhere between 4 and 8, four being after fasting, eight being the maximum after a meal). Basically, test a lot at the get-go, see what food agrees with you and what doesn't, and don't start aiming for what passes for normalcy, until it's fair to yourself to do so. It'll be a little while before normal glucose is achieved, though I think you'll get there right-quick, but you know... Err on the side of caution and give yourself a break if there's a stumble or a mistake. We've all made them.

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

@KennyA
@JoKalsbeek

Thank you both - I have ordered my meter so will actively use this over the next couple of weeks to measure my bodies response to food.

Im doing the million steps for diabetes come July 1st so will hopefully be able to combined knowledge of food and more exercise to help it!

 

[Antje77]

Any quick wins any one can think of?

I have ordered my meter so will actively use this over the next couple of weeks to measure my bodies response to food.

You just made the quickest win yourself, less than 3 hours between fruit/brown pasta and ordering a meter!
Looks like you've hit the ground running!

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

@JoKalsbeek

Sorry to message again. So I've tested pre dinner and got 5.3mmo/L

I'm going to wait 2 hours and test again

5.3 seems to be good and like a average for someone with pre-diabetes , am I reading that correctly ?

 

[Butallthefoodilikeisbad]

My second one was 5.1

Addmitteled my dinner was eggs and bacon but that's surely a good sign

 

[lovinglife]

My second one was 5.1

Addmitteled my dinner was eggs and bacon but that's surely a good sign

Perfect numbers after a perfect meal - it’s a very good sign, you’re doing great, keep going