This is what diabetes uk tell T2 diabetics via their website...

[the_anticarb]

I've just been diagnosed with Type 2 – what can I eat?
In one word... anything. Or how about another? Everything


So they are basically saying you can eat anything and everything? And this is Diabetes Uk the country's biggest diabetes charity.

I could understand them saying that for T1 who can inject (you still have to do some pretty serious carb counting injecting and testing to eat anything and everything with T1) but surely for T2 the message should be more about moderation, especially carbs

I live in hope that the low carb message will catch on now Dr Deakin has had the penny drop, but it will probably take a good few years for DUK to get on board.

Many newly diagnosed diabetics will go straight to DUK Website, and take that as gospel, as it is so well known.

would you tell a coealic they could eat anything and everything? a nut allergy sufferer? someone with IBS?

 

[sanguine]

Yes it's bonkers isn't it <sigh>

 

[Clivethedrive]

Yes it's bonkers isn't it <sigh>

Totally agree, lets hope they find us sooner than later:(

 

[the_anticarb]

It gets better. It then goes on to say

What should I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Having diabetes doesn't change what you can eat but you might want to make some different choices in your daily diet. Why not try one of these?

Breakfast

• a bowl of cereal with semi-skimmed milk
• 2 slices of wholegrain toast with spread and/or jam
• a fat-free yogurt and fruit.

More about having a healthy breakfast.

Lunch

• a chicken or ham salad sandwich...
• a small pasta salad...
• soup and a roll...

...with a piece of fruit and a diet or fat-free yogurt

Read more about healthy lunchtime swaps.

Dinner

• lasagne and salad
• roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables
• beef stir fry, vegetables and rice
• chicken tortillas and salad
• salmon and noodles
• curry and rice

Could it be any more carby? I mean, toast and jam for breakfast? Oh, and I'll have a side of ********-up retinas with that too please!

 

[sanguine]

 

[Bluetit1802]

What planet are they living on?

If type 1's have to carb count to ensure they get enough insulin to cope with the carbs, then surely any old fool can see it is carbs that cause the problems.

Totally bonkers.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

If it makes you feel any better it's the same in Canada. And it's the same dietary advice given to the general population: low fat high carb. It comes from the USA originally. There's a good book that describes how this terrible dietary advice came about:

Death by Food Pyramid: How Shoddy Science, Sketchy Politics and Shady Special Interests Have Ruined Our Health (by Denise Minger).

It's a very entertaining, although depressing read.

 

[sanguine]

The tragedy is the number of T2s who accept this 'advice' and also calmly accept that their blood sugars will inevitably get worse and they will need more and more medication. It's a charity so it must be right, right?

 

[phil1966]

It gets better. It then goes on to say

What should I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Having diabetes doesn't change what you can eat but you might want to make some different choices in your daily diet. Why not try one of these?

Breakfast

• a bowl of cereal with semi-skimmed milk
• 2 slices of wholegrain toast with spread and/or jam
• a fat-free yogurt and fruit.

More about having a healthy breakfast.

Lunch

• a chicken or ham salad sandwich...
• a small pasta salad...
• soup and a roll...

...with a piece of fruit and a diet or fat-free yogurt

Read more about healthy lunchtime swaps.

Dinner

• lasagne and salad
• roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables
• beef stir fry, vegetables and rice
• chicken tortillas and salad
• salmon and noodles
• curry and rice

Could it be any more carby? I mean, toast and jam for breakfast? Oh, and I'll have a side of ********-up retinas with that too please!

That would literally be a recipe for disaster for me! I know through testing that a slice of toast throws me into the teens and I shudder to think what damage that amount of carbs would do to me.

If I followed that "advice" my future would probably be an increase in meds followed by insulin, a couple of amputations and blindness

I take a simplistic view to my condition: I have diabetes which means my body can't control its blood sugar properly and it's high blood sugar levels that cause damage to my body.
If I eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, tortillas, etc, my blood sugar rises to dangerous levels and if I avoid them it stays in the safe levels. Therefore, why would I consider eating them?

Diabetes UK should be ashamed of themselves!

 

[the_anticarb]

Interestingly there is a section on coeliac (probably spelt that wrong) where it says the only treatment is to avoid gluten. So they do say that coeliacs can't eat gluten!

 

[Lamont D]

This advice is the reason why I struggled for over ten years to lose weight and why I was misdiagnosed.
There is an undercurrent of advice that says complex carbs are ok! This was discussed with my consultant! No carbs (which is, impossible by the way) especially refined grains and the super foods they are pushing, just send me out of control.
I see it many times on this forum. How many (more) carbs can I have?
. Well if you have as low as possible you will lower your blood readings and lose weight if you need to!
I can understand it but it frustrates me.
I very, very, very low carb, my control is great and my body has never been fitter or healthier. I eat full fat foods to balance!
There is a sea change in the health industry, but until those that run these things are persuaded to change, nothing will be different in their advice

 

[Enclave]

I've just been diagnosed with Type 2 – what can I eat?
In one word... anything. Or how about another? Everything


So they are basically saying you can eat anything and everything? And this is Diabetes Uk the country's biggest diabetes charity.

I could understand them saying that for T1 who can inject (you still have to do some pretty serious carb counting injecting and testing to eat anything and everything with T1) but surely for T2 the message should be more about moderation, especially carbs

I live in hope that the low carb message will catch on now Dr Deakin has had the penny drop, but it will probably take a good few years for DUK to get on board.

Many newly diagnosed diabetics will go straight to DUK Website, and take that as gospel, as it is so well known.

would you tell a coealic they could eat anything and everything? a nut allergy sufferer? someone with IBS?

Have you thought that if they gave out the correct advice .. The problems and compilations from diabetes will be halted .. Or at least slowed down .. So no dramatic headlines .. As the wife says ... NEVER TRUST AN EXPERT !

Edit to add ... I was amazed at how when I was first told I was T2 .. The Dr's inc the hand outs from the drs made this out to be all doom and gloom ... They told me i would think its the end of my world ... Well I am sorry .. This diabites is able to be controlled .. It's not half as scary as my heart problems ...
Could we try to get newly diagnosed people to see the pro active positive side of this thing called diabites .. Even T1 is manageable .. But most of the current media is aimed at T2's .. So rather than doom and gloom .. With a list of medical things that WILL be upon all T2's .. Could the drs swap this attude around .. Sorry Mr D .. You are now diabetic.. So we are going to be proactive .. Diet advise that works .. Medication that can be stopped when bs control is reached ..a shiney new bs meter with as many strips you need for the first 6 months .. So Mr D can actively see if his eating habits and sugar levels are going in the right direction ..
Rather than .. Eat what you want .. It will make little difference ..don't test ...take more and more meds ..overweight ..we have an operation that will fix that .. It's now the end of your world !!!!!!!!

 

[the_anticarb]

They even contradict themselves in the same sentence saying

What should I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Having diabetes doesn't change what you can eat but you might want to make some different choices in your daily diet


So if it doesn't change what you can eat why what you want to make different choices?????


Logic fail!

 

[AndBreathe]

I just feel very, vary sad when I read that. As you might imagine, I looked on there when I was first diagnosed, but quickly concluded that it just couldn't be right. I mean, it meant me not changing my diet at all, in fact, it meant increasing the carbs, which I simply couldn't reconcile with my understanding of digestion from physiology 30-odd years ago.

It's the 5 - 14 portions of carbs a day, plus at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables.

The thing is; I love my life. I being fit and active. I love my family and I love our life together. That advice surely puts all virtually all of that at risk?

I despair.

 

[cold ethyl]

I just feel very, vary sad when I read that. As you might imagine, I looked on there when I was first diagnosed, but quickly concluded that it just couldn't be right. I mean, it meant me not changing my diet at all, in fact, it meant increasing the carbs, which I simply couldn't reconcile with my understanding of digestion from physiology 30-odd years ago.

It's the 5 - 14 portions of carbs a day, plus at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables.

The thing is; I love my life. I being fit and active. I love my family and I love our life together. That advice surely puts all virtually all of that at risk?

I despair.

I looked at the website the day I was diagnosed. I quickly worked out that the diet they were recommending was pretty much what I'd been eating for years and I was hugely overweight on it. So I was so relieved to find this place and it's alternative dietary advice along with a take control of your illness ethos that was sadly lacking elsewhere.

 

[Phlogiston]

I looked at the website the day I was diagnosed. I quickly worked out that the diet they were recommending was pretty much what I'd been eating for years and I was hugely overweight on it. So I was so relieved to find this place and it's alternative dietary advice along with a take control of your illness ethos that was sadly lacking elsewhere.

This was more or less my conclusion.
I did eat too many snacks and too much pre-diagnosis, but my diet was mostly cooked from scratch from ingredients my grandmother would recognise (apart from some of the spices.)
Practice nurse says a third of the plate should be carbs - but I'm here because my body can't handle those carbs.
Tomorrow I will have been on lisinoprol for a fortnight and I will have blood tests to ascertain current BG levels. They had better be down!

Book from the library (can't remember which one) had the advice that samosas were not recommended as high GI. Lo and behold, the recipe section at the back had a recipe for samosas with the advice below. High GI, not suitable. Derr.

 

[Daphne917]

When I was first diagnosed and saw the dietitian I mentioned that I presumed I would no longer be able to eat as much fruit, particularly grapes and bananas, as I used to. I was pleased when she told me that I could still eat them which I did - in fact I made sure I had the govt recommended 5 portions a day

 

[Enclave]

When I was first diagnosed and saw the dietitian I mentioned that I presumed I would no longer be able to eat as much fruit, particularly grapes and bananas, as I used to. I was pleased when she told me that I could still eat them which I did - in fact I made sure I had the govt recommended 5 portions a day

This is kinda what I was told as well ....
It's plain stupidity to be told this .. When cutting carbs and sugars work so well ! It's almost like they want us to stay diabetic and get any compilations sooner rather than later ..... But WHY ?

 

[adrian207]

...........................and this is what I got from my dietician on Tuesday 3rd Feb. Notice it is handwritten by an NHS Dietician who in her words "has studied diabetes for 4 yrs in college"..................................

What she forgot to write on here but did mention was, I should have upto 3 slices of bread per day, but not necessarily with the same meal.

 

[cold ethyl]

...........................and this is what I got from my dietician on Tuesday 3rd Feb. Notice it is handwritten by an NHS Dietician who in her words "has studied diabetes for 4 yrs in college"..................................
View attachment 11547

Jeez. I didn't eat 4-6 egg sized spuds before diagnosis and ended up with an HbA1c of 8.6!