New to forum. Type2.
- Thread starter articman
- Start Date
muzza3
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
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- Cauliflower pretending to be rice and any vegetable pretending to be pasta
Hi @articman
Welcome to the forum. @daisy1 will send you some information that will explain a fair bit about diabetes. This is a great place to ask questions and it has been very helpful to me.
Re your weight loss I would need more information before being able to give you an opinion.
Welcome to the forum. @daisy1 will send you some information that will explain a fair bit about diabetes. This is a great place to ask questions and it has been very helpful to me.
Re your weight loss I would need more information before being able to give you an opinion.
- Have you changed your diet since diagnosed and what sort of food are you eating?
- Do you have your details from your diagnosis such as a HbA1c test results etc?
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
@articman
Hello Articman and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to 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 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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
Hello Articman and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to 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
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
- Messages
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Tablets (oral)
Eating porridge off a morning omelette for lunch an meat or fish an veg for dinner no sugar in tea or coffee an very little breadI would like to know what you are eating
- Messages
- 24
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
I would like to know what you are eating
Porridge omelette an meat an veg 3 meals a day just
bulkbiker
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- Type of diabetes
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Have you dramatically changed your diet? What was your weight when diagnosed?.. I lost a stone in a month when I started low carbing but weighed in at 22 1/2 stone then. Its hard for anyone to help with no information.
- Messages
- 24
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
I was 15 st 4 when diagnosed I'm 13 st 8 now that's in six weeks I lost that weight an still dropping
pleinster
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Hi. I'd expect to lose weight initially with the diet change..but I get your concern given your weight. I eat about 25 carbs a day now and my weight has pretty much stabilized around 12.6 stones (but I was never more than 13.5). I would advise, however, that you look at fat in products and ensure you are taking in some unsaturated fats to compensate a little for carb reduction. there area number of views on this. There are those who eat pretty much only meat and advocate zero carb dieting, those who don't eat meat at all, those who follow the general GP advice (ie. a "balanced" diet), and those who experiment until they find what works for them. That said, I am firmly behind the very low carb principle but I also eat foods which supply me with the "right kind" of fats. I have an avocado pretty much every lunchtime. Oily fish help too. I would advise, however, that you consider identifying some foods with a good amount of mono or polyunsaturated fats, drink plenty of fluid (I average 2.5 litres a day) and keep a note of foods eaten alongside meter readings. What are your average blood sugar readings by the way? Back to the weight issue, I am 6 foot in height and feel no concern at all at being under 13 stone. I read that under 11.5 stones would be underweight for my height. it's all relative...what height are you? Research into whether or not it's a reasonable weight for your height. the important issue is..how do you feel?
4ratbags
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- 3,334
- Type of diabetes
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Its pretty normal to lose a significant amount of weigt when you are first diagnosed as quite often you get such a shock you virtually stop eating a lot of the junk you used to. When I was diagnosed I was too sick to eat for the first couple of weeks so the weight just fell off. It should slow down with time as your body adjusts.
