T2 and trying to move to low carb

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Of all the things I have been trying to do over the last 10 years, low carbs wasn't one of them, my last visit to a health professional didn't go well, the dietitian gave me a booklet, pointed out what I should be looking at and asked me if I had any questions and here I had watched several programs on low carb diets in some cases reversing their T2.

I had seen a study several years before by Newcastle University that had suggested that a daily calorie intake had reversed some of their study group, the dietitian at that had no idea what I was talking about.

The dietitian I saw recently hadn't seen any of the programs, they didn't hold with anything other than their mainstream plan in the booklet and had no knowledge of a low carb diet reversing T2.

I came away non the wiser, however, the government are now pushing a low calorie diet to be offered to diabetics of 800 calories a day, this is not helping and all I wanted was to know what foods and how much of them I should eat, and what portion size, here no one has given me any idea and so, my wife does the usual shopping and buys the things she likes and I cherry pick what I think I should have and reduce my portion size, so far I have lost approx. 23lbs over 3 years and now stand at 17 stone, and stuck on that for 1 year so far, my visit to the dietitian yielded nothing, I need help.

I exercise regularly on an exercise bike and I am an active 70 year old in the Armed Services Community in the OL postcode area.

I am on Metformin and Vildagliptin

My mmol is down from an average of 9 to 7 and that is stuck too!

Any ideas please I'd be grateful for a long term fix

Graham
 
Last edited:

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I am a long time low carber - I started back in the 1970s, so it is a pity that health care professionals are so out of date.
I have, over the years, been forced onto high carb diets because they are so healthy - they healthied me into being very overweight and a full on diabetic, type two.
When diagnosed I abandoned the cholesterol lowering diet and ordered a whole hogget (large lamb) on the way home. The concept is simple. Stop eating high carb foods - which are converted into glucose in the blood, moderate the amounts of sugar and starch consumed, and use a meter to check that you are not overdoing what you do eat.
The usual foods to avoid are anything made from grains, potatoes and other root vegetables, and fruits other than berries.
I eat stir fries, stews and salads along with meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and cheese and my favourite dessert is sugar free jelly with frozen berries and cream.
 
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Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I just noticed that your message is your first one - welcome to the forum, and I will tag @daisy1 for her useful information.
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Of all the things I have been trying to do over the last 10 years, low carbs wasn't one of them, my last visit to a health professional didn't go well, the dietitian gave me a booklet, pointed out what I should be looking at and asked me if I had any questions and here I had watched several programs on low carb diets in some cases reversing their T2.

I had seen a study several years before by Newcastle University that had suggested that a daily calorie intake had reversed some of their study group, the dietitian at that had no idea what I was talking about.

The dietitian I saw recently hadn't seen any of the programs, they didn't hold with anything other than their mainstream plan in the booklet and had no knowledge of a low carb diet reversing T2.

I came away non the wiser, however, the government are now pushing a low calorie diet to be offered to diabetics of 800 calories a day, this is not helping and all I wanted was to know what foods and how much of them I should eat, and what portion size, here no one has given me any idea and so, my wife does the usual shopping and buys the things she likes and I cherry pick what I think I should have and reduce my portion size, so far I have lost approx. 23lbs over 3 years and now stand at 17 stone, and stuck on that for 1 year so far, my visit to the dietitian yielded nothing, I need help.

I exercise regularly on an exercise bike and I am an active 70 year old in the Armed Services Community in the OL postcode area.

I am on Metformin and Vildagliptin

My mmol is down from an average of 9 to 7 and that is stuck too!

Any ideas please I'd be grateful for a long term fix

Graham
Hi Graham, and welcome!

Ah, yes, outdated advice that'll help you not one iota... But hey, we're here to fix that. ;) If you want to know what to read: Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code is quite the revalation, and you can check dietdoctor.com for information on what you can and rather shouldn't eat. But this is the quick version: Avoid, aside from the obvious straight sugars, potatoes, bread, (or anything made with wheat/grain really), rice, pasta, cereal/muesli/porridge, all fruit save for berries, avocado, starfruit and tomatoes. All of those things are carby and as you already found out, carbs turn to glucose once ingested. So cut those out as much as possible.

There's still loads to eat though. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, cream, butter, above-ground veggies/leafy greens, extra dark chocolate, olives, full fat greek yoghurt, nuts, berries, avocado, starfruit and tomatoes. :)

And I'm going to cheat again by copying and pasting a little quick-start list of possible meals:

So you could eat, without issue:
Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Personally I believe the Newcastle diet worked because with the reduced intake of calories, they also reduced intake of carbs. Just worked out that way. But all in all, you might want to read up on LCHF (Low carb, high fat), and/or Keto, (Ketogenic diet) and Intermittent fasting. I do keto and IF, meaning I stay under 20 grams of carbs a day and usually skip breakfast, don't eat till noon, just have bucketloads of tea. But since we're all different, your path may be a different one. Find out what works best for you, together with your meter. :)

Again, welcome, and good luck!
Jo
 

shrivast77

Newbie
Messages
1
I have been t2 diabetic since 2006 and as everyone blindly followed the advice around “healthy” eating. It all resulted in increased medication to control diabetic symptoms. HbA1C remained high.

It was only when I looked at the cause I started on Keto back in February 2018. 11 months on and my GP has taken me off all medications including cholesterol and blood pressure medicines. It’s a totally different feeling to be medicine free. It does require a lot of discipline but can be done!

Now I do a combination of intermittent fasting, extended fasting (sometimes), Keto and exercise
All the best!
 

briped

Well-Known Member
Messages
947
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
I have been t2 diabetic since 2006 and as everyone blindly followed the advice around “healthy” eating. It all resulted in increased medication to control diabetic symptoms. HbA1C remained high.

It was only when I looked at the cause I started on Keto back in February 2018. 11 months on and my GP has taken me off all medications including cholesterol and blood pressure medicines. It’s a totally different feeling to be medicine free. It does require a lot of discipline but can be done!

Now I do a combination of intermittent fasting, extended fasting (sometimes), Keto and exercise
All the best!
Hello shrivast77, and welcome. I see it's your first post. I was diagnosed in 2005, so our T2s are just about the same age. No longer toddlers. It encourages me to see that keto is working for you even if you've had T2 for many years. It looks as if its working for me too. Have been eating very low carb since april'ish, but didn't start logging til just 8-9 days ago, and I finally see my fasting BGs come further down and not really going up later in the morning like they used to. Congratulations on becoming medicine free.
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Braithy31
Hello Graham and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.

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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I am a long time low carber - I started back in the 1970s, so it is a pity that health care professionals are so out of date.
I have, over the years, been forced onto high carb diets because they are so healthy - they healthied me into being very overweight and a full on diabetic, type two.
When diagnosed I abandoned the cholesterol lowering diet and ordered a whole hogget (large lamb) on the way home. The concept is simple. Stop eating high carb foods - which are converted into glucose in the blood, moderate the amounts of sugar and starch consumed, and use a meter to check that you are not overdoing what you do eat.
The usual foods to avoid are anything made from grains, potatoes and other root vegetables, and fruits other than berries.
I eat stir fries, stews and salads along with meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and cheese and my favourite dessert is sugar free jelly with frozen berries and cream.
Thanks for that, some great information, I will take in the info on the no no's and start to look closer at my shopping basket, and it looks like a change in my food groups is in order.
 

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Graham, and welcome!

Ah, yes, outdated advice that'll help you not one iota... But hey, we're here to fix that. ;) If you want to know what to read: Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code is quite the revalation, and you can check dietdoctor.com for information on what you can and rather shouldn't eat. But this is the quick version: Avoid, aside from the obvious straight sugars, potatoes, bread, (or anything made with wheat/grain really), rice, pasta, cereal/muesli/porridge, all fruit save for berries, avocado, starfruit and tomatoes. All of those things are carby and as you already found out, carbs turn to glucose once ingested. So cut those out as much as possible.

There's still loads to eat though. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, cream, butter, above-ground veggies/leafy greens, extra dark chocolate, olives, full fat greek yoghurt, nuts, berries, avocado, starfruit and tomatoes. :)

And I'm going to cheat again by copying and pasting a little quick-start list of possible meals:

So you could eat, without issue:
Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Personally I believe the Newcastle diet worked because with the reduced intake of calories, they also reduced intake of carbs. Just worked out that way. But all in all, you might want to read up on LCHF (Low carb, high fat), and/or Keto, (Ketogenic diet) and Intermittent fasting. I do keto and IF, meaning I stay under 20 grams of carbs a day and usually skip breakfast, don't eat till noon, just have bucketloads of tea. But since we're all different, your path may be a different one. Find out what works best for you, togetheithr w your meter. :)

Again, welcome, and good luck!
Jo
Thanks Jo
Looks like I have been eating under a false premise for 20 years, your information and suggestions are well received and thanks for the advice, I will get back to a core diet of the right foods and make chez my wife aware before she shops as I cannot get a look-in these days, I had someone talk about intermittent fasting last year so will check on that and the others you suggest, they suggested one day a week, I will look at all you have said and recommended and make a plan.

You've been a great help, thanks
Graham
 

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have been t2 diabetic since 2006 and as everyone blindly followed the advice around “healthy” eating. It all resulted in increased medication to control diabetic symptoms. HbA1C remained high.

It was only when I looked at the cause I started on Keto back in February 2018. 11 months on and my GP has taken me off all medications including cholesterol and blood pressure medicines. It’s a totally different feeling to be medicine free. It does require a lot of discipline but can be done!

Now I do a combination of intermittent fasting, extended fasting (sometimes), Keto and exercise
All the best!
Thanks Fenn, sounds very encouraging
 

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello shrivast77, and welcome. I see it's your first post. I was diagnosed in 2005, so our T2s are just about the same age. No longer toddlers. It encourages me to see that keto is working for you even if you've had T2 for many years. It looks as if its working for me too. Have been eating very low carb since april'ish, but didn't start logging til just 8-9 days ago, and I finally see my fasting BGs come further down and not really going up later in the morning like they used to. Congratulations on becoming medicine free.
Hi
Not yet med free but want to be, "better control" is my new words set, fingers crossed, will have to dump some foods on my family for a fresh start.
Thanks for the advice and history, went through something similar to you, good luck with yours.
Regards
Graham
 

Braithy31

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
@Braithy31
Hello Graham and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.

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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
Daisy
Some fantastic details you've included, I will make some immediate changes and slowly bring in a low carb diet with what seems lots of things I should be eating and definitely not eating.
Thank you
Graham
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks Jo
Looks like I have been eating under a false premise for 20 years, your information and suggestions are well received and thanks for the advice, I will get back to a core diet of the right foods and make chez my wife aware before she shops as I cannot get a look-in these days, I had someone talk about intermittent fasting last year so will check on that and the others you suggest, they suggested one day a week, I will look at all you have said and recommended and make a plan.

You've been a great help, thanks
Graham
Go with whatever resonates with you most. I read about a whole lot of low carb diet variants, and ended up going with what works best for me; IF, as in, skipping breakfast most days, and postponing lunch for as long as I can, and keto for the meals i do eat... Took a while to find that this was "my thing". But yeah, it does take a change in mindset eh... After decades of hearing fat's the culprit, tossing that out the window was quite the revelation. Especially when the weight dropped off and my HbA1c ended up in the normal range. If there's anything you want to try, do it, and use your meter to find out if it works for you. Go from there. :)

You're going to be fine. :)
Jo
 

briped

Well-Known Member
Messages
947
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
IF, as in, skipping breakfast most days, and postponing lunch for as long as I can, and keto for the meals i do eat...
That's exactly how I started doing it, and dropped 2 pounds and some blood sugar in less than 2 weeks. Sorry, didn't know I'd pinched your recipe :)