first test

[SlimLizzy]

No problem with the test before meal, Had not eaten all day. result 5.5mmol
Dinner was duck breast, carrots, cabbage and peas. my husband made sauce with gravy pot and added orange marmalade. After 2 hours re-test result 4.7mmol?
Thought it was supposed to go up?

 

[Bluetit1802]

No problem with the test before meal, Had not eaten all day. result 5.5mmol
Dinner was duck breast, carrots, cabbage and peas. my husband made sauce with gravy pot and added orange marmalade. After 2 hours re-test result 4.7mmol?
Thought it was supposed to go up?

It will have gone up, but earlier than the two hours. OR it may be a delayed peak and not yet rising, but I doubt that looking at your meal. To return to base or even lower at the 2 hour mark is brilliant. You will learn that some foods release glucose early (carrots, marmalade, gravy if contained flour)) and some foods have delayed release (probably peas). The fat content of the meal will make a huge difference as fat somehow binds to the glucose and keeps spikes a lot lower but keeps them raised a bit longer - more of a hump back bridge than a pointed mountain peak. It is a long learning curve.

May I offer you my congratulations on starting to test. Was it as bad as you thought? Don't forget to write all this down somewhere.

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @SlimLizzy, It may be that the fat in the duck prolonged the absorption of the carb containing part of the meal, such as the carrot and peas. It you had tested say, at the 3 hour mark, you may have been 'rewarded' with a BSL rise.
I think this is one of the reason why Type 1 s like their Continuous Glucose Monitoring set ups as they can view when the peaks are without having to guess and expend pain on finger pricks !!
The meal sounds absolutely delicious!!

 

[SlimLizzy]

It will have gone up, but earlier than the two hours. OR it may be a delayed peak and not yet rising, but I doubt that looking at your meal. To return to base or even lower at the 2 hour mark is brilliant. You will learn that some foods release glucose early (carrots, marmalade, gravy if contained flour)) and some foods have delayed release (probably peas). The fat content of the meal will make a huge difference as fat somehow binds to the glucose and keeps spikes a lot lower but keeps them raised a bit longer - more of a hump back bridge than a pointed mountain peak. It is a long learning curve.

May I offer you my congratulations on starting to test. Was it as bad as you thought? Don't forget to write all this down somewhere.

Thank you, and no, was absolutely painless.
The meter keeps records, but yes will be recording for a few weeks, want to get to the point where it can become habit. Like it is with the IBS, had actually forgotten about it, until tried adding fat to diet. Took me a while to realise what was happening. Its about 20 years since last recurrance. Had got it down to occasional indigestion if a meal was too rich.
The NHS or maybe just my surgery attitude is madness.
Really what they are saying, is, in effect:
"We told you there is a problem, nothing we can suggest to help deal with it, come back in six months and we will see how you have got on..."
Since my latest HbA1c came back showing an increase of 5 points, almost back to starting point. Had to do something. Maybe I should not worry about the weight loss?

 

[HSSS]

In your shoes I’d be very gently and very slowly pushing the fats whilst maintaining the carbs. You seem to cope well with the carbs you ate today. One day at a time and see how it goes. Congratulations on a step towards knowledge.

 

[lucylocket61]

Thank you, and no, was absolutely painless.
The meter keeps records, but yes will be recording for a few weeks, want to get to the point where it can become habit. Like it is with the IBS, had actually forgotten about it, until tried adding fat to diet. Took me a while to realise what was happening. Its about 20 years since last recurrance. Had got it down to occasional indigestion if a meal was too rich.
The NHS or maybe just my surgery attitude is madness.
Really what they are saying, is, in effect:
"We told you there is a problem, nothing we can suggest to help deal with it, come back in six months and we will see how you have got on..."
Since my latest HbA1c came back showing an increase of 5 points, almost back to starting point. Had to do something. Maybe I should not worry about the weight loss?

what sort of fat are you trying to add? I find seed oils affect my stomach badly, but butter and olive oil does not.

 

[HSSS]

what sort of fat are you trying to add? I find seed oils affect my stomach badly, but butter and olive oil does not.

Seed oils are not recommended for diabetics or keto. I personally stick to olive oil as much as possible , virgin (cold pressed) rather than others where possible to retain goodness. For hot frying where olive oil isn’t so good I like to use avocado oil but this is more expensive. I already had good non stick pans so dry fry and add oil afterwards or use butter if I don’t use avocado oil.

 

[SlimLizzy]

what sort of fat are you trying to add? I find seed oils affect my stomach badly, but butter and olive oil does not.

Too much cheese in one go is not good, although some of the lower fat ones are ok. Same thing with nuts, cashews seem to cause a big, bad reaction. Am finding oily fish much easier to tolerate Am adding butter where its possible, knob to vegetables etc and using it more for cooking, seems to be ok in moderation. Not using a lot of olive oil, atm, must remember to drizzle on salad , but cooking with cold pressed rapeseed oil. Now occaisionally adding dollop of cream to yoghurtfull fat natural,ofc. Think it spoils the flavour unless there is also fruit.

 

[Flora123]

Too much cheese in one go is not good, although some of the lower fat ones are ok. Same thing with nuts, cashews seem to cause a big, bad reaction. Am finding oily fish much easier to tolerate Am adding butter where its possible, knob to vegetables etc and using it more for cooking, seems to be ok in moderation. Not using a lot of olive oil, atm, must remember to drizzle on salad , but cooking with cold pressed rapeseed oil. Now occaisionally adding dollop of cream to yoghurtfull fat natural,ofc. Think it spoils the flavour unless there is also fruit.

Have you tried coconut oil?

 

[SlimLizzy]

Have you tried coconut oil?

Not yet, cant quite see how to fit that into a regular diet, unless its baking, which so far have been mostly avoiding.
Bought some coconut flour and planned to have a go at pancakes- but instead made low(ish) carb apple crumble, tinned apples, been in the cupboard for ages, they have no added sugar, topping, butter, ground almonds, oats. 2 tbs plain flour and 2 dessertspoons of sugar, seemed a bit sticky so added 2 tbs coconut flour. Came out looking great, nice and golden. Everybody ate it, no-one noticed any difference.
No idea of carb content though. So had very small portion, with cream, others had custard or ice cream.

edited for typo

 

[SlimLizzy]

In your shoes I’d be very gently and very slowly pushing the fats whilst maintaining the carbs. You seem to cope well with the carbs you ate today. One day at a time and see how it goes. Congratulations on a step towards knowledge.

so today exercises were done before breakfast
pre breakfast level 6.1
Breakfast was cup of tea, with semiskimmed milk
full fat natural yoghurt with prunes, (forgot to add cream)
handful of almonds and pumpkin seeds
more tea
pottering about doing housework

two hours later test is 5.7

 

[SlimLizzy]

In your shoes I’d be very gently and very slowly pushing the fats whilst maintaining the carbs. You seem to cope well with the carbs you ate today. One day at a time and see how it goes. Congratulations on a step towards knowledge.

Was carefully chosen meal with few carbs. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Flora123]

Not yet, cant quite see how to fit that into a regular diet, unless its baking, which so far have been mostly avoiding.
Bought some coconut flour and planned to have a go at pancakes- but instead made low(ish) carb apple crumble, tinned apples, been in the cupboard for ages, they have no added sugar, topping, butter, ground almonds, oats. 2 tbs plain flour and 2 dessertspoons of sugar, seemed a bit sticky so added 2 tbs coconut flour. vame out looking great, nice and golden. Everybody ate it, no-one noticed any difference.
No idea of carb content though. So had very small portion, with cream, others had custard or ice cream.

I use coconut oil for everything that needs cooking. Rapeseed oil and vegetable oils are not good for you. Olive oil isn’t great for cooking as it goes off at higher heats. Coconut oil is perfect as it can be used at high heat - perfect for roasting celeriac or frying a steak. Some people even just eat a teaspoon now and again. I prefer the one without the coconut taste. You can even use it as a moisturiser!

 

[SlimLizzy]

Hi @SlimLizzy, It may be that the fat in the duck prolonged the absorption of the carb containing part of the meal, such as the carrot and peas. It you had tested say, at the 3 hour mark, you may have been 'rewarded' with a BSL rise.
I think this is one of the reason why Type 1 s like their Continuous Glucose Monitoring set ups as they can view when the peaks are without having to guess and expend pain on finger pricks !!
The meal sounds absolutely delicious!!

Did enjoy the meal, got reduced and reduced again duck from supermarket, otherwise its out of my price range. So a bit of a treat.
Most of todays food is already cooked, roasted a joint of pork, and made red cabbage casserole some cooked veggies in the fridge. Soup for lunch bubbling away on the hob as I type.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Rapeseed oil and vegetable oils are not good for you.

In my opinion, there is nothing at all wrong with British cold pressed rapeseed oil. It is not the same disgusting stuff the Americans produce. It is stuffed with omega 3 with a better balance of omega 3 to omega 6 than olive oil. We do use it occasionally, but prefer to fry in butter or other animal fats.

 

[SlimLizzy]

I use coconut oil for everything that needs cooking. Rapeseed oil and vegetable oils are not good for you. Olive oil isn’t great for cooking as it goes off at higher heats. Coconut oil is perfect as it can be used at high heat - perfect for roasting celeriac or frying a steak. Some people even just eat a teaspoon now and again. I prefer the one without the coconut taste. You can even use it as a moisturiser!

Have got cold pressed rapeseed oil, supposedly very good for frying.
Too many contradictory "truths" about what to use out there.

 

[lucylocket61]

British cold pressed rapeseed oil.

is that different from the supermarket rapeseed oil and the rapeseed oil used in processed foods?

 

[Sue192]

is that different from the supermarket rapeseed oil and the rapeseed oil used in processed foods?

I use this one https://www.fusselsfinefoods.co.uk/about - I've also used another one from the West Country but can't remember the name offhand. I agree with @Bluetit1802 - go for home-grown, home-produced (small companies) if you can find it. I don't use a lot of it but it makes a nice change from butter for certain things.

 

[lucylocket61]

I use this one https://www.fusselsfinefoods.co.uk/about - I've also used another one from the West Country but can't remember the name offhand. I agree with @Bluetit1802 - go for home-grown, home-produced (small companies) if you can find it. I don't use a lot of it but it makes a nice change from butter for certain things.

I am on benefit, so cost is a big issue for me, buying my own test strips is a stretch sometimes. I will have a look around and see if I can get some cheaper. Thanks for the info.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I am on benefit, so cost is a big issue for me, buying my own test strips is a stretch sometimes. I will have a look around and see if I can get some cheaper. Thanks for the info.

Lidl sells it. Not sure of the price, and as I haven't been to Lidl since they stopped the high protein rolls I don't know if they still do.