Prediabetes, many questions about diet

Divia

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In your shoes I'd ease yourself into fasting.. it gets "easier" with practise..
Try skipping one meal (I chose breakfast) then two (bfast and lunch) and you may find that is enough.
Moving from a carb intense diet without access to fat stores to a 36 hour fasting regime can be quite a tough one.
Thank you for helping!

I'm very used to having only one meal a day. I'm sure I can fast for a day without much trouble. Skipping one meal, or two, I already do.

The 1 1/2 day should be ok.
 

Divia

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You can look at mastering diabetes and research studies on plant based diet for hba1c reduction and I have first hand experience on high fat low carb diet as well. Its pros and cons and I am absolutely aware of what I am writing here.
High fat doesn't help with insulin resistance, it just mask it.
The problem is that I was almost exclusively plant based and it got me to the 102. I'm looking for something to take me to a better place, now. Could you share the name of a book I could read, one you'd recommend? Thank you in advance!
 

Mike d

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You can look at mastering diabetes and research studies on plant based diet for hba1c reduction and I have first hand experience on high fat low carb diet as well. Its pros and cons and I am absolutely aware of what I am writing here.
High fat doesn't help with insulin resistance, it just mask it.

@Veryanxious You said high carb. I disagree strongly.
 
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wifezilla

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The problem is that I was almost exclusively plant based and it got me to the 102. I'm looking for something to take me to a better place, now. Could you share the name of a book I could read, one you'd recommend? Thank you in advance!
I would recommend The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein before anything else. He is a diabetic, in his 80's and has ZERO complications.
 
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HSSS

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Don't take extreme measures just on one glucose reading of 102. I can say it because i was in same situation my blood sugar was 103.
Also if you are overweight now, no harm in achieving healthy weight. Don't go high fat or very low carb. I think just by cutting refined carbs, high fat meat and little less calories you can easily lower blood sugar and weight.
If you want, discuss low carb/keto with your doctor.
Research very well both sides. People are successful in reducing hba1c on both high fat and high carb diet. Stick to the foods which is more aligned to your traditional diet.
This really wouldn’t have worked for me. I’ve had to go pretty low carb and eat higher fat than before by far to get where I have.

Whilst I accept you have your experience and it’s valid for you it’s not in the majority experience on here. Many have had drs illogically and ill informed against low carb and keto. Many have not found it as easy to reduce blood sugar and weight.
 

Daibell

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Don't take extreme measures just on one glucose reading of 102. I can say it because i was in same situation my blood sugar was 103.
Also if you are overweight now, no harm in achieving healthy weight. Don't go high fat or very low carb. I think just by cutting refined carbs, high fat meat and little less calories you can easily lower blood sugar and weight.
If you want, discuss low carb/keto with your doctor.
Research very well both sides. People are successful in reducing hba1c on both high fat and high carb diet. Stick to the foods which is more aligned to your traditional diet.
Hi. As some others have said, your comments about reducing HBa1c being successful with a High Carb diet are not supported by the greater majority of posters and I don't agree with your comment; also why mention calories as most posters will talk about the three main food groups rather than 'calories'
 

VashtiB

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Hello and welcome,

Upfront I'm someone who has gone very low carbs and my blood sugar levels are now well within the n normal range- in fact in the bottom half.

The first thing you should consider is to get a meter. If you test regularly you will soon see what food increases your levels (hint in my case carbs) what foods have either no effect or in fact lower it.

I ate a 'healthy' diet- it gave me type 2. My breakfast which spiked me was low fat no added sugar yoghurt with strawberries and steel cut oats.

I've tried (at the very beginning) 'healthy carbs- my sugars spiked.

Good luck- test regularly, read around the forum and ask questions.

Welcome.
 
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Veryanxious

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Hi. As some others have said, your comments about reducing HBa1c being successful with a High Carb diet are not supported by the greater majority of posters and I don't agree with your comment; also why mention calories as most posters will talk about the three main food groups rather than 'calories'
I understand many people here have experience with low carb, even I have had blood sugar and other markers improved. I don't deny it neither I am saying that high carb would work for everyone. But my experience with low carb/high fat/high protien wasn't that great either.
I dropped so much weight that i nearly disappeared even when i was eating food amount of protien and fat. I was loosing muscle which is not good. I got some problem with pains in neck during exertions which was scary. I had to get checked with various cardiologist. It has resolved since going vegan/vegetarian.
Another reason is that in high fat diet sugars will always be consistent, but as soon as carbs are eaten my body would never handle it well.
I should clarify here that by high carb i don't mean eating flours, rice and potatoes. I myself eat beans, lentils, some low GI fruits, lots of green veggies and nuts and some yogurt sometimes.
I don't add oil in cooking and even on high carb diet I do IF.
Why I post about calories is because calories matter. Even on high fat diet you would do great till you don't gain weight. If you start gaining weight you blood sugars will creep up. Please look into this if you think calories doesn't matter.
High fat diet mask insulin resistance because you don't eat any carbs to show if you are still resistant or reversed. We develop diabetes or insulin resistance when we eat more then our body can store. Excess carbs convert to fat that's why high carb is shown as a problem, but when we eat fat we directly store fat and have more free fats flowing around.
Anyway i am still researching and others as well. Noone knows what is exact mechanism which cause diabetes and how to reverse it truly. I just wanted to share my experience with OP.
 
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Resurgam

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I eat low sugar berries, lots of vegetables, nuts, yoghurt - and small portions of legumes as they proved to raise my blood glucose rather higher than they should have for their carb count - but it is a low carb diet. I feel very well, have regained some of the strength which I lost eating high carb stodge.
We are all different and have to discover what we can eat - but I suspect that many people go into ways of eating with misconceptions about the reasons rules and aims of the regime.
 
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bulkbiker

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Thank you for helping!

I'm very used to having only one meal a day. I'm sure I can fast for a day without much trouble. Skipping one meal, or two, I already do.

The 1 1/2 day should be ok.

Ah sorry didn't realise you were a seasoned OMAD'er... in that case you should find it quite a painless process.
 

Cocosilk

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Wifezilla recommended the book summarised in this video :
 

Cocosilk

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I understand many people here have experience with low carb, even I have had blood sugar and other markers improved. I don't deny it neither I am saying that high carb would work for everyone. But my experience with low carb/high fat/high protien wasn't that great either.
I dropped so much weight that i nearly disappeared even when i was eating food amount of protien and fat. I was loosing muscle which is not good. I got some problem with pains in neck during exertions which was scary. I had to get checked with various cardiologist. It has resolved since going vegan/vegetarian.
Another reason is that in high fat diet sugars will always be consistent, but as soon as carbs are eaten my body would never handle it well.
I should clarify here that by high carb i don't mean eating flours, rice and potatoes. I myself eat beans, lentils, some low GI fruits, lots of green veggies and nuts and some yogurt sometimes.
I don't add oil in cooking and even on high carb diet I do IF.
Why I post about calories is because calories matter. Even on high fat diet you would do great till you don't gain weight. If you start gaining weight you blood sugars will creep up. Please look into this if you think calories doesn't matter.
High fat diet mask insulin resistance because you don't eat any carbs to show if you are still resistant or reversed. We develop diabetes or insulin resistance when we eat more then our body can store. Excess carbs convert to fat that's why high carb is shown as a problem, but when we eat fat we directly store fat and have more free fats flowing around.
Anyway i am still researching and others as well. Noone knows what is exact mechanism which cause diabetes and how to reverse it truly. I just wanted to share my experience with OP.

Did it take your body long to start handling carbs again when you changed to a vegetarian diet?
 
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Cocosilk

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Hello and welcome,

Upfront I'm someone who has gone very low carbs and my blood sugar levels are now well within the n normal range- in fact in the bottom half.

The first thing you should consider is to get a meter. If you test regularly you will soon see what food increases your levels (hint in my case carbs) what foods have either no effect or in fact lower it.

I ate a 'healthy' diet- it gave me type 2. My breakfast which spiked me was low fat no added sugar yoghurt with strawberries and steel cut oats.

I've tried (at the very beginning) 'healthy carbs- my sugars spiked.

Good luck- test regularly, read around the forum and ask questions.

Welcome.
I think we should start a thread on this - "healthy diets which have lead to diabetes".
 
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Veryanxious

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Did it take your body long to start handling carbs again when you changed to a vegetarian diet?
Yes. So last month when i ate two bowls of lentils i was 136 after two hours, 108 after 4 hours.
A week before i ate some regular noodle, lentils pan cake and one bowl of kidney beans. I was 106 at 1.5 hours. I am taking fenugreek seeds also since going vegetarian which seems to be helping. I don't think high carb is any improvement though in blood sugars apart from my pains that have reduced alot.
Previous i used spike on even one bowl of lentils.
 
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bulkbiker

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Yes. So last month when i ate two bowls of lentils i was 136 after two hours, 108 after 4 hours.
A week before i ate some regular noodle, lentils pan cake and one bowl of kidney beans. I was 106 at 1.5 hours. I am taking fenugreek seeds also since going vegetarian which seems to be helping. I don't think high carb is any improvement though in blood sugars apart from my pains that have reduced alot.
Previous i used spike on even one bowl of lentils.

But you have never been diagnosed with diabetes in any form I seem to recall?

Thus your experiences whilst relevant to you are of less relevance to someone who is pre-diabetic or T2 or T1?
 

DJC3

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Greetings. I'm a woman, 50 years old, 1.64cm tall, 62.5 kg, BMI 23.2.

I've always exercised and have only been very slightly overweight (BMI always below 26) twice in my life, during a couple of months maximum. The rest of my life, my BMI has been below 25.

My blood sugar has been between 90 and 99 for years. I can't remember it being lower than that.

My last fasting blood glucose test came 102 mg/l. I know that's prediabetes.

I haven't seen my doctor yet, because I've got my results right before my vacation and am abroad now.

But I don't want to wait to take measures.

I went immediately researching on the net and decided to go low carb, keto. I found it quite easy, the low carb part. The high fat... I'm scared.

I read lots of papers and there is so much conflicting information! And the official diabetes websites recommend high carbs.

I've seen the research saying keto made mice sick after one week!

I don't know what to do. Is it safe going low carb? How low carb do you go? Did it control your blood glucose? How long have you been on it?

I'd like to take another test in 3 months and am hoping to do all I can to get a good FBG (fasting blood glucose) then (below 100). Is it realistic?

Is low carb a good way to go? Will it harm my kidneys/liver? Is protein bad? Do I really need to eat lots of fat? Is saturated fat bad?

Exercise: research results seem to suggest moderate exercise is best. But I'm used to vigorous exercise, about 2h per day, 5 days per week. Should I stop running/spinning and start walking to lower my blood sugar?

Thank you so much for any of your time. I apologize if my post is inappropriate and I hope whatever you're doing is working in the best possible way for you!

Hi and welcome, and well done on being so proactive in trying to get advice before things get worse. I’m another for whom the ‘healthy’ diet of wholemeal bread, pasta and low fat yoghurts have lead to T2 diabetes.
I had a kidney removed in 2017 ( not diabetes related) which is what made me look into ways of controlling my diabetes - I didn’t want to cause harm to my 1 remaining kidney. I started with Michael Mosely’s Blood Sugar Diet and gradually progressed to lchf and now keto.
I agree that Jason Fung The Diabetes Code is a great book - if you want to see more by him look at https://www.dietdoctor.com it’s a great resource.
You say you are used to a lot of exercise, I wouldn’t change that, carry on as you are if you enjoy it.
Just for info my HbA1c, cholesterol and kidney function are all normal now and I’m off diabetes meds and statins. One other point of interest is that at my last post cancer scan ( I’m in remission) I mentioned I was on a ketogenic diet and the doctor said that was the best thing I could do - she had corresponded with Jason Fung personally and researched the topic widely. For me, keto is killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
 
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Veryanxious

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Don't have diabetes
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@Veryanxious You said high carb. I disagree strongly.
I was not clear with my words. By high carb I did not mean flour products and high glycemic foods like potatoes and rice. Lentils and beans are also high carb for as i was on very low carb diet. So i refer them too as high carb. I would still say that high carb may help same as low carb. Though high carb will take really long time and probability of success is not same as low carb. Low carb is successful because we don't eat carbs/sugar at all.
There will be no spike. But the mechanism of diabetes is still there. When we eat fat it gets stored.
In my case i wished i should have gone low fat to zero fat as i had 20kg weight to loose.
I could have easily done that with low fat and medium GI/complex carbs. It would have been much better then my now. That's why i mentioned my story to OP. Just reduce calories you eat, exercise bit more and reduce the frequency of eating. If you have weight to loose it should be much easier and loosing weight is what helps diabetes.
Try an easier step first then go extreme is what i believe.
 

Veryanxious

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Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
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8
The problem is that I was almost exclusively plant based and it got me to the 102. I'm looking for something to take me to a better place, now. Could you share the name of a book I could read, one you'd recommend? Thank you in advance!
Sorry I don't have any book to suggest. I understand you are already plants based and OMAD. But you said you are overweight. Is it possible for you cut oil or reduce it and reduce the portion size of your meal? Also do you eat refined products?
When you loose weight you improve insulin resistance as well. I am not saying to never go low carb, i say it a try for 15 or 20 days.
If no improvement in blood sugar, I would go low carb.
Also cut refined products if you are eating, i find it is very easy to eat junk on vegetarian then on low carb. Because vegetarian junk is everywhere.