- Messages
- 19
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
What are you eating is the question
ok here goes your Fasting blood sugars can be high so don’t sweat it
are you on medication or going it alone with diet and exercise
I do the eat to my meter which is test before eating and 2 hours after. If I spike more than 3 I don’t eat that food again. It’s very much trial and error.
Hi and welcome to the forum. The advice I'm going to give worked (and works) for me.I've recently been diagnosed with Type 2 and I'm trying to get used to what foods do to my blood sugar. The last 2 days when I've woken up my levels are already high before I've eaten. Can not eating enough the day before make my levels high?
Thank you for your response. Makes sense and feel a bit better knowing that this is a slower process than In trying to make it be. It's such a steep learning curve and totally debunks what I previously regarded as healthy eating. My nurse has advised eating plenty fruit and I shouldn't worry about eating lots which I found a bit odd. Having been caught out with reading American diabetes sites which promoted muffins and pancake towers I'm now sticking to the Diabetes UK site and forum.Hi and welcome to the forum. The advice I'm going to give worked (and works) for me.
First, you have to let go of what you think you know about healthy eating. I mean all of it. Wholemeal, all that, makes no difference. The NHS recommends that you base all your meals around starchy carbohydrates and says fruit is good. This is dangerous for T2s and is in my opinion what led me to becoming diabetic in the first place. As a T2s, we have potentially huge problems with all carbohydrates, and most fruit is high in sugar.
Secondly, you need to test before and two hours after a meal to work out what the impact the things you eat have on your blood glucose. Record what you eat and what the readings are, so you can work out cause and effect. Other things as well as food will raise and lower your BG - illness, outside temperature, alcohol, etc. If a meal raises your BG to 8 or above, or by more than 2 mmol/mol, you aren't tolerating it and you need to cut at least something in it out. The proportion of sugar or carb in a food can be important, but so too is the total carb you take in each day. 600g of a 5% carb food is 30g carbs. I can't say what the right level is for you - you have to find that out for yourself by testing and experience.
Thirdly, your high levels in the mornings is probably a thing called dawn phenomenon, where you liver helpfully tips a load of glucose into your blood to help you get the day started. It is often the highest reading of the day and for many of us is the last reading to start to come down. It took mine about 18 months to stabilize. Don't worry to much about that now - concentrate first on what food does to your readings.
The good news is that LCHF lifestyle can bring your blood glucose back into normal range very quickly - I was back in four months, others have reduced from higher levels more quickly....
As background - I eat around 20g carb/day, mainly from vegetables, very little fruit, (only strawberries, blackberries etc maybe twice a week) no standard bread at all, and no pasta, rice, sugar or potatoes/most root veg. I also do intermittent fasting, although it's often not so intermittent - I often go 18-24 hours before I'm hungry enough to want to eat.
I do eat meat (all kinds) and dairy, and green above-ground veg. I can tolerate some legumes, some root veg and have found a decent but expensive low-carb bread substitute.
Best of luck. This is a great forum and you will get any number of viewpoints and experiences. Ask questions.
Your thought is correct! Already you know better than your nurse - well done! To evaluate the carb levels in the fruit, vegetables and all other foods you might want to eat or drink, you might find these visual guides helpful: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guidesI'm thinking grapes and orange maybe a bit high with sugar
........................... But in all honesty an apple is just a donut with better PR. ..................
Yep. Anyone who can produce a good low-carb "pasta" will make a fortune.When I was first diagnosed my doctor recommended not paying attention to fruits and vegetables, and I honestly don't think it was out of ignorance. I think it was more like "baby steps" because at least they do have nutritional value and it was a way to get me to focus away from starchy carbs. But in all honesty an apple is just a donut with better PR. These days pretty much the only fruit I eat is berries, and small numbers at that. All starchy carbs based on wheat, rice, potatoes are off the table. There are some green veggies that it is safe to pay no attention to, so I just always make sure to have those on hand.
I live in the US, and I will say that there has never been a better time to eat this way with the keto diet being so trendy. There are very low-carb options around for things like bread and snacks although I haven't yet found a good keto pasta. Pasta was my personal kryptonite before.
Are you aware of the "Holland and Barrett Slim Range" conversation going on right now in another part of the wood?:Yep. Anyone who can produce a good low-carb "pasta" will make a fortune.
YesAre you aware of the "Holland and Barrett Slim Range" conversation going on right now in another part of the wood?:
Thank you so much for this. Annoying that I threw away a fair bit of good food having been advised wrongly that it was bad. I'll just need to learn to go without all sugars including fruit based. If started using fruit as a crutch when I had a sweetie urge but would probably have been just a bad eating the sweets. I'm sure I'll get there, my life depends on it after all. XYour thought is correct! Already you know better than your nurse - well done! To evaluate the carb levels in the fruit, vegetables and all other foods you might want to eat or drink, you might find these visual guides helpful: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides
It's an absolute minefield. I did the 8 week blood sugar diet (extreme keto) a few years back and lost 38lbs in the 8 weeks which took me from prediabetic back to healthy but after the 8 weeks I went keto but let a few sugars slip back in and then blew it. I put the 38lbs back on plus another 3 stone which leads me to where I am now. I've got rid of nearly 2 stone since I was diagnosed T2 but got a long long way to go. I just wish good advice was the same across the board and all this digging wasn't needed. I am finding that Diabetes UK and forums where I can talk with T2 folk tend to have the same consistent advice which makes things that bit easier. XWhen I was first diagnosed my doctor recommended not paying attention to fruits and vegetables, and I honestly don't think it was out of ignorance. I think it was more like "baby steps" because at least they do have nutritional value and it was a way to get me to focus away from starchy carbs. But in all honesty an apple is just a donut with better PR. These days pretty much the only fruit I eat is berries, and small numbers at that. All starchy carbs based on wheat, rice, potatoes are off the table. There are some green veggies that it is safe to pay no attention to, so I just always make sure to have those on hand.
I live in the US, and I will say that there has never been a better time to eat this way with the keto diet being so trendy. There are very low-carb options around for things like bread and snacks although I haven't yet found a good keto pasta. Pasta was my personal kryptonite before.
I've a fondness for spaghetti courgetti ....Yep. Anyone who can produce a good low-carb "pasta" will make a fortune.
Tried it....I miss pasta....I've a fondness for spaghetti courgetti ....
I miss peaches much more, and cherries, and mangoes ... Will anyone invent a carb-free mango? I don't think so. I do enjoy an occasional portion of stewed rhubarb - the only "fruit" on Dr Bernstein's "What can I eat?" list.Tried it....I miss pasta....