Help with carbs

[Manon66]

Hi I am a 55 year old newly diagnosed prediabetic and I am struggling to find information regarding the daily amount of carbs I should be consuming to get my blood results down from 46 to a more reasonable level. I am reasonably active and maybe a stone overweight. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Dr Snoddy]

Hi and welcome. A low carbohydrate diet is considered to be less than 130g per day and a dietician advised me to have no more than 35g per meal.

 

[Manon66]

Thank you! I have been reading that it should be between 30g and 50g per day and was really struggling to make meals

 

[Andydragon]

Thank you! I have been reading that it should be between 30g and 50g per day and was really struggling to make meals

Thats into keto levels. There are some who do this level, there are recipes out there for this. As @Dr Snoddy said low carb is less than 130g a day which I found reasonably easy to manage.

some people can tolerate more, sone less. There is no one size fits all and meter tests are a good way to understand how your body copes but it’s also that some foods act differently, so 35g in one meal will hit harder than another

 

[Iona May]

I try and eat about 50g per day but I was advised that diabetics need to stick to less than 130g. Keto waffles are the best thing ever for a quick lunch, I have them with peanut butter and a little jam. As for tea we eat a lot of versions of meat and salad! Buffalo chicken with celery sticks and blue cheese dip is a favourite, steak with mushrooms stuffed with philli and chorizo and a ceasar salad is another or a nice curry with onion bahjis.

 

[Manon66]

Thats into keto levels. There are some who do this level, there are recipes out there for this. As @Dr Snoddy said low carb is less than 130g a day which I found reasonably easy to manage.

some people can tolerate more, sone less. There is no one size fits all and meter tests are a good way to understand how your body copes but it’s also that some foods act differently, so 35g in one meal will hit harder than another

 

[Manon66]

As a prediabetic do I need to be checking my sugar? I’m sorry for sounding so dim!

 

[Rokaab]

As a prediabetic do I need to be checking my sugar? I’m sorry for sounding so dim!

Well if you don't you wont know if you're eating too many carbs or not
Unfortunately though most pre-diabetics and T2's do not get test-strips prescribed in the UK

 

[Andydragon]

As a prediabetic do I need to be checking my sugar? I’m sorry for sounding so dim!

Well, you aren’t sounding dim for one thing. We all come here to learn

so, it’s obviously up to you but knowing how your bloods are impacted by what you eat is a powerful way to understand what is good or not for you. It can be really surprising that foods we are told are good for us actually are not

you also are taking control earlier to head off the move into T2. So it can be helpful

but there is a cost, so that needs factoring in. There are ways to get cheaper tests, @Rachox had a good list.

 

[Manon66]

So I should check before and after meals?

 

[Buster_]

So I should check before and after meals?

Yes. Take a reading just before you start to eat, then another exactly two hours later. You're looking to minimise the rise as far as possible, and certainly to no more than 1.5 to maybe 2 points higher at the 2 hour mark, and to no more than about 8 mmol/L regardless of the actual rise.

It will cost a little to buy a meter and a few pots of test strips but consider it an investment in your future health. With two months of testing you can learn an enormous amount about how your body is reacting to various foods, find meals that work best for you, and probably see a (very motivating) downward trend as you tweak your new regime. Money well spent I'd say.

 

[Jaylee]

So I should check before and after meals?

Hi there,

Yep, prior & around two hours later?


Welcome to the forum.

 

[Rachox]

Thank for the tag @Andydragon and welcome to the forum @Manon66

Here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.


HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews, links to the strips and the meter:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively.


Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

Discount codes for the Code Free strips (which I have used in the past but I don’t know if they still work)

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793

with the strips found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097

Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:

Phone number 0800 8815423


With more expensive strips is their Caresens Dual, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.


Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[Manon66]

Thank you everyone for all the advice