Balance - March April - Sat fat advice - May June also

[Heathenlass]

HI @Heathenlass Was the reference to 'low fat cooking' a slip of the pen?

I found breakfast the hardest meal to crack. I started off with Special K thinking that would be ok, but it wasn't. Tried porridge but not much better. Ended up eating granola and then taking 30 mins walking exercise and that seemed to do the trick. In fact it took about six weeks to lose about 20 lbs weight and once that had been done, the blood sugar levels dropped to a reasonable level after my granola breakfast and walk.

I think in the last 15 months I have brought about 5 ready meals in total, as opposed to 4 or 5 week prior to diagnosis, and agree that cooking fresh ingredients from scratch is best.

I have adapted this recipe http://www.booths.co.uk/recipe/spiced-red-lentil-and-butternut-squash-soup/ You can buy hot or sweet smoked paprika and as I like hot spicy foods I use the hot smoked paprika. I have not bothered with the yoghurt garnish, so cannot vouch for that.

I had forgotten the cheese element of my diet. I usually (provided I have not had berries and cream) finish the day off with a supper of extra-hot spicy Mexicana cheese on some rough oat biscuits

LOL ! Yes ! Thank you for pointing out that error ! I must edit the post as it is misleading

I agree with that you say about breakfast being the most difficult meal, it seems to be the same for most people. I manage with Chia seed porridge made up in advance and eaten out of the fridge most days, which sounds awful but really isn't If I'm very organised I make my own granola for several days in advance .

Thank you for the recipe link, it sounds great Another variant for my freezer stash I love spicy food , and tonight polished off mung dhal . It's portion controlled because the carb value is high ( for me) but is so flavourful and filling , I love it

Signy

 

[Syd]

Hi @daddys1 I am not sure that I would qualify for the Low Carb club, although to be fair I have only ever once and for one day only counted carbs, cals, protein, fat etc. and that was for my appointment with the dietician. That was over a year ago and my memory of the results is now failing me.

I did do a quick carb calculation of what I ate and drank yesterday. I definitely had 170g of carbohydrate and I had two bowls of homemade soup the carb content I can only estimate at between 25g and 40g per bowl, so say 33g which gives a grand total of 236g of carbs. I did have one banana (23g) which is not an everyday food.for me, so I would estimate my daily carb consumption somewhere between 200g and 250g.

So compared to the GDA of 300g for an adult male I am on the low side, but am well above the RDA of 130g.

 

[daddys1]

Hi @Syd ,
Sorry the impression I got was that you were Low Carbing (moderately) but not excessive fat. I did look to see what your numbers are like HbA1c but you don't show any. Can I ask, do you test or eat to your meter and how are your numbers?

I am out of the diabetic range (see signature) but if I took 23g i.e. Banana I would immediately be up in the 8s & 9s very quickly. Eating that number of carbs I would not be where I am now.

I don't count my carbs either, but have occasionally looked at a days worth, & 50 to 60 I would say, more when I have beer.

Neil

 

[phil1966]

I think it's unfortunate the name, the high for some, scares people, yet they may already be on what some others would call a High Fat Diet, I'm definitely Low Carb but High Fat as many people perceive NO, I'm normal fat.
Neil

I think you're right - I've just had a look at some guidelines for daily nutrition amounts for men which I found here http://www.npt.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3360 and are as follows

Calories: 2,500
Fat: 95g
Sat Fat: 30g
Carbs: 300g (!)
Protein: 55g

Over the last week, I've averaged the following

Calories around 1400
Fat: 81g
Sat Fat: 30.6
Carbs: 24
Protein: 94

So on that basis, I'm on a low carb, recommended fat and high protein diet!

 

[Syd]

Hi @daddys1 I was diagnosed after a routine blood test with a Hba1c of 82 a week before Christmas 2013. I bought a meter, not to test food, but because I didn't believe the test results, unfortunately meter confirmed the lab test. I used the meter to test but other than breakfasts never really altered eating habits as a result.

Was aged 56 at diagnosis and a tad under 19 stone, had gained and lost weight over the previous 35 years, so I knew that losing weight was easy, the hard part is keeping the weight down. Decided that fundamental changes were required, so out goes the junk food and snacking; in came four regular but smaller meals. My BP was high, so out went salt. Pies and oven chips, a staple part of my pre-diagnosis diet went as did the salt that went on them. Avoided the dangerous carbs such as white bread, potatoes and tropical fruit inc bananas (even now they are a high days and holidays treat). In the early days I did avoid high fat dairy products, but I now have reverted to full fat milk and cream as they taste better and I enjoy them more. I think the days of almond milk on my cheerios marked the low point of my diabetic odyssey.

I was not prescribed any meds on diagnosis and was left to my own devices for about six weeks before seeing diabetic nurse. I could see from my meter that as the weight fell off, the fasting levels and the post prandial levels approached normality. We disagreed on whether meds were appropriate, she saying yes and me saying no. We compromised on agreeing to wait for a 3 month hba1c test which came back in April last year at 39 and is now down to 32 on the yearly test last December.

I think that I am lucky in that I was caught early and without any diabetes symptoms which has enabled me to deal with the condition by the loss of weight and increasing amounts of fairly gentle exercise. My own belief is that weight loss is the important factor rather than whether I ate fat or carbs. I write however as a Type 2 who was obese on diagnosis, (at just over 13 stone I am still overweight) and I appreciate that other considerations may apply to other people.

 

[Syd]

I think you're right - I've just had a look at some guidelines for daily nutrition amounts for men which I found here http://www.npt.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3360 and are as follows

Calories: 2,500
Fat: 95g
Sat Fat: 30g
Carbs: 300g (!)
Protein: 55g

Over the last week, I've averaged the following

Calories around 1400
Fat: 81g
Sat Fat: 30.6
Carbs: 24
Protein: 94

So on that basis, I'm on a low carb, recommended fat and high protein diet!

Hi @phil1966 So you are LCRFHP?

When you hit your target weight you are going to have to decide to increase one or other of your macronutrients (I think that is the right word) to increase your calorie intake otherwise you will waste away.

 

[phil1966]

Hi @phil1966 So you are LCRFHP?

When you hit your target weight you are going to have to decide to increase one or other of your macronutrients (I think that is the right word) to increase your calorie intake otherwise you will waste away.

Yeah, it's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it

I have been thinking about what I'll do when I hit my target weight as it gets ever closer: My blood sugar still spikes with any significant carbs and I don't want to increase my fat content dramatically so I'll probably increase my carbs to 50g - 100g and see how that goes and make up the difference with a combination of "good" fat and protein

 

[zand]

Hi @daddys1

Was aged 56 at diagnosis and a tad under 19 stone, had gained and lost weight over the previous 35 years, so I knew that losing weight was easy, the hard part is keeping the weight down.

I think that I am lucky in that I was caught early and without any diabetes symptoms which has enabled me to deal with the condition by the loss of weight and increasing amounts of fairly gentle exercise. My own belief is that weight loss is the important factor rather than whether I ate fat or carbs. I write however as a Type 2 who was obese on diagnosis, (at just over 13 stone I am still overweight) and I appreciate that other considerations may apply to other people.

You are so lucky that weight loss was easy. It's not like that for many of us, especially women. I agree that weight loss is important, but I can only lose weight by keeping my carb level low (it's about carbs, not calories) I believe I had insulin resistance for many years before developing type 2. I still struggle to lose weight even though my BG's are OK. I just wish someone had told me to low carb 25 years ago when I started to pile on the pounds. I did low calorie, low GI, low GL, low fat - and still kept putting on the weight.

So I don't need scientific studies or doctors to tell me that low fat is wrong. I know it's bad advice through my own experiences. I also know that LCHF works for me through my own experience. Trudi's book just expands on the subject in an easy to understand way and gives me some extra tips that I never knew before.

 

[daddys1]

Hi @daddys1 I was diagnosed after a routine blood test with a Hba1c of 82 a week before Christmas 2013. I bought a meter, not to test food, but because I didn't believe the test results, unfortunately meter confirmed the lab test. I used the meter to test but other than breakfasts never really altered eating habits as a result.

Was aged 56 at diagnosis and a tad under 19 stone, had gained and lost weight over the previous 35 years, so I knew that losing weight was easy, the hard part is keeping the weight down. Decided that fundamental changes were required, so out goes the junk food and snacking; in came four regular but smaller meals. My BP was high, so out went salt. Pies and oven chips, a staple part of my pre-diagnosis diet went as did the salt that went on them. Avoided the dangerous carbs such as white bread, potatoes and tropical fruit inc bananas (even now they are a high days and holidays treat). In the early days I did avoid high fat dairy products, but I now have reverted to full fat milk and cream as they taste better and I enjoy them more. I think the days of almond milk on my cheerios marked the low point of my diabetic odyssey.

I was not prescribed any meds on diagnosis and was left to my own devices for about six weeks before seeing diabetic nurse. I could see from my meter that as the weight fell off, the fasting levels and the post prandial levels approached normality. We disagreed on whether meds were appropriate, she saying yes and me saying no. We compromised on agreeing to wait for a 3 month hba1c test which came back in April last year at 39 and is now down to 32 on the yearly test last December.

I think that I am lucky in that I was caught early and without any diabetes symptoms which has enabled me to deal with the condition by the loss of weight and increasing amounts of fairly gentle exercise. My own belief is that weight loss is the important factor rather than whether I ate fat or carbs. I write however as a Type 2 who was obese on diagnosis, (at just over 13 stone I am still overweight) and I appreciate that other considerations may apply to other people.

What can I say Syd, if your numbers are in the 32s after losing your weight, then I would imagine that the Carbs are really not affecting you now. It appears from what you say and the amount of carbs that you are consuming daily, although in 'no way excessive' is a great deal more than some can tolerate here on this forum, therefore, they need the higher fat to compensate for the loss of calories from the carbs they are not able to have.

You have clearly done tremendously well losing the weight & I am pleased it has paid off for you. No need to test if your HbA1c is coming back in the 32s. Your diabetes must have been mainly fat related causing insulin resistance rather than any deficiency in the production of insulin.

Thanks for that Syd really interesting, I'm hoping that my weight loss, which has just started again, will place me in a similar position. My numbers have dropped and I was borderline, I now have an HbA1c of 39 and I have about another 1.5 stones to go. I hoping for the 34/35s.
Neil

 

[Syd]

@daddys1 Thanks and best of luck in achieving your goal. It is funny how weight sometimes, for no apparent reason, stops falling off and you reach a plateau, and then starts falling off again. Mine stayed more or less the same from July last year to beginning of February this year but seems now to be going very slowly in the right direction again.

As to low carbing, I feel comfortable with the amount and the nature of the carbs (no white bread, no sugary drinks, no processed food) I presently eat so will continue on that route rather than change tack on the strength of Dr Deakin's excellent book. There is no doubt. however, that since diagnosis I have probably ditched as many, if not more, carbs than the next man or woman and as my intake is less than the GDA maybe I am a member of the low carb club.

 

[Syd]

@zand I agree that I have been lucky in many ways and have probably had an easier time with my diabetes than many on this forum. Most Type 2 diabetics have had a bad and unbalanced diet at diagnosis and so any sort of diet is likely to be an improvement.

If Dr Deakin reckons than one can get all the nutrients and vitamins one needs from a LCHF diet with a level of HF which does not produce heart problems but does produce weight loss and a lowering of glucose levels then I am not going to argue with the multitude on this forum that follow such a diet. I will, however, delve deeper into this subject (although not to the extent of buying the book) and see what evidence she has relied upon.

I could understand her saying that the studies which proclaimed sat fat as being a danger to cardiovascular health were not robust etc and their conclusions not valid, so that one might increase one's intake of fat without too much danger to your health, but to go one and recommend as she did in the Daily Mail (online) that she herself has now a diet of 82% fat does seem a huge leap. That is what I would like to explore.

 

[zand]

@Syd That's what I'm trying to explore too. I am attempting to change my diet to be as close to hers as possible, but I'm not there yet. Hopefully when you've done your theory research and I've done my practical research we can chat about this again? If we both stick around this forum long enough I mean......my next set of blood tests aren't due till November!

 

[Paul59]

@zand I agree that I have been lucky in many ways and have probably had an easier time with my diabetes than many on this forum. Most Type 2 diabetics have had a bad and unbalanced diet at diagnosis and so any sort of diet is likely to be an improvement.

If Dr Deakin reckons than one can get all the nutrients and vitamins one needs from a LCHF diet with a level of HF which does not produce heart problems but does produce weight loss and a lowering of glucose levels then I am not going to argue with the multitude on this forum that follow such a diet. I will, however, delve deeper into this subject (although not to the extent of buying the book) and see what evidence she has relied upon.

I could understand her saying that the studies which proclaimed sat fat as being a danger to cardiovascular health were not robust etc and their conclusions not valid, so that one might increase one's intake of fat without too much danger to your health, but to go one and recommend as she did in the Daily Mail (online) that she herself has now a diet of 82% fat does seem a huge leap. That is what I would like to explore.

Well it seems the health authority may be in the process of a turn round on the fat issue.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05...up for the energy lost by the low carb intake.

 

[donnellysdogs]

On a wider population.. (With ever increasing diabetes) I just think that looking at the foods that persons ate during rationing (and the qtys) has been pretty good.

The death of eating from the land is contributing to the unhealthiness of the nation...

Since when do humans actually need to eat ready meals and rubbish.

Syd ... You sound as if you have cut the **** and just eating less processed **** food. Whether it's carbs or fat etc.... To me the basis on your improved health has just been getting back to basics... I

 

[Paul59]

On a wider population.. (With ever increasing diabetes) I just think that looking at the foods that persons ate during rationing (and the qtys) has been pretty good.

The death of eating from the land is contributing to the unhealthiness of the nation...

Since when do humans actually need to eat ready meals and rubbish.

Syd ... You sound as if you have cut the **** and just eating less processed **** food. Whether it's carbs or fat etc.... To me the basis on your improved health has just been getting back to basics... I

As to the since when line, I''d say since prices went right up on property & everything & a households needed 2 incomes to be able to afford things, so had less time to get proper meals & that's where the processed food industry stepped in to give readily available meals. Plus in some cases greed is part of it as a lot these days seem to need everything instead of just living with what is needed to get by.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Council houses and miners houses etc used to have gardens to feed a family..... Now all we need us a high street ilof takeaways!! (And ready meals).
Hinestly I lower carbed pretty much all my life except for being advised for a period of about 6 months to eat porridge and / or toast.....
I can't recall the lasttime I have had a ready meal or anything processed but milk and cheese. I'm lean, I'm fit.

I just look at the ready meal and takeaway familys around me and feel sorry for them.

Some of the persons in their 20's don't know how to cook a Sunday dinner....

It is so sad.....

 

[IanD]

I've just receive the May-June "Balance." Still no interview, & still the same advice - Experts say ... . serious implications on long term health, increased chances of heart attacks & stroke.
Ask your GP to refer you to a dietitian...

Thank God for X-PERTs like Dr Trudi Deakin who listened to patients & studied the evidence.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Anyone esle read Malcom Kendricks new book 'Doctoring Data'? It follows on from his previous book 'The Great Cholestrol Con'. An essential read for all of us. After reading it you won't believe any research data you come across ever again! I wonder if anyone at DUK has dared to read any of these books?

 

[Heathenlass]

I've just receive the May-June "Balance." Still no interview, & still the same advice - Experts say ... . serious implications on long term health, increased chances of heart attacks & stroke.
Ask your GP to refer you to a dietitian...

Thank God for X-PERTs like Dr Trudi Deakin who listened to patients & studied the evidence.

And that is the way it will stay, until the message filters through to the NHS . Currently, they will do nothing to change the status quo.

However, the times they are a changing , I hear whispers of a new study in the offing

Signy

 

[donnellysdogs]

Yes, has anybody else been contacted by Trudi? I hope all persons that believe in low carb will help with Dr Deakin and her much needed research etc...