Grapefruit and T2 - diet only

[Ardbeg]

Since finding out the hard way that porridge for breakfast sends my BG through the roof I'm looking for acceptable alternatives.

I'm now fed up with toast (brown bread of course) and don't have the time for bacon and eggs midweek.

Can one of the kind guru's on this forum please confirm that grapefruit is ok for T2's.

I'm sure I've read it's taboo for diabetics taking statins or other meds, as it may interfere with them. However, in my case I'm diet only and hoping this will be ok.

Picked this up from the interweb when browsing:

Researchers from the Scripps Clinic in San Diego had 50 obese patients eat half a grapefruit with each meal for 12 weeks and compared them to a group that didn't eat any. Those patients who ate the grapefruit lost an average of 3.6 pounds. They also had lower levels of insulin and glucose after each meal, suggesting a more efficient sugar metabolism.

This raises other questions for me:

1. Why only half a grapefruit at breakfast?

2. Can I take the other half as a dessert after my evening meal?

3. Any types/varieties of grapefruit better than others for folks with betes?

 

[sugarless sue]

A half grapefruit,approx 160gm is about 7.8gm of carbs.

The only way to find out how it affects you is to test before and two hours after to see how it affects you.

 

[gillyb]

Hi
Have just joined the forum - was diagnosed about 1.5 years ago - am diet controlled. Last visit to the Doc was told my cholesterol was high and she mentioned statins - a few people at work suggested porridge to bring the reading down - does it affect sugar levels? Help - started of being very good but now find I have slipped back into my old ways of eating!

 

[Ardbeg]

Hi Gilly,

In my case it increased my BG by about 40%; but then again I am a big bloke and was eating Desperate Dan portions every morning. :wink:

I recall when I posted previously about porridge some of the forum regulars said they sprinkled cinnamin on theirs, which I believe helps to reduce the BG spike.

PS - welcome to the forum. 8)

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi Gilly,
A warm welcome to the forum.

Porridge is something you may or may not be able to handle. Different people have different responses. The only way is to test it's effect on you. I add berries and flaked almonds and my levels remain stable. Others have reported double figures after eating it.

Hope this helps,

Catherine.

 

[gillyb]

Hi
I like porridge but with syrup and milk - cripes! I have lost weight over the 1.5 years -two stone - think that was just cutting out beer and cider. Now drink rose wine with (wait for it) fizzy peach water............. sounds awful but I quite enjoy the sweet taste of the water. As far as healthy eating is concerned at a bit of a loss. I am a real carnivore, veggies and fruit - nah.

 

[Ardbeg]

Gilly,

I'm a "can't cook, won't cook" kinda guy, but even I can go to the supermarket and buy a handful of ready to eat (washed) bags of salad. They are quick, easy and cost no more than £1 a bag.

Dead easy with a piece of red or white meat

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Since finding out the hard way that porridge for breakfast sends my BG through the roof I'm looking for acceptable alternatives.

I'm now fed up with toast (brown bread of course) and don't have the time for bacon and eggs midweek.
<snip>

A quick suggestion - why not scramble a couple of eggs in a non-stick pan whilst your toast is toasting?
Very quick, helps balance the carbs in the bread, and a good start to the day.

The half grapefruit (without added sugar) should round off the breakfast nicely.

 

[Ardbeg]

Thanks LGC,

Yes, I'm a dab hand with the microwave and can prepare scrambled egg that way all by myself. :lol:

 

[gillyb]

Hi Ardbeg
Thanks for that - will dig car out of snow and go to supermarket. Guess I just started off so well and then floundered, am finding it difficult to adjust but willl keep on using the forum for tips and advice from other people in the know. Think I just panicked when the Doc mentioned statins (n mention of this before), this just before making an appointment to have my toenails done, have, don't laugh, a condition called "pincer foot" and they want to get it sorted out because I am diabetic.

 

[Ardbeg]

Hi Gilly,

One of my minor irritations at the moment is that, as a T2 on diet control only, I am ineligible for free prescriptions. Bit of a personal conundrum for me this one as I'm determined NOT to go meds and I'm doing what I can on a personal basis to take an active interest and proactive approach to lowering my BG by diet, supplements and exercise. However, the flip side of that is I feel it's so unfair of the NHS guidelines to discriminate against someone in my position.

On a more positive note, I have a lovely diabetic nurse who I can talk to, almost like a sister and she has written me prescriptions on my very first appointment for lancets, strips and even a bucket to dispose of the used lancets; as well as giving me a free BG meter. The price of all the meds on the prescription would have come to approx £28, so I've bought a pre paid prescription for the next 3 months - price £28. Therefore, in theory, if I get future repeat prescriptions from the nurse for aforementioned items and more besides, they will be in effect free, for the next two months. Also, if after 3 months of diet only the nurse does put me on meds, I'll simply not repeat my pre paid prescription as I will then qualify for free prescriptions anyway. If that happens probably the first prescription she will need to write for me would be anti depressants as I'd be pretty low at that point (Ignore that last sentence; I'm just being a drama queen )

Not as good as having free prescriptions, but I'm not prepared to pay the price in terms of not being able to eat grapefruit and much more besides, by having to take statins, metformin, etc.

In a nutshell; that's my main motivation for doing all I can to stay completely meds free for as long as possible.

 

[gillyb]

Hi
Back from the supermarket, all healthy stuff and not a choccie bar in sight. Sorry if I sounded all "woe is me" earlier - I was depressed, it was the mention of statins out of the blue that floored me, that coupled with the fact that I knew I wasn't managing to control my diet. I get my blood results tomorrow so will arrange an appointment with the nurse to discuss medical "accessories" as well, so far I haven't been given anything and am sure they would help a lot. It is good to talk to someone in the same boat. One thing that has been happening with me is skin complaints.....was never a spotty kid but have had so many rashes etc., recently. Found out I was allergic to Ibroprofen when I hurt my back, my legs really broke out. Then, went for a walk and must have been bitten a couple of times by midges or something - it looked like a mutant tarantula had been feeding off me - the hospital were really interested in that, the Doc kept on asking if he could show people! Huge course of antibiotics and back to normal - really weird.

 

[suffolkboi61]

Grapefruit is a no no for me because of my Atorvastatin

 

[Sweet enough]

Hi
Have just joined the forum - was diagnosed about 1.5 years ago - am diet controlled. Last visit to the Doc was told my cholesterol was high and she mentioned statins - a few people at work suggested porridge to bring the reading down - does it affect sugar levels? Help - started of being very good but now find I have slipped back into my old ways of eating!

I was having a great day with low carbs. I had one reading of 5.6 which sent me into ecstasy !

I thought now is my chance to find a breakfast I can eat so...I tried porridge. 40 grams as stated so as not to overdo the portion size. 2 before 5.6 .....2 hours later...14.2 :x
Could be different for you but Id recommend testing after your Porridge.

 

[wellwell1212]

Slightly off topic but, yes porridge, even the course Scotts variety has its problems as I too found out the hard way. I still take a small glass of preferably pink Grapefruit with my small bowl of All-Bran as I rush out the door in the morning and this regime is working for me but as always, we are all different.

 

[allwayschattering]

Well I'm diet only, when I had my Cholestorol checked in Sept it had reduced from 9.3 to 4.6 Drs still not happy. Sugar levels were 5.6 and weight loss over 2 stone.Then had everything rechecked week before Christmas and sugar levels 5.8 cholesterol 5.5. Blood pressure was fine then so felt really good even tho nurse moaned about cholestorel. My Cholestorol has been slowly rising from 5.5 20 yrs ago to the 9.3 last June!! Drs never bothered about it untill diagonosed with the diabetes, then it was all negative. My mum has had diabetes for 20yrs now but the Drs always said it didn't mean I would, but guess what, now everything is in my genes!!

I'm on Atorvastatin 20mg so can't eat Grapefruit and if you real the literature can't really drink much either. I also eat porridge for breakfast as it's good for Cholestorol. Seems we are supposed to live a miserable life according to the Drs. Mine are really negative although I exercise every day and have lost the weight mainly thru that.
I don't test my blood sugar and just try to be sensible about things, will be back at Hospital to see the specialist about cholestorol in August, she was really positive and wrote a letter to my drs saying how well I had done in Sept. I will avoid the really negative Dr like the plague in future.

 

[clearviews]

As a female close to your age, born 1952 I understand where you are coming from. At diagnosis my combined cholesterol was 4.4. Was later to find that this did not mean much at all. Learned what the individual readings were later and how to fix them. I chose to stop statins and gain control with diet. Today, my latest total cholesterol reading is 5.6 and now the doctors are not pushing statins on me as they are saying that my ratios (of chol/HDL) are wonderful and my triglycerides are amazing (0.48 mmol/L) and I think they are too. Plus I have no symptoms of diabetes anymore.
I did need to test, test and test again to get BGLs to the range I wanted to be in. Once I learned how to get that right for me (virtually no processed carbs) everything else fell into place. Reflux, BP, cholesterol all rectified.

My endo said twelve months ago that I would be able to eat rolled oats one day. That day hasn't happened yet. I have tried and tested. I gathered every ounce/gram of courage I had, ate low carb and increased my fats because my reading indicated that as a woman statins would not help me and my diet would do it all for me. I test, test and test yet again. My 34 year old son was told to eat rolled oats by a London Hospital to reduce his cholesterol (he is not diabetic-yet!) and I told him to see how it worked for him. Recently he asked me for my list foods I do not eat! I want him to live a long healthy life. I will have him home for a few days in about 2 months so I will have to dance hard to undo all the carb loaded diet (I thought healthy-- lentils, root vegetables, brown rice........) I put him and his sisters on.

Suggestion is that first of all you get your BGLs into your desired range whether it be through diet or medication to gets you there. The experienced members on this forum will help you achieve this as they did me, along with reading Atkins and Bernstein after my endo sent me home saying "No Carbs"!

 

[ronjo94]

Well I'm diet only, when I had my Cholestorol checked in Sept it had reduced from 9.3 to 4.6 Drs still not happy. Sugar levels were 5.6 and weight loss over 2 stone.Then had everything rechecked week before Christmas and sugar levels 5.8 cholesterol 5.5. Blood pressure was fine then so felt really good even tho nurse moaned about cholestorel. My Cholestorol has been slowly rising from 5.5 20 yrs ago to the 9.3 last June!! Drs never bothered about it untill diagonosed with the diabetes, then it was all negative. My mum has had diabetes for 20yrs now but the Drs always said it didn't mean I would, but guess what, now everything is in my genes!!

I'm on Atorvastatin 20mg so can't eat Grapefruit and if you real the literature can't really drink much either. I also eat porridge for breakfast as it's good for Cholestorol. Seems we are supposed to live a miserable life according to the Drs. Mine are really negative although I exercise every day and have lost the weight mainly thru that.
I don't test my blood sugar and just try to be sensible about things, will be back at Hospital to see the specialist about cholestorol in August, she was really positive and wrote a letter to my drs saying how well I had done in Sept. I will avoid the really negative Dr like the plague in future.

Hi. re eating grapefruit when taking statins - I always understood that this was a no no. However I recently came upon a fruit called a pomelo. This is a huge size like a large melon. I consumed a fair amount of this over the course of a few day and suddenly realised that my blood sugars had dropped. To cut a long story short I researched and found the this fruit although semi sweet, is related to the grapefruit (also similar looking and tasting) In the course of this research I gained the info that grapefruit is GOOD for diabetics in reasonable amounts. It is GRAPEFRUITJUICE that is very bad when taken with statins. This is because a glass of juice (and this applies to all fruit) contains a very high concentration of the product which we diabetics should not have particularly when taking statins. I will now be returning to my daily grapefruit both red and yellow.

 

[benefitsofa]

Since finding out the hard way that porridge for breakfast sends my BG through the roof I'm looking for acceptable alternatives.

I'm now fed up with toast (brown bread of course) and don't have the time for bacon and eggs midweek.

Can one of the kind guru's on this forum please confirm that grapefruit is ok for T2's.

I'm sure I've read it's taboo for diabetics taking statins or other meds, as it may interfere with them. However, in my case I'm diet only and hoping this will be ok.

Picked this up from the interweb when browsing:



This raises other questions for me:

1. Why only half a grapefruit at breakfast?

2. Can I take the other half as a dessert after my evening meal?

3. Any types/varieties of grapefruit better than others for folks with betes?

ome medications, like felodipine, have a high bioavailability. Because of this, doctors must be careful with dosage levels, and they will need to discuss the risks with a doctor before recommending grapefruit juice. Grapefruit may also interact negatively with pre-existing health conditions, so it’s important to discuss this with your doctor before introducing this fruit to your diet. This way, you can minimize any potential interactions and benefit from drinking grapefruit.

 

[ThoseRainyDays]

ome medications, like felodipine, have a high bioavailability. Because of this, doctors must be careful with dosage levels, and they will need to discuss the risks with a doctor before recommending grapefruit juice. Grapefruit may also interact negatively with pre-existing health conditions, so it’s important to discuss this with your doctor before introducing this fruit to your diet. This way, you can minimize any potential interactions and benefit from drinking grapefruit.

I'm not sure that Ardbeg will see your message as their last activity was 5 years ago!