Carbs - or the sugar in carbs

Bill_Dundee

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Being new diagnosed with T2D, my BG currently sits around 10 or thereabouts.
Even eating something very low carb causes it to spike up, usually by 2 or 3, but it lowers again after a couple of hours. What I'm not sure about is what is an 'acceptable' spike, or should I be trying to eat only good that don't cause it at all i.e. sticking only to meat, fish, chicken with no veg or salad at all.
 

azure

Expert
Messages
9,780
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi @Bill_Dundee Let me tag @daisy1 for you. Bear in mind she may not be online for a while because of Christmas.

I'm not Type 2, I have Type 1, but a spike of 2 is ok. As you get control of your diabetes, then hopefully your blood sugar should reduce. So you'd be at say, 5 and spike to 7. That would be acceptable.

Regarding what to eat, the advice is to Eat To Your Meter - that is, test before eating then again 90-120 mins after the start of your meal to see how much the food raises your blood sugar. You should then find meals that work for you.

I'll find the target blood sugar range and post it here for you in a moment :)
 

Bill_Dundee

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thank you for your response. I am learning that not all the advice being offered is necessarily good advice. I have just come off Diabetes UK site where someone recommended that soup and a roll (no further details) is acceptable as is a pasta salad and fruit. These are the things that are loaded with sugar! and should be avoided.
 
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Hiitsme

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,987
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi and welcome @Bill_Dundee
Testing before and 2 hours after was what helped me to gain some control. My sugars were a lot higher than yours to begin with and it took me several weeks to get any control. Please don't panic with Christmas here, there will be plenty of time afterwards to work at getting control. When Daisy posts there will be lots of information but you will need to take it slowly. We are all different but for me the worst thing was breakfast cereal and it took me a long time to come to terms with that. As soon as I changed to eggs things started to improve for me. By testing you will find out what works for you, Do ask questions and people will try and help. As @azure says a spike of 2 two hours after a meal is acceptable. If I had cereal I had spikes of 4 or 5 and even trying different ones didn't seem to make any difference. That doesn't mean it will be the same for you but testing will show you what works and what is better avoided.
 
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Bill_Dundee

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thanks for that. My initial readings were 27 (!) but the glycerides and a serious change of diet (no carbs at all if possible) has brought it down to 10. I'm getting there, albeit in my own weird sort of way. I have + 70lbs of accumulated sugar all round my body that I intend to get rid of!
 
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miahara

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,019
Type of diabetes
Type 3c
Treatment type
Insulin
@Bill_Dundee Hi Bill (are you in Dundee?). It's the sugars in the carbs that cause BG to rise, though if you are showing only a rise of 2 that's pretty good and pretty well normal. However if you start getting serious about lowering carb intake you probably find your average will drop. Don't go cutting out veg though as most are fairly low in sugar content. If you want a reasonably good guide to carb content of foods "Carbs & Cals" is available as a book and as an app for a phone. If you want more data that covers a vast range of foods (well over 3000) and gives more detailed info about dietary contents, then the Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset is very comprehensive. It's in Excel format and I originally downloaded and printed it, but have now imported it to a searchable database which is much easier to manage.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid

Dave in the Tay valley
 
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Salvia

Well-Known Member
Messages
812
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello @Bill_Dundee and welcome to the forum. It appears you're on the way to sorting out your carb levels and BG monitoring so hopefully won't take too long to find your best options. There's good advice from the folks above, and plenty of info around the various sub-forums for you to browse around at your leisure. Anything else - just ask & I'm sure somebody will know. :)
 

miahara

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,019
Type of diabetes
Type 3c
Treatment type
Insulin
I'll look this up. Thanks (and yes, I'm in Dundee)
I can see the lightsof Dundee from here! Another resource to help understand diabetes that I've found very useful is the book "Reverse your Diabetes" by Dr. David Cavan. The advice in it may or may not result in reversal, but it will certainly help in understanding the condition and what helps to mitigate it.
 

cusally

Active Member
Messages
35
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Crowds, noisy places
hi Bill_Dundee

I was diagnosed in August 2016 and the difference from then and now is incredible. I have steadily lost weight from 93kg to 82kg, and my last blood test was brilliant. I have only followed info from this site and my own common sense, i came to the conclusion that a low carb diet would suit me.

I eat lots of veg - mainly green ones, i aim to feel full and can’t be bothered with much recipe stuff so its simple and repetitive, i guess over time i will get bored but for now i just want to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible

A typical day for me is low in carbs, aiming for about 50g of carbs. I have found it very helpful to use a diet app on my computer as it analyses nutrition for me with very little effort, but I do need to weigh things. When i feel extra hungry i eat extra cheese.

Typical day food:

Breakfast: 1 or 2 boiled eggs on a bed of raw baby spinach with a sprinkling of linseeds, a bit of olive oil and a diced tomato. that is very filling, and the spinach is practically flavourless but filling

Lunch: 4 oz of boiled fine green beans slightly undercooked so a bit of bite, with any meat and a bit of salad or 1/3 of a cauliflower, maybe some grated cheese with it or some creme fraiche or yogurt

Dinner: stew or curry or a main roast meat. A large portion of cabbage instead of rice/potatoes, cooked but not overcooked !

I stopped eating bread, rice and pasta and eat veggies to fill myself up, with melted butter or olive oil and extra herbs sprinkled on. Beetroot in small quantities, or any veg like celery, chopped and lightly cooked just gives a change. I have a slice of bread occasionally - mainly to have peanut butter when i fancy it !

Vinegar has become a nice chaser – tastes quite sweet if you shake apple cyder vinegar with olive oil !

Get a few herbs and have on veggies to add variety – a sprinkle of caraway seeds, or fennel seeds is nice on cauliflower.

I never ate baby spinach before this, it is very bland but filling, so is golden or brown linseeds, but they add texture and are very filling which is what I am aiming for.

I am not often hungry !


17/08/2016
Ha1c 12.80%
HbA1c 116 mmol
Plasma Glucose 15.7 mmol
Cholesterol 7.36
Weight 93kg

29/11/2016
Ha1c 5.90%
HbA1c 41 mmol
Plasma Glucose 5.8 mmol
Cholesterol 5.38
Weight 82kg
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I was diagnosed only recently, but have seen my blood glucose drifting downwards as I have stuck to low carb foods - despite advice to use the 'Eatwell' guide - I have a meter which was my mother in law's and bought lancets and strips to use with it - I can't afford any more, but my levels dropped from over 17 at diagnosis to an average of under 8, so I know that I have to avoid grain, starchy vegetables, sugary fruit - just about anything processed, and most legumes - I tested and saw that they raised BG.
I'm going to lose weight - a stone already, keep my BG down and see what that does for the first three months.
I'm supposed to be taking a statin and Metformin, but the statin sent me senile - could not remember anything, did the shopping twice and left the first lot in the car to spoil, couldn't find the car in the supermarket car park - so I stopped them, and I am using the Metformin as a laxative. The effect of the statins wore off to some extent - but I still can't remember the answer to one of the security questions I set up - but I hope it will come back to me.
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Bill_Dundee

Hello Bill and welcome to the forum. Merry Christmas! :) As mentioned above, here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. You will find a lot of advice about low carbing which is a good way of eating and keeping good levels, and a link to the Low Carb Program which you could join if you are interested. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 220,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.