Type 2 What I sould go? For Southeast Asia man...

Aurelien_1009

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Hi everybody,
I'm a new commer, 38 years old and I come from Southeast Asia.
I have just been diagnosed with T2 diabetes in the past 2 months, but before that I had no warning about pre-diabetes. I didn't know much about the disease until the doctor diagnosed it because I used to think was a disease for the elderly (or at least in my country, young people rarely have it). And when I started searching for information about the disease, I was shocked and I realized that I might have had it a few years ago without being diagnosed.
I want to tell a little about myself. I do graphic designer and I often sit on my computer 12-15 hours/ day. In the last 2 years, work is very hard and I often work at night until 3-4am. After all day, in the afternoon I often feel exhausted, but I think it's because of work so I don't pay attention. I rarely eat breakfast since I was in college, and lunch is also very erratic and often skip meals. In general, I only eat 1 meal a day, in the evening. Like all people here, we eat white rice as the main. My favorite dish is bread and instant noodles, and I often eat when I'm work at night. This lasts for several years.

At 01/2017, I was tired so I decided to go to the hospital. At that time, my test results were:
- F.Glucose: 6.1 mmol / L
- Cholesterol: 7
- LDL: 4.7
- Trig: 5.9
The doctor said that I had Dyslipidemia and needed Crestor 10mg / 1 capsule / day. There is no diagnosis of prediabetes.
At that time, I weighed 80kg, my waist was very big and 178cm high

At 01/2018, I was a fungal skin infection and soon after, I had bronchitis and fever for 3-4 days (Until now, when looking for information on diabetes, I think it was a sign I didn't know and wasn't warned by the doctor. When I had bronchitis: my BS was 10.2 mmol / L - 2hours after meal)
Every 4 months from 2017 till now, I went to the hospital to do blood tests and continue to take medicine to Dyslipidemia. And my fasting blood suger: 6.1-6.4 (there is no warning for prediabetes, the doctor says it's okay. Only continue to take Dyslipidemia).
During this time, I often felt tired and hungry at the end of the afternoon, but I always thought it was too much computer work.
In my country, we don't have our own family doctor. Patients often go to the hospital and see different doctors for each visit. But I examined and was followed by this doctor for the past 2 years.

At 01/2019, I go hostpial and my result:
- Fasting Glucose: 7.2 mmol / L
- HbA1c: 6.2
- Total cholesterol: 2.80
- Trig: 1
- HDL: 1.27
- LDL: 1.08
- Waist: 85 cm
- Weight: 67 kg
- Height: 178cm
- BMI: 21.7
She asked me to do a plasma fasting glucose test:
- GGT FG: 7.2mmol/L
- GGT glucose after 120 minutes: 11.2mmol/L
The doctor concluded I had diabetes and prescribed GlucophageXR 500. Continue taking Crestos 10mg. Re-examination after 6 months.
The time was diagnosed 2 months ago, I felt very tired, thirsty and thin very fast.

I took medicine for a month and it was a terrible time, I had headaches all day, my body was restless and tired, and I lost weight. But I just thought I was sick and needed medication.
I began to take time to search more about diabetes, and realized that I might have hypoglycemia.
I stopped taking the medicine after 1 month, bought a blood glucose meter and started checking it from January 31 till now:
- Fasting blood sugar: 5- 5.5 mmol / L
- Pre-dinner blood sugar: lowest: 4.7 mmol / L
highest: 6.4 mmol / L
- Blood sugar after dinner (1-2h): lowest: 5.3 mmol / L
highest:6.8 mmol / L

Since being diagnosed, I also bought a new bicycle and started practice, every day I traveled 15-20km. (In the last 10 years, I have not played sports, only occasionally walking)

I want to ask some question and hope you help because I decided to go to another hospital to check on next week:
- I found that I was able to have prediabetes / diabetes a few years ago without being diagnosed. This means that my body has certain and serious injuries. What tests do I need to do? Resistance to insulin, kidney, pancreas, liver, eyes? What do I need to pay attention to?
- I noticed that my fasting blood sugar is increasing in the last few days, usually 5 to 5.2 mmol / L in the past but the last 4 days is 5.5 mmol / L. Why is this problem even though I use the same food? Do I have to worry about it? (I stopped taking medication since January 31)
- It is very important but I don't know who to ask. I have a daughter. And I understand if parents have diabetes, so the children of diabetics are at high risk. What should I do to protect my daughter? I very worrry. I also have plan to have a new babies next year, should I have more children and what is the risk of it when I was diabetes?
- I come from Southeast Asia, and I understand that the genes of races have different effects on this disease. I found that I had lost a lot of weight compared to a few months ago, and the articles about eating LCHF were usually for overweight people, how should I eat to help me keep weight without losing weight. Now I eating less than 150g of carbs every day and feel very hungry and if I continue to lose weight, I will be sick. I don't eat rice and bread anymore, I eat more vegetables and go to eat Read Milk Oats (48grams / meal, equivalent to 32 grams / carbs / meal)
- I was dyslipidemia , but the articles about LCHF recommend eating more fat, while doctors require fat reduction. Im feeling very confused and don't know what to eat.
- I don't find it difficult to stop eating white rice, bread but find it difficult to find alternative food when I go to work. So what a fast foods I can eat for lunch? Because I can only cook breakfast and dinner at home.
Thank you so much and sorry for my English.
 
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Prem51

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Welcome to the forum @Aurelien_1009. Don't worry about your English, it's very good. I can't answer all your questions, others may be able to answer some of them which I can't.
It seems that you may have been diabetic, and certainly pre-diabetic, before your formal diagnosis. This applies to a lot of people. Your figures don't seem to be very high, so I think it is unlikely that you have done any permanent damage to your body. Damage usually only occurs after prolonged high readings.

I am from South Asia. People from South and South East Asia do have a higher genetic pre-disposition to Type 2 diabetes, and there is a higher proportion of Type 2 diabetes among people from these regions, which is also raised by the rice, noodles and tropical fruit eaten in these places.

Family history of Type 2 diabetes is another risk factor. My mother had Type 2 diabetes, so you do need to take care about what your daughter eats. There doesn't need to be any reason why you shouldn't have more children, though they will also need to be careful about what they eat. You need to make them aware of the possibility of them becoming diabetic as they grow up if they eat foods high in carbohydrates and sugars.

As to what food you can eat at work - can you make food at home and take it in. If not can you get something like Ramen soup at work? I have just got back from a month in Thailand and lost over 10 lbs, and reduced my blood glucose from the 6s to the 5s by having just one meal a day, often pork or chicken noodle soup, which I found filling. Noodles and rice made from Konjac are widely available in SE Asia and these are zero carbs, so good for Type 2 diabetics.

Your weight is good for your height, and your bg readings are good.
If you are following a Low Carbohydrate High Fat approach to eating you need to increase your fat intake to replace the energy you would have got from the starchy carbohydrates, and to stop you feeling hungry. Healthy fats include oily fish, cheese, butter, cream, yoghurt, full fat milk, nuts, and avocados.
Protein like meat and fish are good, so are eggs.

I'm not going to go into the Dyslipidemia question as I think that is about high cholesterol. That is a contentious issue, and there are a lot of threads on the forum about that, but others like @bulkbiker can probably say more about that.
 
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@Aurelien_1009 OK I've had a look at your cholesterol figures. Going by your 1/2019 trigs, hdl and ldl numbers your total cholesterol would be 2.81. Which is excellent. In the UK our NHS recommends that T2 diabetics should have a total cholesterol of less than 4.
But more important than the to total figure is the ratio of the trigs, hdl and ldl to each other. You can calculate the ratios on here:
https://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

Yours are 'ideal'.
 
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Aurelien_1009

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Hello @Prem51
Thank you very much for your help.
Honestly, I was extremely confused in the first month because there was so much information and new things need to learn. But after finding our forum, I have seen a lot of encouragement because I know many people have the same interest as me :)
I live in Vietnam, and as you say, we raised by the rice, noodles and tropical fruit eaten in these places.
Now, in everymorning, my first question is, what I sould eat today? There is a little difference in how to prepare our dishes and what I learned here, I see you use a lot of ice cream and butter when cooking, but in my country, I don't use cream and butter often, so I'm still to learn and adjust it.
I have never heard of Ramen soup or noodles and rice made from Konjac , I'll try searching in the supermarket, hoping to have it. But can we live on the long-term with LCHF method? I mean 10-20 years or longer? Because I clearly see you lose weight in every year...
I don't have a family history of diabetes, so I think I'm sick because of my lifestyle :) Now, I know a little more about this disease, so I'll definitely have to pay more attention about what my daughter eats.
I plan to ask the doctor to check the kidney, pancreatic and liver problems to better understand my condition. Also, when I read the information on bloodsugar101
He talks about LADA (type 3???), which test should I do to rule out and make sure I have type 2 as the doctor concludes?
And yes, dyslipidemia. I didn't really care about it and simply thought it was okay if I take the medicine as directed by the doctor. But obviously I will have to pay much more attention to my health.
 

jjraak

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hi @Aurelien_1009

welcome to the forum.
i agree with @Prem51 .... if prems checked your score on that link..its exactly what i do,
and i've gone back over other links etc and my scores match up, so i trust it.

As for the genetics...mmhhh

i keep reading about indigenous islanders whose diet was exemplary, yet who now follow a more western diet, and the population are now more obese and more prone to Type 2 diabetes.

So i have a sneaky feeling the genetic part, is simply lazy theory, and its the life style (aka Foods) that bring on the illness.
and tradition suggests lots of rice and noodles..(loved thailand, and so hoping to visit vietnam..for the stunning scenery AND the FOOD omg..Yum ) are the norm, so if no one changes that, why would the ratio of diabetics change ?
only now have i discovered the damage high carbs do..and most in the medical profession seem to want to deny that, so why would they consider any other reasons, BUT it's genetic...it just doesn't FIT their understanding of it.

so with a little guidance from you and a reduction in the high end carbs..a little tweaking really, i don't think you daughter would necessarily HAVE to become diabetic..it seems to be the same the world over..people get fatter, BECAUSE of the limits to the diet choices.
same here in UK..i'm trying to get my daughter to make all those little corrections NOW, so any diabetics odds of her getting it are reduced..you know... the burger but NO soft drink...the soft drink BUT grilled chicken NO buns.

Perhaps that might be the way for your daughter perhaps.

PS as for seeing a regular doctor...same here in UK..rarely see the same one
only reason i do now, is because i'm happy to book up weeks in advance to arrange those appointments.

Good luck on your quest.
The English was great, wish my foreign language skills stretched anywhere beyond 'hello, goodbye & one beer please '..:rolleyes:
 
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DCUKMod

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@Aurelien_1009 Whilst it is traditional to eat plenty of rice and noodles, is there anything that prevents you from modifying your diet to have more of the meat and fish elements of the way of eating?

I am in SE Asia right now, although not in Vietnam, and having been here almost two weeks already, I have eaten local cuisine every day, yet no rice of noodles have passed my lips.

I have had stirfired seafood with chiili and garlic, pork sort of larb, although not actually larb, spicy pork salad, with loads of basil and corriander, a local version of a stuffed omellette, a dry red curry, and lots more. I have never felt hungry, or that I have missed out. In fact, I would say that I have had the tasty parts of the meals and not the bland fillers.

Aside from the rice and noodles, the only thing have steered a bit clear of are the sweet and sour based dishes, as the title says, it's fair to expect they will contain sugar and taste sweet. (I don't have a particularly sweet tooth.)

Whilst I don't consciously fast myself, you may find it interesting to read some of the works by Dr Jason Fung, who is based in Canada, but who has dealt with many Asian people.

Good luck with it all.
 
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Listlad

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Hi @Aurelien_1009

My wife is from SE Asia and judging from your command of English I would guess you might well be from the same country, though maybe not.

She too eats tons of rice, but also fish and a lot of fried foods including belly pork. And a lot of junk food unfortunately. I do wish she would stop :D and not leave it until it all catches up with her.

Because my wife tends to gravitate towards food that she is used to I am interested to see what others say about the rice loaded type of diet.
 
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Geordie_P

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Your numbers look quite good: if you keep exercising and not eating rice/ noodles/ fruit, then you should be able to control the condition well and avoid future problems. I carry hard-boiled eggs and tinned fish for when I need fast food on a break from work. As far as actual fast food goes, fried chicken isn't too high carb: you can take the skin off to make it 'no-carb'. It might also help you maintain your weight. I like to have Jolibee, and it doesn't raise my blood sugar much. Chicken legs or sausage from
7-11 are also good. Rendang and rawon are often ok, but without rice. Balut would be fine. Tempeh is ok for me, but check your blood sugar after you eat. Black coffee and green tea are good drinks. Bendi/ Kechang bendir is a convenient vegetable to carry and eat raw as a snack.
 
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Listlad

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Your numbers look quite good: if you keep exercising and not eating rice/ noodles/ fruit, then you should be able to control the condition well and avoid future problems. I carry hard-boiled eggs and tinned fish for when I need fast food on a break from work. As far as actual fast food goes, fried chicken isn't too high carb: you can take the skin off to make it 'no-carb'. It might also help you maintain your weight. I like to have Jolibee, and it doesn't raise my blood sugar much. Chicken legs or sausage from
7-11 are also good. Rendang and rawon are often ok, but without rice. Balut would be fine. Tempeh is ok for me, but check your blood sugar after you eat. Black coffee and green tea are good drinks. Bendi/ Kechang bendir is a convenient vegetable to carry and eat raw as a snack.
I will be having Jollibee in London next week. But was wondering which of their products to have. Point noted on it not raising blood sugar levels.

You mention balut I notice.
 
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Listlad

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i keep reading about indigenous islanders whose diet was exemplary, yet who now follow a more western diet, and the population are now more obese and more prone to Type 2 diabetes.


...same here in UK..i'm trying to get my daughter to make all those little corrections NOW, so any diabetics odds of her getting it are reduced..you know... the burger but NO soft drink...the soft drink BUT grilled chicken NO buns.

Perhaps that might be the way for your daughter perhaps.

First time today I got a chance to read your post fully through and I do concur with what you are saying and particularly in relation to the two points above.

My daughter eats a lot of rice and what her mum eats has an impact on her, aswell as me. I am sure it will not harm her adversely but it does depend on what else she eats over the course of a day. I have to try and keep the lid on all the sweet things she likes.

Your first point on indigenous islanders, that I have highlighted above certainly seems to be true in the case of my wife’s relatives.
 
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Prem51

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Hello @Prem51
I have never heard of Ramen soup or noodles and rice made from Konjac , I'll try searching in the supermarket, hoping to have it.
@Aurelien_1009 Ramen soup is a broth with meat, and sometimes noodles, though the noodles are made from rice flour usually.
I think the equivalent in Vietnam is called Pho.
Konjac is a tuber grown in SE Asia and Japan. It's used to make rice, noodles and jelly, and contains zero carbs.
I found this on the web which I think is from Vietnam:

Screenshot 2019-02-15 at 13.05.32.png
 

Listlad

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@Aurelien_1009 Ramen soup is a broth with meat, and sometimes noodles, though the noodles are made from rice flour usually.
I think the equivalent in Vietnam is called Pho.
Konjac is a tuber grown in SE Asia and Japan. It's used to make rice, noodles and jelly, and contains zero carbs.
I found this on the web which I think is from Vietnam:

View attachment 31307
Thanks @Prem51

Can this stuff be bought in Asian stores in the U.K.?
 
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Hello @Prem51
But can we live on the long-term with LCHF method? I mean 10-20 years or longer? Because I clearly see you lose weight in every year...
I don't have a family history of diabetes, so I think I'm sick because of my lifestyle :) Now, I know a little more about this disease, so I'll definitely have to pay more attention about what my daughter eats.
I plan to ask the doctor to check the kidney, pancreatic and liver problems to better understand my condition. Also, when I read the information on bloodsugar101
He talks about LADA (type 3???), which test should I do to rule out and make sure I have type 2 as the doctor concludes?
And yes, dyslipidemia. I didn't really care about it and simply thought it was okay if I take the medicine as directed by the doctor. But obviously I will have to pay much more attention to my health.
You can eat lchf long term once you have established which foods you can eat.
LADA is Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. I don't know anything about it, but I think it is like Type 1 diabetes diagnosed in an adult - Type 1 is more usually diagnosed at a young age. I would have thought your bg readings would have been higher if you were LADA, but your doctor might suspect you are LADA if you are underweight, but I wouldn't have thought you were underweight going by your weight, heighr and bmi.
I don't know what the tests for LADA are, but some of the forum members with LADA can tell you more.
 

Prem51

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Thanks @Prem51
Can this stuff be bought in Asian stores in the U.K.?
I think it's sold in Chinese and Japanese stores. I don't know of any Korean or other SE Asian stores, but if there are any they would probably sell it. I think it is generally called Shirataki noodles, but may have brand names.
You might be able to buy it online too.
 

Listlad

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I think it's sold in Chinese and Japanese stores. I don't know of any Korean or other SE Asian stores, but if there are any they would probably sell it. I think it is generally called Shirataki noodles, but may have brand names.
You might be able to buy it online too.
Thanks very much. Much appreciated. My wife often makes a thin noodles based dish so this might make a great substitute. And the little one loves the stuff too.
 
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I think it's sold in Chinese and Japanese stores. I don't know of any Korean or other SE Asian stores, but if there are any they would probably sell it. I think it is generally called Shirataki noodles, but may have brand names.
You might be able to buy it online too.

Have a look on Amazon for Shirataki noodles. There are a few offers:

Screenshot 2019-02-15 at 13.39.56.png
 
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Listlad

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Have a look on Amazon for Shirataki noodles. There are a few offers:

View attachment 31308
Great. I just checked her noodles out and they are Golden Bihon, a Chinese product. But they are loaded with carbs. So these might help us to eat from the same pot. She made some Pancit Bihon the other day and I had to refuse it.

So with respect to the OP, @Aurelien_1009 , I can see how substitution here could be beneficial.
 
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jjraak

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I will be having Jollibee in London next week. But was wondering which of their products to have. Point noted on it not raising blood sugar levels.

You mention balut I notice.
Link

Be prepared to queue...Filipino Kentucky I'm told

And also enjoy pho soups...good to know there are noodle alternatives..thank you @Prem51
 
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Listlad

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Be prepared to queue...Filipino Kentucky I'm told

And also enjoy pho soups...good to know there are noodle alternatives..thank you @Prem51
Yes, we are aware of the queues. It’s a cross between KFC and MacDonalds with spaghetti bolognese also served with added sugar with lashings of rice. So I will find it difficult to find something that will conform to low carbing.