Is this an Ok daily diet?

[Bolouswki]

Hi there

newly diagnosed (last Friday) with Type 2 diabetes - although the doctor hedged slightly when confirming he said my fasting blood was "elevated" and my post glucose drink bloods were "solidly in the diabetic zone". he didn't give me any figures and they are currently without a practice nurse. I saw a nutritionist then on monday who advised carbs at each meal but in low quantities (to maintain a level glucose count rather than no carbs reducing in low glucose) and that I should eat fibrous vegetables to ensure a slower release of glucose.

Need to lose lots of weight and am confident I can - unfortunate that this diagnosis is the trigger to isntilling that confidence.

Anyway - I'm unsure as to exactly how much carbs i can have in a day but can anyone tell me if this diet is about right?

Breakfast
Porridge made on milk, tablespoon of sutlanas, 0% yoghurt tub.
Lunch
Chicken breast, 2 roast potatoes, sweetcorn, leaf salad.
Snack
Popcorn
Dinner
Small steak, 2 pieces of bacon, 80g carrots, 80g green beans.
2 small slices wholegrain bread with lowfat spread.
A 0% fat yoghurt.

is that high/low in carbs?

Also - is there a rough (very rough) guideline to how many grams per 100g is a "safe" limit on carbs? Is there a threshold for very low (eat away!) medium (eat sometimes or small quantities) and high (stay away!)

Trying to get my head around "safe" foods etc and in the current absence of being able to check my own bloods, would appreciate any pointers on what to avoid and more importantly, what is safe to eat!

Thanks for any replies

 

[daisy1]

Hi DrBoulouswki and welcome to the forum I personally would not eat the menu you propose as it is far too high in carbs for me. I believe that the NHS instructions to eat starchy carbs at every meal is not the best way to keep your levels under control and that these carbs should be very much reduced. It is important to test before and 2 hours after eating to see what effect each food has on your levels as everyone is different.

You need to get yourself a testing kit from your doctor. If he won't give you one (and they often say you don't need to test!) you can get a free meter from a competition on this site or phone the manufacturers and ask for a free one, saying you will be testing a lot. They will probably give you one as they want you to use their strips as that's where the money is. A lot of members buy their strips off eBay. It really is essential to test.

Here is some basic information written by Sue and Ken, the former monitors, for new members, which gives some help on diet among other things. Come back and ask as many questions as you like.

Here is the advice that Ken and I, as Forum Monitors, usually give to newly diagnosed Diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

For more information on CARBOHYDRATE see here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20306

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

For TIPS FOR STRIPS see here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19002#p173253

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2011 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking and before meals).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l...(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals........................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals......................... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do at least 30 minutes moderate exercise a day, it can be split into 10 min sessions to start with. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Finally a few QUESTIONS TO ASK AT DIABETES CLINIC.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091



Sue/Ken.

 

[Bolouswki]

Those links and posts are really useful - thanks very much. Lots of info on this site, sometimes hard to find the right place!

 

[galgal]

Hi there

newly diagnosed (last Friday) with Type 2 diabetes - although the doctor hedged slightly when confirming he said my fasting blood was "elevated" and my post glucose drink bloods were "solidly in the diabetic zone". he didn't give me any figures and they are currently without a practice nurse. I saw a nutritionist then on monday who advised carbs at each meal but in low quantities (to maintain a level glucose count rather than no carbs reducing in low glucose) and that I should eat fibrous vegetables to ensure a slower release of glucose.

Need to lose lots of weight and am confident I can - unfortunate that this diagnosis is the trigger to isntilling that confidence.

Anyway - I'm unsure as to exactly how much carbs i can have in a day but can anyone tell me if this diet is about right?

Breakfast
Porridge made on milk, tablespoon of sutlanas, 0% yoghurt tub.
Lunch
Chicken breast, 2 roast potatoes, sweetcorn, leaf salad.
Snack
Popcorn
Dinner
Small steak, 2 pieces of bacon, 80g carrots, 80g green beans.
2 small slices wholegrain bread with lowfat spread.
A 0% fat yoghurt.

is that high/low in carbs?

Also - is there a rough (very rough) guideline to how many grams per 100g is a "safe" limit on carbs? Is there a threshold for very low (eat away!) medium (eat sometimes or small quantities) and high (stay away!)

Trying to get my head around "safe" foods etc and in the current absence of being able to check my own bloods, would appreciate any pointers on what to avoid and more importantly, what is safe to eat!

Thanks for any replies

Hi
I too have to eat carbs (at least 6 portions per day) . I have decided that it is basically a "brown" diet
that I am eating. i.e. wholemeal bread (or sourdough), brown rice, wholemeal pasta etc. Potatoes are fine (one potato is one portion) but don't roast them - boil them. Sultanas are one of the worse sugar filled things you can eat. Check your yoghurs - Low fat, or no fat could mean it is loaded with sugar. You need to read the labels. Bacon is out - only for special occasions. Try very lean red meat (twice per week) and then have oily fish (mackarel, sardines, salmon) twice per week. Then you can make up the other days with chicken, turkey. Make sure you eat your brown carbs with every meal, and loads of veg and fruit. Porridge is great and weetabix is the next best. Don't touch any other cereal like special k etc. If you need a spread go for olive oil spread, NOT butter.

 

[galgal]

on my "carb" chart - one portion of potatoes, bread, rice, etc. is roughly 30 grams.

 

[viviennem]

Everyone has different ideas on diet, and no one diet suits everyone!

I personally follow a very low carb diet based on the Atkins diet. A summary of it is on the Low-carb forum under a thread entitled 'Viv's Modified Atkins Diet'. It's worth reading - the basic diet gives you about 20g - 25g of carb daily. If you want to add more, get yourself a carb-counting book and choose low GI carbs which affect your blood glucose quite slowly.

This diet involves not worrying about fat, and including plenty of natural, unprocessed fats in your diet. Opinions vary on this - the only thing I can say is that the best lipid profile I have ever had was after following this diet for 18 months. My BP and BG were fine as well - in fact I came off BP medication 3 months into the diet. I wasn't diabetic at the time, and probably would not be now had I not slipped back into bad carb habits

Other people follow the low GI method of eating, and others, and find they can control their bg levels quite satisfactorily. We are all different. Testing to see how different foods affect you is an essential part of working out your personal eating regime.

Whatever diet (ie, way of eating) you follow, make sure it contains a wide variety of fresh foods so that you get all the vitamins and minerals essential for good health.

Let us know how you go on.

Viv 8)

 

[Bolouswki]

thanks all for the replies. Doing good - down about 12lbs in 2 weeks, lots of energy, blood 14 day average of 6.4 - thanks for all the tips.