First day with blood glucose monitor

[surdoux]

Recently told by doctor I was type 2 diabetic. With no other information from doctor at all, I was sent to a 'Desmond' course (which had some useful information, but was generally not wonderful). I had no figures, but was given a list by course that had the following:

HBA1C 49
Total cholesterol 7.6
HDL 1.6
LDL 5.2
Systolic BP 77
Diastolic BP 96

I should add that I am 72, 6' 1" tall and weigh 15 stone 5 lbs. Although I understand that I am on the cusp of diabetes, I was obviously concerned that it could only get worse, and being overweight (obese), it was time to do something. So today, I have started the Fast 800 diet, and for the first time have taken measurements with a Caresens monitor. The readings are below:

Fasting, pre-breakfast(8.40 am) 7.4 mmol/L
+2 hours 8.6
Pre-lunch 5.9
+2 hours 7.0
Pre-dinner 6.6
+2 hours 7.0

From what (extremely little) I know so far, these figures seem okay, but I would obviously appreciate any comments from the more knowledgeable people on here. Thanks (Sorry it's a bit long winded)

 

[Jam&Scones]

Welcome! I will let someone else comment on the desmond course as I have never attended, but the eat well plate doesnt have many fans on this forum

Your blood sugar figures are overall a little high but that is to be expected at the beginning of your journey. My figures started dropping slowly over 2 months, but drop they did. I am unfamiliar with the Fast 800 diet, is it low carb? The key is to reduce your carbs, which reduces your blood sugar level.

Your HDL looks a little low in comparison to your other cholesterol levels (what was your triglycerides?). The ideal is to have no more than a ratio of 4 (here is a calculator you can use: https://cholesterol-calculator.com/cholesterol-ratio-calculator-🔥/ ). The good news is that many people find their cholesterol reduces on a low carb diet.

 

[jjraak]

https://www.hughcalc.org/chol.php mg/dl version
EDIT Hughes calculator scores the TRIGS as 1.74

UK/europe mmol version
https://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

If it helps, my scores where dreadful.. And had been for years apparently... But going LCHF, I got them down to much more sensible levels from Oct 2018 to July 2019... And all on food they THEY said would kill me...

And sorry .....it does get worse.

.........iF you follow the EATWELL PLATE advice...

Not sure but I always thought 80/120 was a good BP score.. Was that mentioned at all.
Otherwise the BG scores Look nice.. Well done
Early days but looking promising

 

[resander]

I also think your blood sugar values were fine. The little higher breakfast measurements were probably caused by the Dawn Phenomenon (DP). DP = an increase in blood sugar between 3-8am in the morning common for people with diabetes.

To plan diabetes diets it essential to know the amount of carbohydrates, fats and protein of various foods.
The big UK super markets have online webstores www.tesco.com, www.asda.com and www.sainsburys.com that display food label nutrition information online.

But they do not display vitamin, minerals and electrolytes information, which can be very important for some diets. Go to US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) FoodData Central website:
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
and enter a search key, for example 'spinach'.
You will get a long list of matches. Ignore those marked 'Branded' and select 'Spinach, raw, SR Legacy...' which shows a list of nutrients per 100g of spinach and you will see Magnesium 79mg, Potassium 558mg and Sodium 79mg. These can help to reduce leg cramps for keto-dieters.

I have tried several medium-to-high carb diets, but my diabetes did not get any better, so I switched to a 20g carbs per day keto-diet (burns fat instead of carb/glucose) about a year ago. I have dropped out of this 4-5 times, but while on it, i.e. in ketosis, I felt a lot better, with no fatigue and improved ability to concentrate.

Maybe, you could start on a 'not-quite' keto-diet of about 60-70g carbs per day and see how it goes. You may drop a few pounds...

 

[surdoux]

Thanks for your replies, they are much appreciated. I've calculated carbs for yesterday (i think I'm correct), at 33g, today, again, if I'm right, will be higher at 45g. so I'm within your recommendation -hooray! Funnily enough (although it isn't funny in the slightest), I'm almost enjoying the challenge of beating this, at least I know what my problem is, and with help from you chaps, plus a very helpful wife, I will be there in the end. Thanks again.

 

[jjraak]

Thanks for your replies, they are much appreciated. I've calculated carbs for yesterday (i think I'm correct), at 33g, today, again, if I'm right, will be higher at 45g. so I'm within your recommendation -hooray! Funnily enough (although it isn't funny in the slightest), I'm almost enjoying the challenge of beating this, at least I know what my problem is, and with help from you chaps, plus a very helpful wife, I will be there in the end. Thanks again.

Good to hear.

sure other have good tips, but those early weeks are hard.

you'll hear eat to the meter..just means measure before and after and listen to WHAT your meter says about YOUR bodies reactions to any given meal and adjust accordingly.

so my top tip, is get rid of the stuff you MIGHT snack on in a moment of weakness..(not always possible with families etc)
and replace with T2D friendly snacks
get some deli meats, chorizio one of my favs, get some cheese, and one i'd NEVER have considered pre DX, Biltong
they sell 25 g packets, they keep for ages, and they offer a tasty treat you can have almost anywhere when needed.
and as i once read, if still hungry..
grab a glass of water, and salute the hunger and wait 30 mins,
then if still hungry eat.

the mind has a way of tricking us, it seems to feel hungry when we are not.
tricky little B**** init..

good luck on the journey.

 

[KK123]

https://www.hughcalc.org/chol.php
Hughes calculator scores the TRIGS as 5

If it helps, my scores where dreadful.. And had been for years apparently... But going LCHF, I got them down to much more sensible levels from Oct 2018 to July 2019... And all on food they THEY said would kill me...

And sorry .....it does get worse.

iF you follow the EATWELL PLATE advice.

Not sure but I always thought 80/120 was a good BP score.. Was that mentioned at all.
Otherwise the BG scores Look nice.. Well done
Early days but looking promising

Hi jjraak, do you mean 0.5?

 

[jjraak]

Hi jjraak, do you mean 0.5?

oops in my rush to be helpful,
i linked from the MG/DL version

trigs should have been quoted as
1.74

my bad, apologies.
and thank you for picking that up..

https://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php
mmol version

 

[resander]

You are picking this up quickly. I'd better start looking over my shoulder!

The '20g' in 20g/day keto-diet is the daily carb amount that would cause most people to enter ketosis state, but some can enter and stay in ketosis for higher carb amounts, for example 30-40g.
The level of ketosis is measured by blood ketone meters or inexpensive urine strips(1). Test strips for blood ketone meters are expensive, at least £1 each, so many are testing once per week or when there is a change. I routinely test on Saturdays at 2pm.
I bought a CareSens Dual blood glucose and ketone monitor 8 weeks ago from
www.spirit-healthcare.co.uk
It is working very well for both ketones and glucose.


Vegetables may not be low carb...
Carb content in grams per 100g vegetable

Low carb:
mushrooms 0.3, celery 0.8, kale 1.4, spinach 1.5
avocado 1.9, celeriac 2.3, leek 2.9, spring-onion 3, squash 3, cauliflower 3, broccoli 3.2,
cabbage 4, okra 4, green/red peppers 4,
turnip 4.7, swede 4.8

Medium carb:
carrots 8, onions 8, peas raw 9, corn frozen 9,
peas mushy canned 11, corn canned 12

High carb:
lentils 13, butter beans 13, kidney beans 13,
baked beans 14, potatoes new 14, black beans 15, chickpeas 16, corn cooked 17, potatoes old 18,
mung beans 19, sweet potatoes 21,
cassava 37g!!!


The really troublesome foods for most people (including myself) with diabetes are: white rice, potatoes (specially potato mash), breads (specially white), pasta, products containing wheat/white flour even small amounts in breadcrumbs and batter for fish and meat. It is useful to take time to measure glucose level after eating (smaller amounts of) these to find out how they affect you.

Example 20g/day keto-diet day (25 Feb 2020):

Breakfast: 6am
50g cheddar 0g carbs,
2 Dulano Mini bockwursts microwaved 2g carbs,
2 poached eggs microwaved 0g carbs
black coffee 0g carbs

Cream Coffe 9am Nescafe + 3 tbsp double cream 0.8g carbs

Lunch: 12noon
2 Angus & Aberdeen Quarter pounders 0g carbs
2 Milbona Processed cheese singles (topping) 2.8g carbs

Cream Coffe 2pm Nescafe + 3 tbsp double cream 0.8g carbs

Dinner: 6pm
5 Kofta meat balls in sauce 10g carbs (2)(2b)
100g celeriac mash 2.3g carbs (3)
50g broccoli 1.6g carbs
blood glucose after 2 hours: 6.7 mmol/L
TOTAL day carbs 20.3g

(1) urine strips work for initially detecting ketosis; not for monitoring extablished ketosis
(2) from recipe I have already calculated and placed in 'myfoods.txt' file for speed and convenience.
(2b) more than twice the carbs I normally eat for dinner 'mains'
(3) carb content of 100g potatoes is 14-18g, white rice is 31g and pasta is 30g. Much too high for a 20g/day keto-diet. Celeriac mash or cauliflower mash are excellent low-carb replacements.

 

[surdoux]

That is very informative, thanks.

 

[resander]

The link
https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk
I gave is wrong.

Should be:
https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual

It is possible to buy the CareSens Dual at amazon.co.uk too, but is more expensive there...

 

[surdoux]

I must be doing things right, that is the one I bought on day one!