Keto the best way forward?

xfieldok

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,182
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Google keto followed by whatever you want to eat. If you enjoy pizza google fat head dough. The internet has millions of recipes.

If you have a sweet tooth keto mug cake. Keto fat bombs.
 
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JenniferM55

Well-Known Member
Messages
611
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
There are lots of 'keto experts' on Internet, when in fact they are merely saying what works for them! In my view it's a voyage of discovery, we're all different. The idea of keto is to eat under 20g carbs a day.

Take a look at dietdoctor.com, you can trust that website.

Join an app that analyses your food, I use fatsecret.com, there's also myfitnesspal.com, which will let you know how many carbs you're consuming. They're also great for advance planning your food.

Do you have a blood glucose meter? They're very handy to know which foods are spiking an insulin reaction for you.

Good luck!
 
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Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
Hi all.i'm hoping that one (or more even) of the kind people who replied to me when I first joined would be able to help. After much to-ing and fro-ing, with my nutritionist and nurse, the nutritionist has been kicked into touch with her low calorie 100g carbs a day diet.
The nurse has been excellent, she can only say so much, but has been leading me to keto and no meds, citing the current official recommendation for treating Type2 as old thinking. Way to go nursey !

Anyway here is my new dilemma, I have been searching and reading as much as I can about keto and have started pretty well I would say keeping between 20-30g of carbs on most days, but had a couple of slips (**** you naan bread).

Now here is the thing, the more I read the more confused I'm getting as there seem' to be different types of keto and I've been ready to join up to sites that promise a month of keto recipes etc. But then I see people disagreeing about dirty keto, clean keto etc. I even seen some guy on social media declare that he does not want "butter chuggers"? to join his group.

Is there a defined way that will help me most ? @Brunneria mentioned she had psoriasis at one point, as I have, and also a gluten-free way to go which seems to be the most sensible way for me I think.

Is there a specific type of keto I should be searching for that will encompass that? Any help will be gratefully received.

Andy

The different types of keto usually boil down to personal choice and personal taste - and then people introduce snobbery and try and tell people that their way is the best One Twue Way, and anybody who does it differently is WRONG.
It gets a bit tiresome, to be honest.
And facebook is awash with such thinking.

The reality is that a keto way of eating is just one where the body uses ketones as the main fuel, rather than glucose.
The way to get your body to use ketones as fuel is to eat low enough carbs that there isn't enough glucose to fuel everything, and your body realises this, and makes the transition to using ketones instead, either from dietary fat, or from using body fat stores. Some people reach ketosis on more than 50g carbs a day. I envy them, but they are doing what is right for their body. Others need to go down to below 10g of carbs to get the benefits of keto. I am one of those (although the type of carb is a factor). The 20g rule is just a nice easy number that people use. It isn't right for everyone, and it is wrong for some.

So long as a way of eating has low enough glucose/carb and your body transitions to fat-as-fuel then you can eat anything, clean, dirty, processed, unprocessed, plant based, animal based, whatever. You choose.

IF you fancy going gluten free (as I do) then have at it, and if you fancy going 'dirty' have at that too...
Some people achieve KEto on a plant based diet (as I do not), while others only eat wild, organic and so on. Again, I don't do that. But I do eat mainly carnivore because of other health issues. We all do it how it suits us.

But the most important thing is not to fall for someone else's snobbery, and feel that you are guiltily doing it 'wrong' because you enjoy a square of chocolate, or a glass of brandy, or you swipe a chip off your cousin's plate when you are down the pub.
The reality is that if you want to make keto a sustainable way of eating for YOU then you need to make it enjoyable, affordable, accessible and appetising. If you fail on any of those things, by setting unrealistic goals, then you will fall off the wagon and into old habits much sooner.

so just decide on your own priorities and then find an appetising way of implementing that - and have a quiet chortle whenever someone says that XYor Z are forbidden (or obligatory). It makes reading various websites a hoot.
 
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xfieldok

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Messages
4,182
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
When you look at a keto recipe, go straight to the nutritional info. If it's a UK site, carbs is carbs. US sites they have total carbs which include fibre, the net carbs is what you use.
 

Hotpepper20000

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2,065
I read a lot online and take bits and pieces from the sites that suite me. I haven’t signed up for any programs.
In my opinion there is no need to pay for any app or program as there is so much information on line and you have to find what works for you!
A glucose meter will be your best tool to help you discover what foods keep your BG low.
 
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Krystyna23040

Expert
Messages
7,067
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I had no idea there were different types of keto.

My keto is that I limit carbs to 20g a day absolute maximum. The carb part of my diet consists of above ground veggies, Greek yoghurt, very small amount of berries and ground flax seeds. The rest of my food is, chicken, meat, fish, some bacon, eggs, cheese and butter to stir fry the veggies in and nuts sometimes.

So basically what I used to eat before but without, bread, cakes, biscuits, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar etc. It's worked really well and I am now off the insulin and diabetes resolved.

So basic
 
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amcfad

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you all for the replies, regarding a blood glucose monitor would it be worthwhile getting one that tests for ketones? If so are there any recommendations?
 

xfieldok

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,182
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I use the caresens dual. The strips are expensive but you should not need to use them often.
 
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Nicole T

Well-Known Member
Messages
334
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Welcome @amcfad
Thought it was worth mentioning that dr's seem reluctant to give out actual numbers when discussing results and use vague terms like, low, high, normal. What will they say for your next set of results, a bit higher, a little lower perhaps. At your phone consultation ask for the actual numbers and make a note of them or better still ask them to send a print out of your results.
Another vote for keto from me, I started by just cutting out a few carbs here and there. Then encouraged by the results I cut a few more, now I'm down to around 20gm of carbs a day.
I'm a bit late to the party, but see if you can sign up for an online portal such as Patient Access via your GP. I get results back on that before my GP even gets around to contacting me. Actual figures along with, where applicable, target ranges, and a big green 'normal' or red 'abnormal' flag next to each figure. They also add stuff retrospectively, so I can see what my results were up to 10 years ago.

No prizes for guessing which flag is next to my Hb1Ac.
 

amcfad

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I'm a bit late to the party, but see if you can sign up for an online portal such as Patient Access via your GP. I get results back on that before my GP even gets around to contacting me. Actual figures along with, where applicable, target ranges, and a big green 'normal' or red 'abnormal' flag next to each figure. They also add stuff retrospectively, so I can see what my results were up to 10 years ago.

No prizes for guessing which flag is next to my Hb1Ac.

Hi Nicole, I have access to that, I thought it was only for ordering prescriptions I never knew there were results etc. available I will need to have a look at that. Thanks for that. Oh how do you add the little bio underneath your post?
 

Nicole T

Well-Known Member
Messages
334
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Nicole, I have access to that, I thought it was only for ordering prescriptions I never knew there were results etc. available I will need to have a look at that. Thanks for that. Oh how do you add the little bio underneath your post?
Hiya,

Just click on your user name at the top of the page (next to the email icon) and choose 'signature', and it'll add whatever you put there to the end of each post.

On Patient Access, look for 'test results' down the left hand side. I don't think all GP surgeries use it the same, but with luck, yours will have posted all of your results.
 
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MrsA2

Expert
Messages
5,575
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I had to request via my surgery that the results option was added to my access. Still a hurdle worth jumping
 

Bodewhin

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Keto literally just means eating low enough carbs that your body goes into ketosis. Whichever way you start - you will probably make adjustments as you go anyway. Just try and start it and see what happens - someone will always be there online to tell you that whatever you did was wrong. Hopefully we can be a bit more supportive than that. I wouldn't pay anyone for meal plans, you can get lots of free ideas online. The exception to that might be Diet Doctor - but I haven't used the pay part of the website before so I am not sure. Also be careful with buying cookbooks labelled Keto and Low carb and especially "Diabetic" - they need to be used with a massive amount of common sense.
 

Nisila

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi folks, had blood tests initially to check for coeliac on instructions from a nutritionist while trying to settle my gut. This led to the Hba1c test which as of yesterday came back high. I now have a telephone consultation with my GP scheduled for Monday.

I'm thinking the best way forward is Keto, but realise I need to do more research and also wait to hear the GP's advice.

Thanks

Andy
 

Nisila

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi
Sorry on holiday in wales with terrible signal... Hope this gets through.
I was diagnosed with type 2 and an hba1c of 52 in May.
I had been reading this site and decided to go low carb, aiming for 100g a day (not as low as many)
This morning I got my results back from my 3 month check and I am down to 40 reversing the diagnosis!
I still plan to keep up the regime as I have lost over a stone with about 4 more needing to shift. It has certainly worked for me. Thanks for all the wisdom on here