My Story so far

[JonoNeppers]

Hello all,

There is a lot of diabetes in my family, including my dad and both my grandfathers. A number of my uncles also have it. I'm a 31 year old male, with a BMI of 21.1 (67kgs @ 5'10").

I had a full blood workup when I was about 25, including blood sugars, and they did not mention anything unusual. However when I got to about 29, I decided to get myself a blood glucose meter (True Metrix 60), and test my sugars every now and then, given how much diabetes is in my family. I tested roughly once a week, sometimes on waking, sometimes before a meal, sometimes after a meal. I would say that for 2 years my results were always high-normal or prediabetic, never within the diabetes ranges.

I ran out of strips and decided not to buy any new ones about 3 months ago, since I was fairly content that I was not diabetic, and the constant testing wasn't doing my mental state any good! Typically my fasting results were prediabetic, and my post prandials were normal. Yesterday I bought some more strips though and did some tests over the last couple days. My fasting result was 6.4, pre dinner was 6.3, and post meals have ranged from 6.9 to 9.5. These results seem to put my firmly in the prediabetic range, however I have spent the whole time extremely anxious (I suffer with health anxiety quite badly), and am not sure the extent of impact that is having on my BS readings.

My question is what steps I could take to try to reverse this situation. As mentioned above, I don't have much weight to lose, I am also quite active, I exercise 5/6 times a week for 30 minutes, and I eat fairly well, and never more than 50g of carbs per meal or 200g per day. I never eat refined sugar... literally never!

Have people had good success with LCHF diets to reverse prediabetes and get back to normal ranges?

Sorry for the long post, I've been a long time lurker on these forums for the last two years and have been so impressed with the help others have gotten

Jono

 

[Rustytypin]

Hi, @JonoNeppers , those results are not too bad, but I think you need to reduce your carb intake to get even better BGL numbers. 200gm carbs is by no means low carb and is probably the reason for the rise in BGs after meals.
I aim for no more than 20 to 30 gm carb per day. My BGs average around 5mmol before meals and I aim to get a rise of no more than 0.5mmol two hours after. I achieve this by cutting most carbs but at the same time upping my fat intake during the day. (So called good fats, dairy cream, olive oil, coconut oil, fatty meats eg pork steaks with the fat still on, I avoid processed seed oils).
The other bit of advice I have is to keep testing until you find out what foods raise your BGs, and good luck.

 

[JonoNeppers]

Hi, @JonoNeppers , those results are not too bad, but I think you need to reduce your carb intake to get even better BGL numbers. 200gm carbs is by no means low carb and is probably the reason for the rise in BGs after meals.
I aim for no more than 20 to 30 gm carb per day. My BGs average around 5mmol before meals and I aim to get a rise of no more than 0.5mmol two hours after. I achieve this by cutting most carbs but at the same time upping my fat intake during the day. (So called good fats, dairy cream, olive oil, coconut oil, fatty meats eg pork steaks with the fat still on, I avoid processed seed oils).
The other bit of advice I have is to keep testing until you find out what foods raise your BGs, and good luck.

Thanks so much for your response.

I have tried going low carb (only eating berries, green vegetables and full fat milk for carbohydrates) for the last couple of days and have already seen a reflection in my blood sugars (pre meal 5.7, post meal 6.1).

I'm planning on sticking with this LCHF diet for a month, and then seeing how the results have impacted my blood sugars in that time period.

Do you allow yourself an occasional binge. A packet of crisps once in a while etc? Or are you 100% committed all the time.

Thanks,

Jono

 

[Rustytypin]

Those latest BGLs look good. Keep testing to see what foods spike you. Initially I tested up to five or six times a day, but as I got to know how different foods affected me, I have reduced that to once or twice a day, mainly to stop myself sliding back into my old habits!
I love things like home baked bread, but if I started with just one slice I would find it difficult to stop. At first I cut out all carb laden foods like crisps, ice cream etc. There are many recipes on the web for keto equivalents to carby foods, try a few, some are very good. Just put Keto in front of whatever you are looking for.
In place of non-foods like crisps I roast my own salted and peppered almonds, they are very moreish, but keeping the portion size down only about 1gm of carbs per handful.
Remember this is a marathon not a sprint - good luck, and keep asking questions.

 

[JonoNeppers]

Those latest BGLs look good. Keep testing to see what foods spike you. Initially I tested up to five or six times a day, but as I got to know how different foods affected me, I have reduced that to once or twice a day, mainly to stop myself sliding back into my old habits!
I love things like home baked bread, but if I started with just one slice I would find it difficult to stop. At first I cut out all carb laden foods like crisps, ice cream etc. There are many recipes on the web for keto equivalents to carby foods, try a few, some are very good. Just put Keto in front of whatever you are looking for.
In place of non-foods like crisps I roast my own salted and peppered almonds, they are very moreish, but keeping the portion size down only about 1gm of carbs per handful.
Remember this is a marathon not a sprint - good luck, and keep asking questions.

Thanks again! You're posts have been very helpful and comforting. It's good to chat to others in a similar position.

I suppose my main frustration was that I had started being more active lately, doing daily exercise and had let my diet slip. When I came to test I was hoping to see my results in the normal range. Since I first started testing two years ago I have always tended to have prediabetic preprandial readings, and normal postprandial readings, and these readings on the whole were no different. I suppose this implies I have a glucose intolerance, but I am managing it well generally by selecting foods which will not spike it further.

It's hard to think that in order to avoid complications and meds in the future I will more or less have to stick to a diet which misses out some of my favourite foods, but I remind myself so many other people are in this situation too for various reasons (diabetes, cholesterol, allergies, vegans/veggies etc. etc.).

Luckily for me I am more of a savoury than sweet eater. The only thing I would really miss would be those **** crisps!

Thanks again,

Jono

 

[MrsA2]

Kale can make a passable crisp substitute. Mix in some good olive oil, salt and spices or herbs and bake in oven. Watch or carefully as burns easily but get it right and it satisfies that crispy, tasty and slightly greasy crisp feeling. Play around with the flavourings to get the taste you like.
Plenty of actual recipes online google kale crisps

My treats are dark chocolate or wine...only every so often but oh so necessary