Oats or No Oats

[Dominic71]

Hi,
I have recently been diagnosed with type 2, I am still trying to get my head around it as I have conflicting information. I used to only eat once a day and need to now have breakfast which used to comprise of a couple of coffees. before my diagnosis during lockdown I have been having overnight oats with berries and greek yogurt.
I have seen lots of places saying that Oats are okay on a calorie controlled diet but one doctor I saw recently said to not have them?? What are people's experience? Do they spike your blood sugars? Thanks

 

[KK123]

Hi,
I have recently been diagnosed with type 2, I am still trying to get my head around it as I have conflicting information. I used to only eat once a day and need to now have breakfast which used to comprise of a couple of coffees. before my diagnosis during lockdown I have been having overnight oats with berries and greek yogurt.
I have seen lots of places saying that Oats are okay on a calorie controlled diet but one doctor I saw recently said to not have them?? What are people's experience? Do they spike your blood sugars? Thanks

Yes, they do spike your glucose levels for the vast majority of us. WHY do you have to eat breakfast?, I don't. Are you on any meds at all? x

 

[Bittern]

Been T2 for many years and breakfast is black coffee. It is probable that the idea of breakfast being essential comes from organisations like Kellogs and Nestle who make a lot of money form selling cereals.
Best bet buy a meter and test before you eat your oats, 1Hr after and then 2Hr after that you then understand how they affect you.

 

[Rachox]

Hi @Dominic71 and welcome to the forum!
Many of us find oats spike blood sugars as do any large amounts of carbs. Getting a blood glucose meter is the only way to see how they affect you. I agree with @KK123, although I do eat breakfast myself, you don’t have to just because you have diabetes.
Here’s a website which will help you learn about low carb eating. You can get loads of info without having to subscribe:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/u1

 

[Dominic71]

Yes, they do spike your glucose levels for the vast majority of us. WHY do you have to eat breakfast?, I don't. Are you on any meds at all? x

Yes on blood pressure and 2 diabetes meds. I need to have breakfast because I need to lose a lot of weight, before I wouldn't eat anything and work for 12 hours a day and then come home at 11pm and have a massive plate of food and go to bed, need to change my habits completely.

 

[bulkbiker]

I need to have breakfast because I need to lose a lot of weight, before I wouldn't eat anything and work for 12 hours a day and then come home at 11pm and have a massive plate of food and go to bed, need to change my habits completely.

To be fair that's a great weight loss strategy.. you just need to combine it with an ultra low carb diet as well.
What goes on to the plate also matters.. a lot.

No-one "needs" to have breakfast .. the old myth started by the cereal companies.

 

[TriciaWs]

If you want to have breakfast then there are plenty of low carb options, unfortunately oats are not one of them.
You need to forget about counting calories, and concentrate on how many carbs you are eating (all carbs can be converted into sugar in your body).
Some prefer to miss breakfast, and lunch, other will have egg and bacon or full fat greek yogurt maybe with a few berries in it. I have to eat with my other drugs so have a low carb 'porridge' which is mainly milled flaxseed with chia seeds (both much lower in carbs than traditional cereals).

 

[Lamont D]

Definitely not!

It is thanks to the oats in porridge, obviously advice from a dietician, and every other medical advisors. To have porridge for breakfast that I was having a hypoglycaemic episode when having my first appointment with my endocrinologist.

 

[Mrs T 123]

For breakfast I have eggs - any kind - boiled, fried scrambled, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, greek yoghurt with berries, chaffles made with cheese & eggs or even just sardines or kippers if you like fish or I make a coconut milk porridge thing by adding flaxseeds, chia seeds & berries on top.

 

[MrsA2]

@Dominic71
Which diabetes meds are you on?
You may need to temper or time low carbing if on Gliclazide (or its relatives) or any of the flozins as you could, rarely but severely go too low. You do need a monitor and test until you know how your body reacts
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/gliclazide/
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-medication/sglt2-inhibitors.html

 

[Resurgam]

All the diet sheets I had listed porridge for breakfast.
I ended up almost spherical, but was always told that I wasn't following the diet properly.
Well - not losing weight was obviously wrong, but other than that....
When I went back to eating low carb I lost a lot of weight, quite by accident. No effort, not even thinking about it.
That has happened every time I abandoned the standard diet and ate low carb.
My usual regime is two proper meals a day, 12 hours apart. My meter and other test results say it is just fine for me.

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

Oats are good for pigs and chickens to eat for breakfast, they will convert the carbs into carb free protein for a great healthy breakfast of bacon and eggs.

 

[Lamont D]

All the diet sheets I had listed porridge for breakfast.
I ended up almost spherical, but was always told that I wasn't following the diet properly.
Well - not losing weight was obviously wrong, but other than that....
When I went back to eating low carb I lost a lot of weight, quite by accident. No effort, not even thinking about it.
That has happened every time I abandoned the standard diet and ate low carb.
My usual regime is two proper meals a day, 12 hours apart. My meter and other test results say it is just fine for me.

Who could imagine that a staple food, which is a so called super food, and every dietary advice sheet I've seen myself says eating oats is really good and healthy for you. And being lactose intolerant, I always had my porridge with boiling water and a cup of black tea, so the only cause of my reaction at that time had to be the oats.

Just this one food, did threaten to make me so ill, that it would have been fatal.
Make no mistake, it was slowly but surely, making me worse every time I had it every morning. The result was weight gain, blood glucose levels going really high, to really low, my organs were suffering because of fat. Hyperinsulinaemia because the food triggered too much insulin. High circulating insulin, insulin resistance because grains causes inflammation. Inflammation causes higher BP, arterial hypertension, more susceptible to colds and flu, brain issues, which are such as it affected my memory, and my ability to function properly.
This viscous circle of unhealthy foods (for me!) Is typical of most endocrine conditions. Not having porridge is healthy for me, as is other foods, the staple foods which we depend on can also be the reason why so many people have health problems so young.

 

[HSSS]

I think that’s a resounding no to oats for a type 2

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

I think that’s a resounding no to oats for a type 2

Look's like it.

 

[EllieM]

To have porridge for breakfast that I was having a hypoglycaemic episode when having my first appointment with my endocrinologist.

Well, I guess that's one way to ensure that they take your symptoms seriously .

As a T1, all my life I've had dieticians urging me to eat oats for breakfast as the ultimate healthy T1 start to the day. (Though admittedly, after 50 years of dietary advice changing with the frequency of clothing fashions I did become somewhat disillusioned with dieticians). I used to feel guilty that I didn't like or want to eat it, now one bonus of eating low carb is that I no longer have to consider it.

 

[Oldvatr]

Definitely not!

It is thanks to the oats in porridge, obviously advice from a dietician, and every other medical advisors. To have porridge for breakfast that I was having a hypoglycaemic episode when having my first appointment with my endocrinologist.

It might be helpful to explain that the hypo after eating is part and parcel of RH and not necessarily applicable to most T2D

 

[Lamont D]

It might be helpful to explain that the hypo after eating is part and parcel of RH and not necessarily applicable to most T2D

I think that you have already done that.

RH is a condition that certain foods cause the trigger for too much insulin and in turn this excess insulin is the cause of hypos.
Type 2s can have these certain foods and will not cause any hypos.

Keep safe

 

[EllieM]

Type 2s can have these certain foods and will not cause any hypos.

But maybe some serious hypers

 

[Omar51]

Hi,
I have recently been diagnosed with type 2, I am still trying to get my head around it as I have conflicting information. I used to only eat once a day and need to now have breakfast which used to comprise of a couple of coffees. before my diagnosis during lockdown I have been having overnight oats with berries and greek yogurt.
I have seen lots of places saying that Oats are okay on a calorie controlled diet but one doctor I saw recently said to not have them?? What are people's experience? Do they spike your blood sugars? Thanks

Oats use to get my BG hi, stopped oats and my BG got better.