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what to eat?

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Visage81

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
first off, hi to everyone this is my first post on the site,so not sure if I've posted this in the topic section, but here goes. up to 18 months to 2 years ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after being borderline for a few years. I was put on one metformin (550mg) and up to a month it was upped to 2 a day.my recent blood test this week has shown there must still be an issue as I'm to make a doctors appointment to discuss the recent blood test.im a bit concerned that in less than a month of the increase of the metformin, I'm being asked in again. Anyway my point i wanted clarity/advice on was the eating aspect as im struggling to create meals without carbs which we know spikes blood/sugar levels. I don't have the best/healthiest palette but most of my evening meals are with a carb of some kind, I.E : new potatoes, mash potatoes, rice, chips, roast potatoes etc. im assuming im still not doing enough with the food side (hence why the doctor wants too see) but my question is should i be ditching the carbs with meals and just having a protein and veg? or just having carbs a couple of times a week. Also where do you stand with diabetes and alcohol, as I've read conflicting reports saying you're allowed a couple of drinks a day, to no alcohol for a least 5 days a week? Any way that's it for now, sorry if its come a bit long winded but this is my first forum post in a long time anywhere
 
Visage81 said:
first off, hi to everyone this is my first post on the site,so not sure if I've posted this in the topic section, but here goes. up to 18 months to 2 years ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after being borderline for a few years. I was put on one metformin (550mg) and up to a month it was upped to 2 a day.my recent blood test this week has shown there must still be an issue as I'm to make a doctors appointment to discuss the recent blood test.im a bit concerned that in less than a month of the increase of the metformin, I'm being asked in again. Anyway my point i wanted clarity/advice on was the eating aspect as im struggling to create meals without carbs which we know spikes blood/sugar levels. I don't have the best/healthiest palette but most of my evening meals are with a carb of some kind, I.E : new potatoes, mash potatoes, rice, chips, roast potatoes etc. im assuming im still not doing enough with the food side (hence why the doctor wants too see) but my question is should i be ditching the carbs with meals and just having a protein and veg? or just having carbs a couple of times a week. Also where do you stand with diabetes and alcohol, as I've read conflicting reports saying you're allowed a couple of drinks a day, to no alcohol for a least 5 days a week? Any way that's it for now, sorry if its come a bit long winded but this is my first forum post in a long time anywhere
Click to expand...
As a newbie im i waiting for this post to checked? and clared as im baffled ive not had one reply in nearly 2hours when all the other posts have had reply's, thanks
 
Hi @Visage81 & welcome to the forum :)
As you already know carbs can be difficult for those of us with diabetes both T2 & T1 for similar & different reasons, as all carbs turn to sugar. The majority of our T2 members manage their diabetes with a low carb or keto diet, personally I stick to 20-30g carbs a day so avoid all flour products, potatoes, pasta, rice, below ground veg apart from celeriac & swede/turnip. I eat above ground veggies, all meats, fish, a little bit of dairy, avocados. A few nuts Good oils like EVOO, avocado oil, nut oils like walnut oil. For a treat I have a couple of squares of 90% chocolate

I do eat bread but I buy low carb from either the Low Carb Food Co. Or Srsly Low Carb. I replace rice with cauliflower rice for pasta I use courgettes cut into ribbons or shredded cabbage. I use celeriac either mashed or diced and roasted for potatoes, also cauliflower mash.


Do you test before & after meals? If not the best advice I can give you is get yourself a meter, as a T2 you will probably have to self fund, but believe me it’s worth it.

Testing before first bite then 2 hours after first bite will tell you if what you’ve eaten is ok for your BG - at the 2 hr reading you should be near to your first bite reading or no more than 2 points higher, and below 7.8 if it is it means your meal was too carb heavy & you would benefit from reducing the carbs in that meal.

As to alcohol, it depends, your on Metformin and the advice is not to drink with that, but if you do drink I’d stick within the guidelines of units per week. The best things to drink if you do have one is spirits with a sugar free mixer or soda water. Some wines have more carbs than others & beers & lagers are the worst, some call them liquid bread

if you scroll down to my signature you will see some links you might find helpful

Not all GPs/HCP support reducing carbs or eating low carb diet so don’t be surprised when you see your GP that they say your food choices at the moment are fine and that you need carbs - no one needs carbs, I’m very lucky in that my GP surgery support & encourage low carb eating - I’ve been low carb for 17 years, the last 7 keto and I’m still diet only


Edited to correct spelling
 
Hello, and welcome, @Visage81 .
Sorry you have been waiting for a reply. Forum is rather quiet lately.

I see you have T2 diabetes and are on Metformin only. Do you know what your HbA1c reading was? This blood test is a measure of the average of approximately the last three months levels of blood glucose.

You are right about the levels of carbs being problematic for those of us with T2, and many of our members manage better by reducing the carb content of their meals.

‘ Low carb’ definitions vary, and individuals have different carb tolerance levels. The best way to know one’s own tolerance level is to test either with a meter, or a continuous monitoring sensor.

I see that @lovinglife has posted as I have been composing my reply. All good advice. You may also find the following websites of use..

lowcarbfreshwell.com

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com lowcarbfreshwell.com

www.dietdoctor.com

Low carb for beginners: a complete guide - Diet Doctor

Start low carb with a clear explanation of how it works, what to eat, what to expect in the first weeks, and what the research says about the results.
www.dietdoctor.com www.dietdoctor.com

There is also this old, but still relevant, forum thread, which I found very useful when starting my own low carb journey.
sanguine

Thread 'A New Low-Carb Guide for Beginners'

Part One

Hi and welcome!

Learning that you have diabetes usually comes as a bit of a shock followed by confusion from often conflicting advice. But don’t panic, it can be managed. It does require a bit of a lifestyle change in terms of diet and discipline, but we can and will help you with that. We were all in the same boat once!


Introduction, and Why Low-Carb?

This page has been provided for those who are new to the forum or to the concept of low-carbing as a tool for managing diabetes.

Although it is aimed principally at Type 2 diabetics, Type...
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Best wishes
Pipp
 
Thanks for the reply, some good stuff in there, will check out the links.think 1st think to get is a tester which my doctor advised me against getting one, saying that you can become obsessed with the results! Cheers again.
 
Just been on the nhs app for test results and it shows the HBA1C test results as 83mmol/mol an increase in 2 months of 14. I take it that's not good?
 
An HbA1c of 83 is well within the diabetic range and obviously it’s not good if it’s rising. But it’s not impossible to improve it.

I also recommend the Freshwell link @Pipp has posted.

If you don’t want to drastically cut evening carbs how about starting by reducing the amount? Testing will give you an idea of how that works. Rice for me has always lead to a big spike so I don’t eat it anymore. I can manage a couple of small roast potatoes, but mash causes a big spike. It might be different for you.

How about your other meals? Breakfast? Lunch?
 
as to your GP saying you don’t need a meter and you’ll become obsessed - that’s a pretty standard reply - ask yourself would you drive a car on a long journey without a fuel gauge? How can you know what your BG is doing if you don’t test. Costs of meters & strips vary but here’s a few below, I personally use the Tee2
===================
HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

Links to the strips for future orders:
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/

Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:
https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793

The strips are to be found here:
https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097

If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.

Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

Abbott usually offer a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus, but currently this scheme is on hold. Here’s the link to try when hopefully the trial is offered again:
Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott

Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom one + here
The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom
 
Breakfast a few days of the week is a british fav bacon and egg with 1 slice of toasted sourdough the remaining mornings it could be porridge cereal or poached egg on sourdough.
 
Thanks lovinglife, I've certainly got make more changes that I won't easy, but I want see that hba1c result come done. Cheers for the links for a meter.
 
Though I'd read in a few places that sourdough was alright for diabetics as it slowly release the ingredients that cause blood sugar spikes.
 
Visage81 said:
Though I'd read in a few places that sourdough was alright for diabetics as it slowly release the ingredients that cause blood sugar spikes.
Click to expand...
The trouble is not everything is the same for all people.

Sourdough is no better than ordinary supermarket bread for me, apart from rare types. One from a local bakery made in the traditional way with added rye and seeds is a little better for me. It still causes a spike in blood sugar though.

But we are back full circle to why we test. Your body may be different to mine, and your sourdough may not be the supermarket stuff. The only way to find out is to test as above.
 
Visage81 said:
first off, hi to everyone this is my first post on the site,so not sure if I've posted this in the topic section, but here goes. up to 18 months to 2 years ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after being borderline for a few years. I was put on one metformin (550mg) and up to a month it was upped to 2 a day.my recent blood test this week has shown there must still be an issue as I'm to make a doctors appointment to discuss the recent blood test.im a bit concerned that in less than a month of the increase of the metformin, I'm being asked in again. Anyway my point i wanted clarity/advice on was the eating aspect as im struggling to create meals without carbs which we know spikes blood/sugar levels. I don't have the best/healthiest palette but most of my evening meals are with a carb of some kind, I.E : new potatoes, mash potatoes, rice, chips, roast potatoes etc. im assuming im still not doing enough with the food side (hence why the doctor wants too see) but my question is should i be ditching the carbs with meals and just having a protein and veg? or just having carbs a couple of times a week. Also where do you stand with diabetes and alcohol, as I've read conflicting reports saying you're allowed a couple of drinks a day, to no alcohol for a least 5 days a week? Any way that's it for now, sorry if its come a bit long winded but this is my first forum post in a long time anywhere
Click to expand...
I stopped all alcohol apart from neat whiskey. This is the one i struggle with the most. Not that I'm a big drinker but a social drinker. I would go out once a fortnight and get hammered. I miss a pint of real ale.
 
spencer72 said:
I stopped all alcohol apart from neat whiskey. This is the one i struggle with the most. Not that I'm a big drinker but a social drinker. I would go out once a fortnight and get hammered. I miss a pint of real ale.
Click to expand...
Neat whiskey has no carbs, and the alcohol even has a glucose lowering effect for as long as your liver is processing the alcohol.
Perfect choice from a diabetic point of view!
 
Hi. Welcome to the group. As a T2 with a starting high level think 120 ish I decided straight away to cut most carbs out. I also was told to self test twice and day and keep notes of numbers. But then I am also on insulin. Every single person is completely different. And what works for me probably won't be the same for you. A lot of it I found was trial and error. The most important thing I can say is be kind to yourself and each day is different
 
Visage81 said:
first off, hi to everyone this is my first post on the site,so not sure if I've posted this in the topic section, but here goes. up to 18 months to 2 years ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after being borderline for a few years. I was put on one metformin (550mg) and up to a month it was upped to 2 a day.my recent blood test this week has shown there must still be an issue as I'm to make a doctors appointment to discuss the recent blood test.im a bit concerned that in less than a month of the increase of the metformin, I'm being asked in again. Anyway my point i wanted clarity/advice on was the eating aspect as im struggling to create meals without carbs which we know spikes blood/sugar levels. I don't have the best/healthiest palette but most of my evening meals are with a carb of some kind, I.E : new potatoes, mash potatoes, rice, chips, roast potatoes etc. im assuming im still not doing enough with the food side (hence why the doctor wants too see) but my question is should i be ditching the carbs with meals and just having a protein and veg? or just having carbs a couple of times a week. Also where do you stand with diabetes and alcohol, as I've read conflicting reports saying you're allowed a couple of drinks a day, to no alcohol for a least 5 days a week? Any way that's it for now, sorry if its come a bit long winded but this is my first forum post in a long time anywhere
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome. As others have said, it's perfectly possible to lower high blood glucose levels without medication by changing diet. Some people find that medication helps, and if it does, why not? And a word of caution about what you read on the internet - a lot of "information" on some sites (Reddit is a good example) is people looking for validation of their food choices. So you'll see all sorts of hopeful or wish fulfilment stuff about sourdough, the order you eat food in, supplements, etc. Personally, I've never found any of the claimed shortcuts or hacks at all convincing, but that's me.

The key thing for all of these ideas is (if you want to try them) discovering the impact it has on your BG. And you won't know what that is unless you test your BG before you eat and then again two hours later. You are NOT testing to see "how high you go". The peak BG would probably be around the +45 minute mark, not at +2 hours, anyway. What you're actually looking for is an indication of how well your system handled the carb in what you ate. So after two hours you should be back at or close to your starting point (within 2mmol/l is close enough). Fingerprick testing is far from accurate and you can get different results from the same drop of blood, so a one-off result may not be that helpful and can be misleading. What you're doing is building up a picture of how your system (rather than anyone else's) is working.

From what you've said, your regular diet does seem to be quite carb-heavy, and as you've found (83mmol/mol an increase in 2 months of 14) what you've done so far hasn't affected your blood glucose in a positive way. That would seem to indicate that your system is not coping with the level of carb/sugars you're taking in. You might find that there are other things you need to include in your calculations - milk, for example, contains a fair amount of sugar in the form of lactose. Fruit is usually high in fructose. Lactose and fructose are both sugars and break down to glucose. And as you've noticed we usually have quite a bit of carb in traditional meals - and of course the official dietary advice is to base all meals around carbs.

That didn't work for me, so when I was eventually diagnosed I cut practically everything and reduced carbs to around 20g/day, most of which came from green veg. It was difficult at first but that was preferable to the nasty symptoms I'd had for ten years. Most of my meals consisted of meat/fish/eggs/cheese, or some combination of those. If you need ideas, here are some decent cookbooks around - Katie Caldesi's "The Diabetes Weight-loss Plan" is really about managing T2 (very little directly to do with weight loss) and has some excellent stuff. I've seen other cook books that claim to be aimed at T2s that I would tell people to avoid, being full of high carb and low fat meals. You might also want to find Dr David Cavan's books - this is a link to his website:

www.thediabetesdoctor.co.uk

The Diabetes Doctor

Dr David Cavan
www.thediabetesdoctor.co.uk www.thediabetesdoctor.co.uk

The DietDoctor website has lots of basic info, and I have used it for years now:

All low-carb guides – Diet Doctor

Are you new to eating low carb? Feeling confused or don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you are a low-carb veteran looking to deepen your knowledge?
www.dietdoctor.com www.dietdoctor.com

As far as alcohol goes - and I'm assuming this is entirely about the carb content - spirits are carb free. Mixers may not be. Beer has quite a bit of carb, wine less so. My very rough rule of thumb (works for me, but may not for others) is that a bottle of wine has a similar impact on my BG as one pint of beer. Alcohol also interferes with the ability of your liver to make glucose, so after a meal with alcohol you may get BG readings that are much lower than you'd expect. But the carbs you ate still went in, so don't let a alcohol-adjusted reading fool you.

I guess the good news is that my very low carb/keto approach got me back to normal levels in four months. By normal I mean the levels non-diabetic people would expect to see. I will have stayed at normal levels for seven years come next Spring.

best of luck. This forum is probably the best general resource on the internet and there are thousands of years of experience assembled here. Questions are encouraged, and people here will give you the time and attention you're very unlikely to get from your health services.

Edited to remove a cut and paste error
 
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