What would happen
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Squire Fulwood
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DavideB said:
David I have copied and pasted this from DiabetesUK:
Myth: People with diabetes cannot have sugar
Having diabetes does not mean you have to have a sugar-free diet. People with diabetes should follow a healthy balanced diet – that is low in fat, salt and sugar. You should still be able to enjoy a wide variety of foods, including some with sugar.
Myth: People with diabetes should eat 'diabetic' foods
'Diabetic' labelling tends to be used on sweets, biscuits and similar foods that are generally high in fat, especially saturated fat and calories. Diabetes UK does not recommend eating 'diabetic' foods, including diabetic chocolate, because they still affect your blood glucose levels, they are expensive and they can give you diarrhoea. So, if you are going to treat yourself, you should go for the real thing.
Squire Fulwood
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I hate to put a spoiler on things but the mince tarts and Christmas pudding have flour in them and you are likely to get a big sugar spike from them. All you have to do is have half portions but not all the time.
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I did this once - and it was sooooooo glaringly stupid I still can't quite believe I did it! 
- I was at an indian restaurant with my hubby - had ordered the meal and we had drinks in front of us - me a red wine him a glass of lemonade as he was driving. I usually just take my glic and met when I am out with either a glass of water or sip of my wine - but for some reason I just picked up his glass and took my tabs and downed 1/4 pint of full fat lemonade!! - It was about 5 minutes later it dawned on me what I had done - nothing I could do about it.
Tested after 2 hrs and 3 hrs and though higher than normal after the meal I was still under 8 so not too bad really (I work on no more than 6.5 after 2 hrs and below 6 after 3) - Mistakes happen - there was no point in panicking or beating myself up about it - In a way it sort of was"nice" that I managed to forget I had T2 for even a couple of minutes
- I was at an indian restaurant with my hubby - had ordered the meal and we had drinks in front of us - me a red wine him a glass of lemonade as he was driving. I usually just take my glic and met when I am out with either a glass of water or sip of my wine - but for some reason I just picked up his glass and took my tabs and downed 1/4 pint of full fat lemonade!! - It was about 5 minutes later it dawned on me what I had done - nothing I could do about it.Tested after 2 hrs and 3 hrs and though higher than normal after the meal I was still under 8 so not too bad really (I work on no more than 6.5 after 2 hrs and below 6 after 3) - Mistakes happen - there was no point in panicking or beating myself up about it - In a way it sort of was"nice" that I managed to forget I had T2 for even a couple of minutes
Hi Glucosegirl. Of course diabetics can have sugar assuming they aren't too worried about their blood sugar. It all depends on how far your diabetes has progressed and hence your tolerance for some sugar. None of us can avoid it, but some of us have to keep carbs and sugar pretty low. I assume your posting of DUKs diet advice was tongue-in-cheek'?
xyzzy
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Hi Glucosegirl. Sugar is not a good thing to consume if you are a diabetic who is not on insulin or loads of strong medication. Sugar acts very quickly on our levels and can produce very dangerous spikes that we have no effective way of countering. I have removed all sugar from my diet except for that found in the small amount of fruit I each day for that reason.
Grazer
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I think the OPs response to glucose girl shows why it wasn't perhaps the best post. No, davideB, you can't eat any of that. If he followed what sounded like standard NHS advice he'd have no chance of controlling his BGs without medication. Need to remember you're on insulin Glucosegirl; DavideB isn't.
DavideB said:
If I did that by accident, I would drink loads of water then go for a long walk to try to stave of the effects of the sugar. I find that drinking lots and exercise help my BG's so assume it would work if I were to have sugar.
Sugar is not 'toxic' to a diabetic. However, carbohydrates do make blood sugar increase. Sugar one of the fastest acting carbohydrates. If you eat the things listed above, your blood sugar is likely to be very or fairly high afterwards. On a seldom occasion (birthday, christmas) this is probably okay but if you do it all the time, your control will not be good.
If your control is not so good, your risk of complications increase. But you will not drop dead that same minute.
I am on insulin, so I can inject more insulin if I want to eat more carbohydrates, but your insulin is made by your own body which is already struggling to keep up, so you would not want to repeatedly challenge the system more than you have to.
If your control is not so good, your risk of complications increase. But you will not drop dead that same minute.
I am on insulin, so I can inject more insulin if I want to eat more carbohydrates, but your insulin is made by your own body which is already struggling to keep up, so you would not want to repeatedly challenge the system more than you have to.
lucylocket61
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I think you are a type 2?
Sugar is not an immediate poison, as in - you wont die instantly but....
anything with sugar and carbs (carbs is just the name given to sugars which arent the white refined stuff) is not good for us. We cant take insulin to control the effect, so our blood sugar levels rise after eating it.
and carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc) turn into sugar in our bodies, so they also count.
When our blood sugars rise then we start to get damage to our blood vessels and other parts. Each time our blood sugars go over around 8.5 then damage occurs. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-and-Hyperglycaemia.htmlthis link has more detail for this.
So, in a way, sugar including carbohydrates taken in too high a quantity acts as a slow acting poison damaging our bodies in Type 2 diabetes which is not treated with insulin, as we have no way of countering the effects by injecting insulin. So it is best to avoid any outright sugary stuff, and be careful how much other starchy foods like bread etc we eat at any one time.
Sugar is not an immediate poison, as in - you wont die instantly but....
anything with sugar and carbs (carbs is just the name given to sugars which arent the white refined stuff) is not good for us. We cant take insulin to control the effect, so our blood sugar levels rise after eating it.
and carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc) turn into sugar in our bodies, so they also count.
When our blood sugars rise then we start to get damage to our blood vessels and other parts. Each time our blood sugars go over around 8.5 then damage occurs. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-and-Hyperglycaemia.htmlthis link has more detail for this.
So, in a way, sugar including carbohydrates taken in too high a quantity acts as a slow acting poison damaging our bodies in Type 2 diabetes which is not treated with insulin, as we have no way of countering the effects by injecting insulin. So it is best to avoid any outright sugary stuff, and be careful how much other starchy foods like bread etc we eat at any one time.
DavideB said:
Saying that diabetics can eat sugar simply goes against the grain, we are diabetics we have an insulin issue, anything that is sugar (carbs) or sugar itself should be avoided or at least as minimum as possible. The NHS guidelines as mentioned in this forum many times does not into account that everyone Is different, for some they can, for most they cannot, those that are type 1 or type 2 on insulin, technically yes they can have sugar as they can compensate with insulin, but still not the best option. If you want to have a great life with as less complications as possible, avoid sugar and carbs as much as you can. (this is of course my opinion). If you have a meter, follow the NHS and DiabetesUK guidelines and test everyday, then do the same following low carb, you will come to see for yourself what works for you, I doubt their guidelines will.... :wink:
Grazer said:
I never said that DavideB should eat sugar. I was simply answering his question.
Grazer said:
Grazer, you clearly don't know much if anything about insulin or type 1 diabetes. Just because I am type 1 and therefore on insulin doesn't mean I can eat what I like. I avoid sugar too and high gi foods. They produce huge spikes that the insulin is not fast enough to cover. One of the first things I was told when I was diagnosed for example is that I can't have juice or non diet drinks again unless I am hypo as the insulin is not fast enough to deal with the huge spike that it would cause.
xyzzy said:
Sugar is not a good thing to consume even if you ARE on insulin or loads of strong medication. In fact, sugar is not a good thing for anyone to consume even if they don't have diabetes. It produces the same spikes for me and they cannot always be brought down with insulin due to the profile of the insulin. By the way,I have also removed all sugar from my diet except for a small amount of fruit too.
It seems to me that the type 2s on this forum have little to no knowledge of type 1 diabetes but believe that they do. Type 1 is not the "easy" kind of diabetes where you can eat whatever you want without consequences. I am shocked at the responses on this thread and the general lack of understanding on this forum in general. I am constantly defending type 2s when I talk to people in "real life". I actually have the brains to realize that I have no idea what type 2 is like to live with and acknowledge that you work very hard to keep control of your blood sugar. I also tell everyone that asks me that you are NOT the fat slobs they think you are and that type 2 is NOT your fault as is NOT curable. The type 2s here on the other hand seem to have no respect for the type 1s and what we go through everyday. We work hard too and risk a lot each day like Dead in Bed Syndrome, DKA, hypos etc. We deserve more respect.
glucosegirl, I don't think it was lack of respect, I think it is a bit of confusion and a bit of lack of knowledge and also it might be the fact that the guidelines allow for more fluctuations in blood sugar than most of us would like to accept on a daily basis.
It's the same sort of situation as for the type 2 advice. Some of us choose to try very hard to avoid the aftermeal spikes and aren't just content if we can kick out numbers down below 9 at 2 hours. For obvious reasons, of course, too.
How perfectionistic someone chooses to be is up to them - personally I am probably a bit to that side, but not entirely. Perfectionist for me btw is 95 percent a positive word.
It's the same sort of situation as for the type 2 advice. Some of us choose to try very hard to avoid the aftermeal spikes and aren't just content if we can kick out numbers down below 9 at 2 hours. For obvious reasons, of course, too.
How perfectionistic someone chooses to be is up to them - personally I am probably a bit to that side, but not entirely. Perfectionist for me btw is 95 percent a positive word.
Grazer
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glucosegirl said:
Bit different to your last post isn't it. I don't claim to know much about insulin. I DO know that it's wrong to tell a confused type 2 they can eat sugar. ( read your post)
You say you're shocked by the reaction of people on this forum. you shouldn't be if You quote things like this :-
"Having diabetes does not mean you have to have a sugar-free diet. People with diabetes should follow a healthy balanced diet – that is low in fat, salt and sugar. You should still be able to enjoy a wide variety of foods, including some with sugar"
I never give advice to people on insulin BECAUSE I don't know enough about it. Perhaps you should accept that your advice to a confused type2, newly diagnosed, on metformin and diet only, was inappropriate.
Grazer said:
I NEVER said that the OP SHOULD eat sugar at any point. I was NOT advising him at all. I don't advise people with type 2 diabetes on what to eat as I do not have type 2.
I would also like to point out that I DON'T agree with the information that I quoted and that I DON'T follow it myself.
My HbA1C is consistently in the 4s and 5s, my BMI is 19.5 and my cholesterol is 2.5mmol so I am clearly doing something right.
glucosegirl said:
Unfortunately your response of "yes a diabetic CAN eat sugar" is saying exactly that as his response was (Thank you!!!! wow ice cream, mince tarts, Christmas pudding , HERE I COME)
As mentioned the OP is newly diagnosed maybe confused type 2, and now thinks he can eat sugar and carbs. It may have been more helpful to explain the variations of diet rather than just yes. As I doubt mince pies ice cream etc is going to do him any good?
