MILK and Diabetes

Netty70

Well-Known Member
Messages
666
benjygirl said:
How are you with rice Netty ? I'm asking you because you, like me have lows after Weetabix. Rice sends my BS sky high :(


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Hi Hun
To be honest I don't test as often as I should but am trying to do it more often due to the weetabix
We had rice last night and am sure I was fine but I will try and test next time and let you know
If I can find the thread lol :)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Messages
4
Hi, trouble is most things that people like and are good for you contain sugar I.e lactose in milk, fructose in fruit and so on. I am type 1 and love milk and fruit. I think you can still enjoy both but like with all things moderation is advised. I for one won't let diabetes rule my life so I just am careful with consumption. Don't be a slave to diabetes just respect it. Hope this helps.
 

Sketcher

Well-Known Member
Messages
110
Dislikes
Other people's cats in my garden
Hello Glynn. It's fine if you're on insulin and can adjust your dose accordingly. For those of us managing T2 by diet only, fruit is a real problem. The best way I have found to manage it is to eat some fruit, wait half an hour for the spike to start, then exercise for half an hour or so to bring the BG down again.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 

isleworth

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes
I drink milk like a glutton and my BG has been coming down consistently over two years regardless. I imagine that is the Metformin restoring some kind of order to my pancreas. Should I fear some kind of reversal of my fortunes once the reading has dropped to a certain optimum level?
 

claymic

Well-Known Member
Messages
503
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I love milk but i have become ord and more lactose intolerant over the years. I used to have unsweetened soya milk but then i switched to unsweetened almond milk which has 0.4g of carb per 100ml. This is at work. At home i use the lactose free milk. It is a nice treat.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 

keltieseaber

Member
Messages
8
I use Alpro Soya light milk...takes a bit of getting used to but has only o.1g of carbs, 0.1g sugar and nil cholesterol per 100mls. On cereal it can't be tasted...really!!!
 
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I bought my own test strips and did tests for what made my sugar high..

Been drinking semi skimmed for years as its supposed to be healthier with less fat.

Guess what Whole milk raises my sugar a lot less.

I don't think counting calories is the right way... You pile on fat with high sugar levels lactose and fructose are both sugars made into fat first.

Whole milk is better as the milk fat reacts with peptin and solidifies in your stomach so is digested slowly.
Skimmed and semi skimmed have less fat but still lot of lactose so I understand why they raise sugar levels.

It is not really how much sugar you eat but how fast the sugar is digested.
Eg. a sugar cube swallowed in a kinder egg shell or wrapped in plastic would likely not raise your sugar levels at all. :p
Most of the sugar in your blood is actually produced by your own body.
The best way to improve your tolerance is lose weight and get fitter.
A little fast exercise every day is now the 'in' way to increase your metabolism. Don't take the lift, walk down a floor and up again. Walk, cycle to local shop rather than drive to supermarket, etc..

One other thing about milk Whole milk, it is a great source of protein needed for body repairs/healing.
It also has masses of calcium also used in immune system and in binding vitamins/metals from digestion.
Don't cut out food/drinks just because of sugar levels.

From what I have read, eating apples and or drinking whole milk before meals makes people eat less.
Apple skin has pectin which slows the peristaltic wave and lots of fiber too, whole milk solidifies and will slow the emptying of the stomach.

Coffee is supposed to fend off diabetes initially but if you are diabetic then it raises sugar but still helps.
Just go caffein free coffee as it doesn't raise sugar levels and also helps arteries/heart with free radicals etc.
Same with red wine and alcohol in small measures.
I found a table spoon of Jagermeister lowers my sugar level if taken before eating.

One meal I found easy to make is leak and cabbage soup.. add chicken or Quorn pieces and take half out before blending it all.
Easy to vary it with frozen chilli, garlic or corriander cubes.

It's the same problem with the food industry using frustose corn syrup to sweeten everything.
A law should be passed making the amnount of fuctose syrup used be in the contents.
At the moment it just says sugars or sweeteners..

I am not as bothered with trying to keep sugar levels level all the time. I think increasing veg fiber and things like lecithin from tomato paste etc will help contract the main problems with diabetes.

I am also trying to
 
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
hanadr said:
Whole milk is better or diabetics than anything with the fat reduced. If you remove the fat from milk, you effectiveely "concentrate the sugars.
Cream is sugar free!
Hana


I found this to be true using testing strips.
Told my diabetic nurse and asked what I should drink and she said to drink less and have semi or skimmed.
Her main advice is to eat lots of veg and have smaller meals more often.

In my experience of nurses and GPs they are in the dark ages and are just ticking boxes.

For me to get test strips I had to remind the GPs of their own guidelines and sort of threaten them with an official complaint.
It shouldn't be so hard to get correct information.

One thing I found to help a lot are prebiotics.. Bimundo pastilles and other prebiotics help with the disgestive upsets of the pills.
Camp coffee is full of Chickory which help the right gut bacteria.
It is quite nice with whole milk and stevia sweeteners.

After decades thinking I was being healthy drinking semi skimmed I have gone back to whole milk. Tastes so much better.
 

EllisB

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have not read the whole thread so please forgive me if I am repeating what someone else has said.

I saw someone mention lactose free milk (lactofree) on page 1. It may be lactose free, but is certainly is not carb-free. The dairy add lactase while they are processing the milk. That breaks the lactose down into galactose and glucose. Like fructose, galactose must be processed by our liver before it can be used. So lactofree is essentially the same GI as the normal equivalent.

They do claim that the filtering they do removes some lactose - since it is essentially the same filtering as Cravendale (also from Arla) that would probably be better.
 

bmorgen

Active Member
Messages
29
A couple of things: not all sugars are the same. The main villain is glucose. Regular sugar (sucrose) contains a lot of readily available glucose so should be restricted. But some sugars like fructose (fruit sugar, agave syrup) are much slower to convert to glucose so they can be eaten without raising your BG. Lactose is not a "free" sugar. But lactose free milks often have the lactose replaced with glucose so read the label carefully before assuming anything. Same with almond/oat/soy milks - they often have added sugars to make them palatable.

The best way to know what works for you is to try it and test. Get a meter and check your BG 30 minutes after drinking a glass of milk. Did you spike? Also, keep in mind that absorption of sugar depends on what else you are eating (what's in you stomach with the sugar). A high fat meal will slow down the sugar absorption. That's why ice cream can be fine but sorbet often causes a spike.

Test Test Test! Everyone is different.
 

samfeb

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi

I've been drinking semi skimmed lactose (the Green carton) for ages and its ok. Almond milk is nice but I didn't like the taste of it in coffee.

Not sure now, being Diabetic if Soya milk is good for you.

Xx
 

mpe

Well-Known Member
Messages
300
EllisB said:
I saw someone mention lactose free milk (lactofree) on page 1. It may be lactose free, but is certainly is not carb-free. The dairy add lactase while they are processing the milk. That breaks the lactose down into galactose and glucose. Like fructose, galactose must be processed by our liver before it can be used. So lactofree is essentially the same GI as the normal equivalent.

Actually it would raise the GI quite considerably. Effectivly the lactose has been digested before drinking. (Similar to comparing sucrose with HFCS).
The product is really intended for people who don't produce lactase in their intestines.
The way the liver typically "processes" excess sugars is to turn them into, saturated, fats. This effectivly means that dietary galactose (or fructose) is unlikely to wind up in the general blood circulation.

They do claim that the filtering they do removes some lactose - since it is essentially the same filtering as Cravendale (also from Arla) that would probably be better.

How is such filtering going to remove anything disolved in water? Any filter fine enough to remove lactose would also remove all fat and protein. Fine enough to remove glucose and galactose too would remove all organics except lactic acid.
Such nonsense is not unknown from the food industry!
 

mpe

Well-Known Member
Messages
300
bmorgen said:
A couple of things: not all sugars are the same. The main villain is glucose. Regular sugar (sucrose) contains a lot of readily available glucose so should be restricted.

If you go by glucose content then the order would be amylopectin/amylose, maltodextrins, maltose, glucose, sucrose/lactose & galactan/galactose/fructose.

An amylopectin/amylose mixure is also called amylum or starch. Even having its own (large) catagory on the "eatwell plate...
Maltodextrins form the "filler" portion of some granulated stevia based sweetners.

But some sugars like fructose (fruit sugar, agave syrup) are much slower to convert to glucose so they can be eaten without raising your BG.

Whilst it is theoretically possible for mammals to convert fructose into glucose it involves several steps. A more common process would be gluconeogenesis (GNG) which uses organic acids, amino acids or odd chain fatty acids as precursors.
Only if someone was only eating fructose and/or galactose would it be likely that there would be any such "conversion" going on. With glucose (which is the most common sugar anyway) present in the diet the liver will typically convert any fructose or galactose to fats.

Lactose is not a "free" sugar.
It's a hetero-di-saccharide, just like sucrose.

But lactose free milks often have the lactose replaced with glucose so read the label carefully before assuming anything. Same with almond/oat/soy milks - they often have added sugars to make them palatable.

It's considerably easier (and cheaper) to add lactase to hydrolise the lactose to glucose and galactose than to remove lactose form milk.
In terms of the "milk" made from seeds more likely that α-amylase & alucoamylase would be added. (Possibly even some β-amylase. Which will most likely already be present in oats.) There's plenty of amylopectin and amylose present to hydrolise to glucose. This means that the label can quite honestly claim "no added sugar".

The best way to know what works for you is to try it and test. Get a meter and check your BG 30 minutes after drinking a glass of milk. Did you spike? Also, keep in mind that absorption of sugar depends on what else you are eating (what's in you stomach with the sugar). A high fat meal will slow down the sugar absorption. That's why ice cream can be fine but sorbet often causes a spike.

Even semi-skimmed milk can have enough fat in to reduce the GI. Probably best to avoid "lacto-free" skimmed milk though.
 

claymic

Well-Known Member
Messages
503
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
If someone is lactose intolerant then lactose free milk is a good alternative. I used to enjoy milk but now i cannot. Although i mostly use almond milk in my coffee it is not as good to drink it on its own or to use in cooking

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 

elaine77

Well-Known Member
Messages
561
When I was diagnosed I switched to full fat milk and it doesn't really effect my BS very much at all...


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 

wiflib

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,966
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
fortion said:
Milk is good during diabities....carb helps in producing insoline...its a good diet in diabities..

Well Mr student/researcher, I suggest you do a bit more research before posting twaddle such as this.

wiflib
 

Scarlet10

Well-Known Member
Messages
134
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I only have milk before bed when my sugar Is quite low, other wise I avoid milk as much as I can as it really impacts my sugar.



A Simple hi can make you smile :)
 

happy girl 1949

Well-Known Member
Messages
96
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Nothing
I also think that milk affects me,so I am now trying the red top one other then that I suppose I will have to go without.?



Sent from the Diabetes Forum App