What can I eat?
- Thread starter nleighton49
- Start Date
daisy1
Legend
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- 26,457
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Tablets (oral)
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@nleighton49
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and this will give you a lot of information on diet to help you decide what to eat. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and this will give you a lot of information on diet to help you decide what to eat. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Nuthead
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 986
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Welcome. A little information about you would help such as medication, age, weight, blah blah......Despite what the health care professionals will tell you... TEST your blood glucose. It's the only way to know how different foods affect you. Many here are eating a low carbohydrate high fat diet. All carbohydrates turn to glucose so potatoes bread pasta and cereal need to be watched.
Phlogiston
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 163
- Type of diabetes
- Gestational
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Diabetes, ofsted inspectors, uninvited phonecalls
Hi nleighton. Welcome to the forum. Diabetes is a long term thing. You will get lots of ideas by reading the posts.
What you can eat, will to some extent, depend on your biochemistry.
Many T2s on this forum limit their carbs - only small amounts of potato, rice, bread, pasta etc.
Green leafy veg are good, as are meat fish and cheese.
Root vegetables and fruit are rich in nutrients but come with a higher carb load and some people find them difficult to metabolise.
I have drawn a mental line and said to myself no sweets, cakes, biscuits and the like. I try to avoid food with added sugar.
When with others, I eat normal food, but try to restrict the carbs and replace them with veg.
If you're in the UK, it's likely that you've been sent off to try to make sense of diabetes without much advice. The nhs does not think T2s should test their blood, and will not issue meters. Many of us have taken advantage of the offers through this website so we can test.
Many on this website consider that the nhs advice is not the best available - too many "healthy plates" with too many carbs. Diabetic nurses tend to focus on avoiding saturated fat more than restricting the carbs to what you can metabolise. Most of us take the view that there is no point in eating excess carbs that spike the blood glucose, as this is what causes the long term nasties (and caused some of us to be too heavy).
I was more than somewhat overweight when diagnosed. I found that a low carb diet had a wondrous effect on my waistline rendering several sets of trousering redundant. Loss of abdominal fat has possibly led to my liver responding better to insulin.
Hang in there - read. David Cavan's book is good.
best wishes
Adam
Daks
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 407
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi nleighton49, and welcome to the forum. A little more personal data would be good, your current typical diet and a little more information about your diabetes will allow us to closer look at how you're doing.
As for a diabetic diet the general consensus here at the forum tends to be a diet low in carbohydrate with fats for energy, everyone is a little different and some eat to their meters.
Personally I actively low carb and have excellent results.
Have a little nosey at this link:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
All the best.
JAY1JAY1
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 623
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Diabetes
Hi and welcome
As Daks said a little more info would be helpful , cut down on the carbs and make up with a bit more veg on your plate I say cut down and not out so far less spuds pasta rice on the plate you should be ok with cheese , meat and veg . I'm ok with bacon and eggs . Moderation is the key untill you find out what puts your blood glucose up
Keep well stay safe JJ
As Daks said a little more info would be helpful , cut down on the carbs and make up with a bit more veg on your plate I say cut down and not out so far less spuds pasta rice on the plate you should be ok with cheese , meat and veg . I'm ok with bacon and eggs . Moderation is the key untill you find out what puts your blood glucose up
Keep well stay safe JJ
Hi and welcome fro me too. Have a good look round the site and ask as many questions as you like. Lots of useful info and support from members.
