• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Advice Please

wiseowl_123

wiseowl_123

Well-Known Member
Messages
896
Location
North Kent
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Bullies & Cauliflower cheese
Good afternoon just got a phone call from the diabetic nurse that I have my first (3 months)fasting blood test on the 5th January and then get results when I attend my first course ,two hours every Friday starting on the 13th January for three weeks.

Informed the nurse that I was on a low carb diet to which she replied don't do that you need your carbs for energy,now I have only been diagnosed for two months and have followed to the letter all the advice and help I have received on this wonderful forum,now I am totally confused by the NHS nureses advice.thank you for listening my friends
 
wiseowl_123 said:
Informed the nurse that I was on a low carb diet to which she replied don't do that you need your carbs for energy
Click to expand...
…. so that sticky bun my husband ate nearly four years ago must still be keeping him going - amazing!
Sally

ps. Seriously, we found that going low carb greatly increased our energy.
 
wiseowl_123 said:
Good afternoon just got a phone call from the diabetic nurse that I have my first (3 months)fasting blood test on the 5th January and then get results when I attend my first course ,two hours every Friday starting on the 13th January for three weeks.

Informed the nurse that I was on a low carb diet to which she replied don't do that you need your carbs for energy,now I have only been diagnosed for two months and have followed to the letter all the advice and help I have received on this wonderful forum,now I am totally confused by the NHS nureses advice.thank you for listening my friends
Click to expand...
HCPs are the ones to ignore. Follow the advice here. When told to stuff myself with carbs, I usually explain the being diabetic means I am carbohydrate intolerant. That usually shuts them up.
 
Low carb all the way.. if you have been reading here for a while you are probably far better informed than the nurse anyway and will be more up to date with current thinking. I'm afraid I have found HCP's woefully lacking where Type 2 is concerned in my experience.
 
wiseowl_123 said:
Informed the nurse that I was on a low carb diet to which she replied don't do that you need your carbs for energy,now I have only been diagnosed for two months and have followed to the letter all the advice and help I have received on this wonderful forum,now I am totally confused by the NHS nureses advice.thank you for listening my friends
Click to expand...

Please don't be confused, although she is right that carbs seem to be people's main source of energy, it's not the only source. She is following NICE guidelines. Your meter will tell you what's best and your HbA1c will confirm that you're doing the right thing by cutting carbs.

I can only provide my own personal experience. I was on Metformin, Glicalzide and Januvia as well as a statin and was in the process of discussing going onto insulin.

I cut carbs by cutting out bread/rice/potato/pasta and within 3 weeks I was just taking Metformin because BG was dropping so low.

That was nearly four years ago and I feel better now than I have done for years. No brainer for me. Even my GP puts well done in my notes when she reviews my annual HbA1c. Total cholesterol is still only 5.4, I'm just waiting for someone to say something. I just quote the BMJ straw poll where 60% of 500 GPs said they would not prescribe a statin for themselves or a family member.
 
Last edited:
you might end up educating the nurse at these courses then, or sadly find you're hitting your head against a brick wall - as said already she's only following NHS guidelines.

They'll tell you to eat good carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes & bread), low fats, meat and veg, avoid sugary foods - a balanced diet.

Your meter will tell you different.
 
at diagnosis 17.1 mmol/l after 3 weeks low carb 6.2 mmol/l and 10lb weight loss - pretty effective.
Eating healthy carbs this last week - up to 13.2 mmol/l - and no weightloss either.
No contest as far as I can work out.
 
I think you need some carbs, everyone does. I personally wouldn't cut out all potatoes, rice or pasta etc. I would just eat enough to keep me satisfied. I don't know about you but am going to embark on a "green" diet from the New Year and see if this lowers my weight and sugar levels faster
 
THEBOT74 said:
I think you need some carbs, everyone does. I personally wouldn't cut out all potatoes, rice or pasta etc. I would just eat enough to keep me satisfied. I don't know about you but am going to embark on a "green" diet from the New Year and see if this lowers my weight and sugar levels faster
Click to expand...
Sorry but you really don't need carbs. Fats and proteins yes - carbs no.
 
Everybody is different, but I cut out *all* rice, bread, potato, grain, pasta products, and 4 main things happened
1. My energy levels went way up
2. My blood glucose levels dropped well into the 'non-diabetic' range; I did my first actual HbA1c a few months after diagnosis, and it was 6.0- the doctor revised his diagnosis of type 2 and said 'pre-diabetes'
3. My BMI went from 31.6 (obese) to 24.2 (normal)
4. My triglyceride level dropped from being the highest the doctor had ever seen (that's what he told me himself), to a normal level, and my doctor said I could come off statins.

Now, I'm in my mid-thirties and was leading a very unhealthy lifestyle before diagnosis, so it's not *just* cutting out starch that did all this, but I can still safely say that going very low-carb was the best thing I have ever done for my health, and that I found a new, totally sustainable way of eating and enjoying my food
 
I guess I have been lucky in that no HCP has told me to eat (starchy) carbs. If they do the response will be "What have I done to you that you wish me harm?"
 
wiseowl_123 said:
she replied don't do that you need your carbs for energy,
Click to expand...

Only you will know whether that is true or not.

Since you cut back on Carbs do you feel lacking in energy, tired or anything else to back up the advice, or do you, like many others who follow a Low Carb diet find, you have more energy, less lethargy and feel much much better ??

Go by your own experience, not hearsay.
 
Back
Top