Are Bananas bad for a type two diabetic?

[carol08]

Hi all I am new here, I have been type 2 for a few years now and so far only take one metformin twice a day, my husband on the other hand has been type 2 for much longer. He is disabled and struggles to keep his weight down he takes 2 metformin twice a day and a weekly trulicity 3mg injection recently he has been told he has protein in his blood and referred to a comunity diabetic hub, We are still waiting for the appointment as the first one clashed with us going on holiday. His blood sugars seem to have been really high just lately and I can not seem to make meals that keep them low, I read that bananas might not be the best fruit for us and we eat an awful lot of them in a week. I think we need a lot of help and this is just my first question of many I feel. Thank you in advance.

 

[Pipp]

Hello, and welcome, @carol08 .
Regarding bananas, and managing T2 diabetes…
Many of our members manage there T2 by following a Low Carb diet. There are different interpretations of what a low carb diet means. It can be as much as 130g of carbs a day, which seems to be NHS recommendation. Or lower , sometimes with keto diet which is lower than 50g of carbs a day.

A banana can have as much as 35 g of carbs. In fact most fruits are high cab foods. Berries less so.

A word of caution…. As you husband is on the trulicity injection, I believe this can cause blood glucose levels to fall too low. This could be a problem if he reduces carbs in his diet too quickly and by too much.

The best way to know what impacr a particular food has on blood glucose levels is to test before eating and two hours after to determine the effect.

I am sure you will find answers to any questions you have from our members who willingly share information based on their own experience. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it already, read the info for new members. There is a copy just below my signature in this post. Do ask questions. Oh, and perhaps get your husband to join too. He would be very welcome.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi all I am new here, I have been type 2 for a few years now and so far only take one metformin twice a day, my husband on the other hand has been type 2 for much longer. He is disabled and struggles to keep his weight down he takes 2 metformin twice a day and a weekly trulicity 3mg injection recently he has been told he has protein in his blood and referred to a comunity diabetic hub, We are still waiting for the appointment as the first one clashed with us going on holiday. His blood sugars seem to have been really high just lately and I can not seem to make meals that keep them low, I read that bananas might not be the best fruit for us and we eat an awful lot of them in a week. I think we need a lot of help and this is just my first question of many I feel. Thank you in advance.

Good morning Carol,

Different strokes for different folks, but generally speaking, yeah... Banana's aren't usually a T2 diabetic's friend. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might shed some light on things, when it comes to low carbing and diabetes. But @Pipp is quite right: do be careful when there's medication involved that can cause hypo's when combined with a lower carb diet, and test, test, test!

Keep asking questions, it's the best way to learn!
Jo

 

[carol08]

Hello, and welcome, @carol08 .
Regarding bananas, and managing T2 diabetes…
Many of our members manage there T2 by following a Low Carb diet. There are different interpretations of what a low carb diet means. It can be as much as 130g of carbs a day, which seems to be NHS recommendation. Or lower , sometimes with keto diet which is lower than 50g of carbs a day.

A banana can have as much as 35 g of carbs. In fact most fruits are high cab foods. Berries less so.

A word of caution…. As you husband is on the trulicity injection, I believe this can cause blood glucose levels to fall too low. This could be a problem if he reduces carbs in his diet too quickly and by too much.

The best way to know what impacr a particular food has on blood glucose levels is to test before eating and two hours after to determine the effect.

I am sure you will find answers to any questions you have from our members who willingly share information based on their own experience. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it already, read the info for new members. There is a copy just below my signature in this post. Do ask questions. Oh, and perhaps get your husband to join too. He would be very welcome.

Thank you for this information @Pipp I like to think I keep portions small but am coming to realise its the extras that have creapt into our diet which do not help, I need to look further into this whole low carbs diet and drop the bananas for now. My next task is trying tactfully to suggest (you never TELL my husband anything) that Trebor extra strong mints are not a good idea now, he gets through 3 sticks of them a week

 

[Resurgam]

Thank you for this information @Pipp I like to think I keep portions small but am coming to realise its the extras that have creapt into our diet which do not help, I need to look further into this whole low carbs diet and drop the bananas for now. My next task is trying tactfully to suggest (you never TELL my husband anything) that Trebor extra strong mints are not a good idea now, he gets through 3 sticks of them a week

It reads as though you never got any information on just what the problem is - for an ordinary type 2 diabetic with no other problems, reducing the intake of carbs reduces blood sugars - it is like having a blocked sink overflowing and flooding the bathroom - you turn off the taps and the problem is no longer even half as bad.
Bananas and much tropical fruit is in the high carb category. I can manage berries once in a while.
Maybe do an assessment of the amounts of carbs consumed and the consequence at the two hour point after starting to eat.
I found that once I was seeing 8mmol/l or under everything started to get better - my after meal numbers continued to drop even though I was sticking to the same meals, same foods same amounts, so I deduced that my metabolism was recovering.
Making a tally of the carbs per day might sho.
The Trebor mints are pure carbohydrate - so around 40 gm of carbs per roll - say 17 gm of carbs per day - that is more than I have for breakfast!!

 

[MrsA2]

Trebor extra strong mints are not a good idea now, he gets through 3 sticks of them a week

Sugar free mints are available, but as they use sweeteners they can have laxative effects. Maybe he can transition to just 2 or 3 a day?

3 Packs a week could be a sign he has a mild addiction to the sugar, and it won't be doing his teeth any favours

 

[carol08]

Thank you all for the great advice, I realise we are in trouble and our diligence to looking after the carbs in our diet has gone, we have become complacent and I think he is just beginning to realise this. It is even scarier when I realise I made a mistake and he does in fact get through 3 packs of 4 sticks of trebor mints a week. At one time he used to eat three sweets at a time.
He has been diabetic for about 10 years or so now and the medication has increased over that time. It is hard for him to accept that there are things we love that he can not have any more.
The sugar will not affect his teeth as he does not a single one, they all came out a couple of years ago due to two cysts in his jaw that needed to have teeth removed to access and gradually the others loosened and were removed.
But after talking to you all I am feeling much more positive and much stronger that we can lower his sugars and keep mine low.
Thank you all so much.

 

[MrsA2]

You may both find that buying and using a bg monitor will show you how your bodies react to certain foods, and they may well be different reactions!
I certainly found it remarkably easy to say No to cake when I saw how high it sent my bg!
One can be as cheap as £10 and its up to you how many strips you use. If you share a monitor do remember to change the lancet (needle) each time.
@Rachox has some info for you

 

[Rachox]

Thanks for the tag @MrsA2
Hi @carol08 , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



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)



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott



Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom one + here

The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom

 

[carol08]

Thanks for the tag @MrsA2
Hi @carol08 , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



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)



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott



Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom one + here

The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom

Many thanks for these links @Rachox we laready have the SD codefree meter and have just bought some more strips from amazon, he likes this one and has just decided to buy a new monitor yesterday but wants the same one again so your links were most timely

 

[carol08]

All ordered and coming from homehealth as opposed to amazon as they came out cheaper on the monitor I dont think there is much difference on the strips and lancets.

 

[jjraak]

For anyone struggling like I was at DX.

I found the diet doctor visual guides very helpful.

Visual low carb guides - Diet Doctor

Visual low carb guides Which vegetables are best on a low carb diet, can you have berries and which nuts have the fewest carbs? What should I choose to drink at a party? Check out our visual guides to low carb, which can help you make better choices!

www.dietdoctor.com

 

[jjraak]

All ordered and coming from homehealth as opposed to amazon as they came out cheaper on the monitor I dont think there is much difference on the strips and lancets.

I used to use the code free

Managed to drop & break it.

Same company offers the glucose navai.
Which got good reviews .
(Home health, good customer service too )

Been using the navai for a few years.

Less error codes on strips as it needs a smaller blood sample.

So a little more useful overall

 

[Zilsniggy]

Thank you for this information @Pipp I like to think I keep portions small but am coming to realise its the extras that have creapt into our diet which do not help, I need to look further into this whole low carbs diet and drop the bananas for now. My next task is trying tactfully to suggest (you never TELL my husband anything) that Trebor extra strong mints are not a good idea now, he gets through 3 sticks of them a week

Unfortunately the Trebor mints won’t be helping. If you check the ingredients, the first 3 are sugar, glucose syrup and starch, none of which are our friends. Might be an idea to try to lower the consumption a bit somehow. They do a mini sugar free version, if that might help, although eating too many might have some unpleasant side effects……https://groceries.morrisons.com/pro...minis-sugar-free-peppermint-flavour/112412229.