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At risk of diabetes?

H

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone, new to this forum, but need some advice please.
I have a brother and a sister who both have diabetes, also had two nieces with gestational diabetes. These are the ones that I know about, I think the other family members are OK. Dad died of heart attack at 54 years, mum had heart attacks and finally succumbed to a stroke. So I think its in the family

Me, I am no spring chicken, have a bmi of 20, do loads of physical work, grow all our own veg and meat etc. etc so food is always fresh, home grown and healthy. Don't eat much dairy. But, cholesterol is about 8,5, I drink loads of fluid - mainly water, but tea also - no sugar - about 6-8 pints a day. Sometimes get blurred vision, often feel light headed and woosie, sometimes utterly exhausted after eating normal meal (usually feel OK if I don't eat much, but OH naggs that I don't eat enough). Blood fasting sugar levels are normal. Haven't had the opportunity to take tests after food though. Hb1ac is 6.2, only had the two tests and its been 6.2 for a year now. Also have an underactive thyroid, on medication for that, loads of antibodies that are probably causing the problem but its not Hashimoto (? think thats how you spell it).

Anyway, the long and short of it is, I don't want to develop diabetes. The doctor says that my sugar levels are fine, but my brother (with long term diabetes) reckons that it is developing. Any suggestions? Already cut out sugar, don't eat cakes, biscuits etc (but didn't before anyway), eating smaller portions etc. etc.
 
Hi halfpint and welcome to the forum :)
Basically, you need to cut down on all carbohydrates, not just the obvious ones. Here is some information which we give to new members which should help you to understand better. Ask all the questions you like and someone will be able to reply.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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 blood glucose 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.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
Thanks Daisy.

I've read loads of stuff relating to diabetes, but still not really sure where I can make improvements!

I can cut down my carbs a bit more, but how low should I go? What should be my daily carb count? I must have a look on the internet to see if I can find a good carb calculator, so that I can just weigh a slice of bread and find the carb content etc. I tend to bake my own bread so there is no chart on the back telling me the carbs per 100g etc.

What can you 'fill up' on? What can you eat? Normally have a slice of toast and marmite for breakfast, but if the toast is out what do I substitute it with - don't do breakfast cereals - too expensive and too much salt and sugar etc, A boiled egg would be fine except I would need a slice of toast to 'hold it down', might sound daft but can't eat egg on its own and anyway, usually save our free range eggs for main course protein during the week.

I remember I read somewhere that if you eat your diabetes will kill you, if you don't eat you will die of starvation - a bit extreme but I suppose an element of truth ! ! !
 
Hi again. Done loads more reading. Found it very interesting the relationship between carbs and cholesterol though - they (the doctors) don't tell you that one do they?

Roughly worked out what my normal carb intake was. After my first Hb1ac reading I gave up sugar (was consuming about 8 cups of tea a day - with one sugar each time - not good). So it was probably about the 150g level possibly a bit more with the odd treat. Without the sugar and very few odd treats, I expect it was between 90-120g. The last two days I have cut down to 70 isn, not too difficult as its salad time. I will see if I can hold it at this level for a while, although I expect it will be more difficult during the winter when its cold. Felt better generally yesterday, although that could be psychological and just a response to actually doing something, we shall see.
 
Hi Halfpint, welcome to the forum. On the subject of breakfasts, many of us have yoghurt and berries. For preference it is full fat yoghurt which is lower in carbs, I normally choose Greek Yoghurt. Berries such as raspberries and strawberries have the least effect on BG. To keep me full I like to sploosh on some double cream, its really yummy. Otherwise bacon goes well with eggs for brekkie or a cheese omelette. I tend to completely avoid bread.

Good luck, keep researching, ask any questions you have!
 
I dont eat bread or cereals, I have pâté wrapped in lettuce leaves with a bit of mayo for breakfast, or a Finn Crisp with real butter and cheese, both with a few macadamia nuts, if I am still hungry maybe a hard boiled egg or a peperami.
 
Fraddycat said:
Wow Biohazard, you have halved your HBA1C in 3 months!! Impressive!!
Click to expand...

Thanks, :D, I was very strict with myself as I did not want any problems. I stuck to 30g cabs or under for 1 month solid, then again for the next 2 months after, but I did sway a few times, holiday had ice cream, chips etc, but got straight back on it. It's tough but worth while, I hope I can maintain this for next results....
 
Thats very impressive Biohazard - you give me hope.

I had a look at my OH greek Yog, with fruit and the carbs were about 30g - eeek. Went shopping today and checked the plain yog. carb about 8, thats better. So going to try them some mornings. I love egg and bacon but bacon is very expensive and really not in our budget.
 
halfpint said:
Thats very impressive Biohazard - you give me hope.

I had a look at my OH greek Yog, with fruit and the carbs were about 30g - eeek. Went shopping today and checked the plain yog. carb about 8, thats better. So going to try them some mornings. I love egg and bacon but bacon is very expensive and really not in our budget.
Click to expand...

Thanks, if I can do it there's hope for all, I had the sweetest tooth ever, I would have rather skipped meals and go for desserts.

Do you have a Costco membership? Or one reasonably close. Worthwhile getting one. I get my meat in there in bulk then separate it in portions and freeze it. It costs a little to get, but then lasts ages so works out cheaper in the long run.
 
I am in France ! ! We are virtually self-sufficient in veg and meat - chickens and ducks, sometimes buy half a lamb from a local farm (amazingly delicious). Today we had, aubergines, courgette, onion, garlic, toms, pepper with an omlette and chorizo - the only thing bought was the chorizo (hot). Normally we have loads of fruit but the apples, pears, peaches, plums, berries etc. all got caught by the frost, and I also decided to dig out the old summer raspberries and replace with Glen Ample so I will have to wait, probably another whole year before they are back in production. So normally we have a really good supply of good quality food, its just go pick, cook and eat. We normally only have meat about 3 times a week, the rest of the time its veggies. Luckily, I do not have a really sweet tooth, given the choice between something sweet - pavlova, or cake or etc. etc. and some fresh fruit - I would go for the fruit every time. Unfortunately it seems that some of those might have to be a bit limited too. :(
 
It's nice to able to be self sufficient, we have a reasonable size veggie patch in our garden, so we grow most of our own veggies and some fruits. Just been wild blackberry picking in the fields near our house and made a lovely crumble tonight, little crumble with double cream and some sweetener, it was better than anything purchased.
 
Have you tried raspberry crumble - its my OH's favourite. He steals all the raspberries given half a chance - that is if I don't eat them first :lol:
 
I love all crumbles, sadly only a smudge of crumble on top these days, other than that all low carb.
 
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