Thank you for adding me to this Forum. I am not a new diabetic, controlled since 2016 with diet and exercise. A bit concerned as daily BG readings seem to be rising, my diet may be the issue. Just wanted a way to communicate with others, check myself.
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- Thread starter Woonie
- Start Date
Margarettt
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 367
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi @Woonie Welcome aboard.
Hello and welcome to the forum Woonie. This is a great place to learn and ask questions. There are many people who have been in your position, who have been able to lower their blood sugars and some have even pushed their diabetes into remission after being on a very low carb diet. I will let members who are knowledgeable on diet who can advise. I will tag a couple of members for you @JoKalsbeek and @KennyA
Dont be afraid to ask questions and check out the many forums.
Dont be afraid to ask questions and check out the many forums.
- Messages
- 4,145
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi Woonie and welcome
When you say "daily readings are rising" - from what, to what?
Secondly, what's your testing pattern??
I have always found it most useful to test immediately before food and then two hours later. Random or one-off readings, even at the same time each day, tell you very little about what's happening the rest of the time, and particularly how your diet affects your BG.
The readings before and after food, on the other hand, allow to work out how well your system copes with the carb in the food. The first reading is your baseline, and the +2 hrs one tells you whether you can handle the carbs, or not. The idea is that the second reading should be within 2 mmol/l of the first, and not above 8.5. This isn't looking to see how high you go - it's testing how quickly you return to baseline. This shows you how well you digested the carb to glucose, and then cleared the glucose from blood into storage in muscle, liver, or as fat.
If (say) the first reading is 5.5 and the second 6.5, then that meal was currently OK for you. First 5.5, second 7.5 - borderline, so I'd be testing that again next time I had the meal. First 5.5, second 9.5 - I won't be eating that again. I kept a food and readings diary for three years and included anything else relevant that might affect BG like exercise, illness, stress, high ambient temperature.
The other thing over which we have very little control is our liver deciding to dump glucose into the bloodstream in an effort to be helpful, because it thinks we might need a bit of extra fuel. There's not a lot we can do about this directly: livers are slow learners and take a long time to be convinced we can survive on lower BG levels.
Thirdly, when you say your diet might be the issue - what is it about your diet that concerns you? many of us on this forum have had a lot of success with a low carb lifestyle - personally I aim for around 20g carb/day but it's definitely best to find the level that works for you rather than somebody else.
JoKalsbeek
Expert
- Messages
- 6,724
- Location
- The Netherlands
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi Woonie,
Like you've probably already gathered, we're a curious bunch. Give us as much to go on as possible. What your diet looks like now and what numbers you're seeing, whether there's any issues (like ARFID and such), and what meds you're on for other ailments, as sometimes those can drive bloods up some even when your diet's remained the same.
If there's anything in particular you need help with, just box us around the ears with as much information as you can part with... Then we can see whether there's anything helpful we can suggest.
In any case... You've come to the right place.
Jo, who's off to make dinner!
