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Breakfast or no breakfast

E

EmilyMay11

Active Member
Messages
39
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Latest HBA1C came back as 62, what a nasty shock. Not surprised considering I’ve been eating bad and at irregular times but still a shock. From Monday I’m going to start eating better and at regular times, also going to cut carbs down to under 40g carbs a day.

My biggest decision currently is to have breakfast or to fast until lunch time. Been doing plenty of research and I can find equal amounts of information on pros and cons for both. One article says fasting improves your HBA1C another article says eating breakfast improves your HBA1C. Both sides are 50:50 id say.

I’m thinking of having a smoothie (as breakfast is difficult due to starting work at 8 and eating too early makes me feel sick) no high amounts of blended fruit: unsweetened coconut milk, avocado, protein powder and a small (50g) portion of berries, whole smoothie would be below 10g of carbs.

So the big question is to have a smoothie for breakfast or to fast until lunch and save my carbs for something else?

What’s everyone else doing? Thanks!
 
Hi @EmilyMay11 .
I don’t like to eat early either. I tend to have full fat greek yogurt with berries and a few walnuts most days. Mid to late morning, but sometimes miss breakfast. Though if I do eat late breakfast that is also my lunch.

I think the best advice I can offer for your situation would be to test your blood glucose before and about 2 hours after having your smoothie, to see what effect that has.
I would also test through the morning if I chose to fast, as sometimes my blood glucose levels continue to rise until I eat something.
 
No one else has your body. So set up a testing routine and see which option suits your body best.
And even if having a breakfast raises bg a little, if it means you don't snack(or have a smaller lunch) it all evens out over the day.

I'm 4 years in to this now and find I eat when my body tells me to, so some days I breakast, others I don't..

And "break fast" doesn't have to be early, its simply the first food of the day so if it suits you and your body to have say egg bites at 11 then skip or delay luunch so be it. It's whatever works best for your body dn your life that you can stick to.
 
I hardly ever eat anything in the morning. Plenty of coffee but no food. On the few occasions I do have breakfast, I probably won't eat again for more than 24 hrs.

Of course it depends on what the "breakfast " is. Bacon and eggs are zero carb, Weetabix definitely isn't. Really you need to forget what the clickbait articles claim and find out what works for you. No good deciding not to eat if you can't stick it. And you also need to think in terms of what you're going to eat the rest of the day and what your overall daily carb intake might look like. And whatever you do, I'd advise keeping a written record - food, test results, illness, stress, that sort of thing.
 
What everyone else is doing isn't really of any consequence to you, because like @MrsA2 said... No-one has your body. That's just you, so you'll have to check what works! Do test around the smoothy, as liquids get absorbed faster, so the berries might hit the system harder than when you'd just have them whole, but other than that.... Different strokes, for different folks. For some, the liver keeps on dumping glucose like mad in the morning until they've eaten something (from a proper breakfast to just a cube of cheese), others are perfectly fine not eating, don't get hungry or weak either... There's really no wrong way to do this if you test and see what works best for you. Technically speaking a slightly prolonged fast, or IF if you will, should keep you lower for longer, and should get your HbA1c down. But for some people that's just not doable, because they have to have meds with food in the morning, or just can't keep up the pace without some grub. So whatever rolls out of those finger pricks.... The main thing is that you find something that lowers blood glucose, fits with your lifestyle and needs, and doesn't serve anything but you, not clickbait. Also.... You don't have to stick with a decision for all time. I know the kind of day I have ahead of me, and I know I might not have lunch today and tomorrow, while walking a fair bit in hilly terrain with camera gear and a bad back, plus the added stress of being amidst a LOT of people both days... So... I'm going to have some breakfast in a minute, which I usually skip on weekdays! Be flexible when you need to be, eh.

Good luck!
Jo
 
never used to eat breakfast until I found out I had Diabetes now always eat it
 
I agree with previous posters, and just to add - if whatever you try doesn't suit, you don't have to keep going with that decision - try an alternative. And what suits one day may not suit the next - so do what suits on that day. Listen to your body - the more we listen, the more it talks to us.
 
Hey Emily! Personally, I try to avoid eating breakfast, specifically larger breakfasts in the morning mainly as I feel it prevents me from feeling lethargic and ready to be productive early. However, if I do eat breakfast which there is nothing wrong with I try to eat one that is high in proteins as that best helps moderate my blood sugar. Some examples are eggs, bacon and avocado, or even going high in fiber like oatmeal with chia seeds. Hope this helps!
 
And like everyone says, we are all different. People go with what works best for them. I always eat breakfast. I usually have some berries or an avocado and a ‘Ensure‘ nutritional drink ( I have an high protein nutritional drink like Ensure as I cannot absorb nutrients properly). Once in a blue moon I’ll have bacon and eggs. I rarely eat red meat. So it is what best works for you.
 
One of the first things I learned after I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is that it's not a good idea to eat when not hungry. So, if you're feeling sick when eating breakfast, it may just work better for you to skip it or have it later. Can you take the smoothie with you, for example?
 
For a long time my breakfast has been coffee with double cream and butter.
This gives a boost of fats with very few carbs.
Not everyone can stomach such a rich drink first thing in the morning, though.
 
I always eat breakfast more when I'm on my 4 nights at work so I eat it and hour before bed, it's normally 35 carbs and I take 3 units of insulin.
My HBA1C is normally 60 61 or 62 which my team who treat me are quiet happy with, my sugars normally sit about 80 plus in the green so is 62 really that bad ?
 
Personally, Haven’t bothered with breakfast for approx 6 months. If you have a smoothy, don’t forget it will break your fast. The longer you don’t eat, the better for your body.
Again, I personally only eat once per day. On occasions twice. No carbs at at all. My blood sugars are between 5+7 constant. It’s carbs that spike us. They are totally un necessary for our health. Protein is best, and only needs very little insulin to maintain.
 
Always really interesting to read these kind of threads - everyone is so different.
For me, breakfast is most often a smallish bowl of full fat Greek Yoghurt with a teaspoon of thick double cream, topped with Chia seeds. But if I'm not hungry I'll go through to lunchtime, and bacon & eggs with smashed Avocado.

And good Coffee. I'll tell you: if the answer to reversing T2DM was to drop Coffee, I'd really be in trouble...
 
Me too! I gave it up for 2 months at the beginning, saw no difference, went straight back to it. Wonderful stuff.
 
One of the starting off points for the wider health question for me (long before being diagnosed) was a book called "why we sleep" by a Dr Matthew Walker. It was truly life changing and did affect the way I approach Coffee. But - the totality of that is that provided your last cup is before the start of the afternoon, it should have no effect on your sleep, and then everything I've learned since points to Coffee being a positive player in the health and metabolism space, so since I've really gotten into buying and making really great Coffee.

I have tried a couple of times to add a teaspoon of double cream, just to see what it's like; but I have to confess that even if I'm craving that double cream, I prefer to have that as a separate thing, and enjoy the coffee as it comes..
 
I fast through breakfast. A lot of literature you read promoting breakfast comes from interest groups who benefit from you eating breakfast. If I was to eat breakfast, I would stick to something that would not move the needle with your sugar, like eggs or a 1/2 avocado.
 
My last meal is at 5pm and I have a butter coffee for breakfast, whirred into a delicious frothy piece of heaven. I was eating a small portion of ground beef in the morning but I found I didn’t need or really want it. I don’t eat until noon and then again at five. A very short eating window for sure. I aim for zero carbs.
 
I rarely eat breakfast these days. If I do, I have some Alpro No Sugars Plain Yoghurt.
 
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