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Breakfast Surprises using CGM

C

cantfindasuitablenamehere

Active Member
Messages
40
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello, I was diagnosed type 2 in July (result was 53) after a few years of rising HbA1c levels not highlighted by GP. Not medicated & so decided to "find my own way" seeking advice online etc.

Recently trying a CGM which shows I wake up with 5.9 reading, which fluctuates all day around 7. Breakfast spikes 12.2 for an hour or so after eating. This is water porridge with 30g high fibre oats, no sweetener. So I figure I have to eat something else. Avoiding anything with saturated fat as I was advised that caused it in the first place so I don't think I can have eggs or yoghurt. Other meals seem okay (lots of salad etc and no refined carbs at all), most of the time the measurement is under 10.

Short of eating plain faxseed, chia and water for breakfast, anything else allowed that won't spike blood sugar this way and doesn't have saturated fat in it? What do people have for breakfast?

My next blood test is end Oct would like to get the result down if I can by then.

Many thanks.
 
Baloney is the best way to describe the claims that fats cause type 2 diabetes. Dietary fats barely affect diabetes levels. Body fat is a different thing entirely. That same school of thought wants you to eat two thirds of your diet from starchy carbohydrates - all of which become glucose as they digest.

Eggs and greek or natural yogurt are the staple of many type 2 in here that have reached remission. Breakfast is merely breaking your fast. You don’t have to eat “breakfast” foods. It could be last nights left overs. In fact you don’t have to eat at all. As you’ve found grains, ie most modern breakfasts, are not the friend of a type 2.
 
Hi @cantfindasuitablenamehere (great name btw!) and welcome to the forum.
As @HSSS has already said fat is not responsable for your diabetes. If you want to continue to have a porridge type meal for breakfast, may be give this a try:

Keto Coconut Porridge - Dairy-Free Breakfast Recipe - Diet Doctor

Is it a hot cereal kind of morning? For satisfying, warm-in-the-belly comfort food, check out this <a href="https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto">keto</a> delight. Pure happiness in a bowl, in just 10 minutes!
www.dietdoctor.com

I eat it every day with some strawberries.
 
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cantfindasuitablenamehere said:
Avoiding anything with saturated fat as I was advised that caused it in the first place so I don't think I can have eggs or yoghurt.
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The saturated fat argument has been completely debunked but not yet accepted by the medical profession due to many vested interests.
The same medical profession that never warned you about your rising A1c.
Porridge is carb heavy, the very thing you need to avoid.
Try eggs , bacon, mushrooms, lower carb sauages then tell me what your CGM says.

Another note, you've been picked up on one of the lowest rungs of the diagnostic ladder.
Use this to your advantage as school up on low carb, lose a bit of weight & add in walking or whatever exercise you enjoy.
You might be back in the normal range in no time, good luck.
 
I would challenge you to eat a half pound block of butter, and see what your CGM tells you. Then decide if whoever told you fat caused diabetes, is an idiot, or has some other axe to grind.
 
ajbod said:
I would challenge you to eat a half pound block of butter, and see what your CGM tells you. Then decide if whoever told you fat caused diabetes, is an idiot, or has some other axe to grind.
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Thank you. I think they were suggesting that high saturated fat caused the Type 2 condition, not that it had any effect on blood sugar levels.

I was recommended (at diagnosis) to go for a low carb diet (under 125g per day) but also to reduce saturated fat. Unfortunately, a lot of the diet advice is conflicting and doesn’t seem to take fibre into account, which I need to keep above 30g per day whatever else I do.

The CGM is helping me understand what spikes (so far porridge and drinks containing milk).
 
Excuse my curiosity, but what are 'Type 2 conditions' if not higher Blood Glucose levels? Given that here in the UK Typ2 2 diabetes is diagnosed by HBA1c (i.e. glycated red blood cell) tests?
 
ianf0ster said:
Excuse my curiosity, but what are 'Type 2 conditions' if not higher Blood Glucose levels? Given that here in the UK Typ2 2 diabetes is diagnosed by HBA1c (i.e. glycated red blood cell) tests?
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Thank you. I should start by saying this was advice I was given at diagnosis, I aren’t defending it.

I do follow the logic, though, even if it’s in error. If I set fire to my tent I will soon be cold due to the draught. That doesn’t mean that fire makes things cold! Do you follow?
 
cantfindasuitablenamehere said:
fibre into account, which I need to keep above 30g per day whatever else I do.
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A frequent breakfast for me is either chia or flaxseed (linseeds) in yoghurt, a creamy one that has between 7 and 10% fat. By mixing it together the night before and adding just 6 berries, it thickens to a porridge like consistency. It's easy to increase the amounts of seeds if you need them for fibre.. just don't go too far as they can be laxative. I’ve settled on one heaped tablespoon per serving.
 
I’ll try it soon. Thank you!
 
Hello have you tried the NHS low carb program. It has loads of meal suggestions. Take a look at the lowcarbprogram website. Do you exercise. Walking after every meal too might help. All the best.
 
Honestly I was diagnosed type-2 just after covid restrictions were dropped and my surgery seemed they would see me again.. mainly to monitor my weight and blood pressure. My HBA1C was 48 just over their borderline but before that they just said I was pre diabetic with no guidance or figures. Other than to lose weight and eat healthily - and to try and resume my gym visits that were difficult during and after covid.
Unfortunately mainstream medical advice as others said then was a huge focus on low fat calorie deficit and carbs.
I had always felt carbs to be my enemy in weight loss. Now I have had to go private to get anyone to really discuss my peripheral neuropathy and my first appointment for consult is this month..
Glad to have joined the low carbohydrate program and ignoring the surgery advice and my HBA1C is on its way down via 44 toward pre diabetic measure (but seeing as I have painful peripheral neuropathy it’s all a bit late).
I’m now low carb intermittent fasting and ignoring the low fat advice. And I’m regularly testing blood sugars against diabetic nurse advice - if you don’t measure how do you know how you are doing?
Have decided to use trials of Continuous monitors to get a good picture of what foods and exercises etc. do what. And will in all likelihood self fund CGM.
What I’m saying here in a long post is - I blame surgery for mis advice or no advice - my BP is now down tremendously and normal ranges (they will not review my drugs - which wasn’t apparently getting it down) I’m losing the weight gradually and my blood readings show that I’m keeping sugar levels down to about 5-7 which is about a teaspoon floating about.
I’m also not craving foods and I’ve dropped all breads cereals rice pasta despite that being what medics advise…
As they say don’t take advice when it originates from food industry and the 80’s America.
Yes Calories do count as does exercise but largely to get sugar levels down and get some body stored fat and sugars burned..
It’s not the fat you eat but fat stored in body.
Body Fat gets used when there is no glucose to burn first.
Bloods are routinely higher on waking - so I’ve taken to intermittent fasting which that encompasses breakfast..
Honestly keep reading keep measuring keep caring about yourself because doctors don’t really seem motivated and these days.
The body is far more complicated than the ‘personal trainers and diet experts/companies’ state and many are doing their best.. but suspect the rise in insulin resistance or carb intolerance is growing despite their best advice.
For me the question is how did I get neuropathy so soon after the 48 reading which implies the signs must have been there before but not advised to start thinking like a diabetic during the pre diabetes years..
I miss porridge but now I’m looking at everything with a Keto or low carb eye.. and I say it’s not fats but carbs/sugars - and lack of exercise is the enemy.. don’t get into viscious circle where painful feet and weak legs mean exercise is harder.
 
I eat eggs, bacon, cheese, double cream but not so much carbs, I keep to less than 30g per day…my HA1C came down from 56 to 39 in 4 months and hopefully this next one will be less, all other tests are within parameters.
cut the carbs they are potentially killing you.
 
Well done. You’ve already reached normal (not even prediabetic) levels. Sounds like you’ve found what helps. Keep up the good work.
 
it’s the carbs / sugars in food that raise blood sugars and fats that raise cholesterol - I think I’m not a doctor! However I’ve managed to get my Type 2 under control by trying to stick to around 80g carbs / 30g sugar / 30g fats / 10g saturated fats / 900 - 1200 calories a day. It’s been hard but I find using the Nutracheck app for working out how many carbs / sugars / fats / calories in what I’m eating / drinking is brilliant. I was under threat of insulin injections if I didn’t get my blood sugars under control with tablets / diet - which I didn’t want. Also I have to loose weight as I need a knee replacement and the NHS won’t do it until my BMI is under 40. So doing the two together without being able to exercise is a nightmare. Breakfast for me 1 strawberry / 4 grapes / 40g banana/ 4 raspberries/ 125g Alpro no sugar coconut yoghurt or overnight oats in fridge - 20g rolled oats / 125g Alpro no sugar coconut yoghurt / bit of water (add more in the morning if too thick) 1 teaspoon chia seeds / add a bit of fruit in morning - cover and leave in fridge overnight - delicious. Also no sugar almond milk for coffee is far less calories / less sugars / less fats than semi skimmed milk. You will be surprised in what food / drink contains. The app opened my eyes . Also Optifast bars / shakes are good 200 calories and 20g carbs each. If I need breakfast on the go I grab an Optifast bar and make a coffee to go or take a bottle of water. A word on fats - some are good and some are bad. I go over my limit on fats occasionally when I have avocado / prawns for lunch as the app doesn’t distinguish between good / bad fats. However over a week the average normally works out ok.
 
Olujide said:
Hello have you tried the NHS low carb program. It has loads of meal suggestions. Take a look at the lowcarbprogram website. Do you exercise. Walking after every meal too might help. All the best.
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I'll look it up, thank you.

I always walk at least 10,000 steps per day, usually quite a bit more. I have to be careful after meals as it sends my BG up even more while I'm moving. I've completely cut out beer, wine, potatoes, bread, rice, pasta etc. And now oats of course. I'll see how it goes. What's alarming is how much very small amounts of carbs spike like 6+mmol and stay up there for several hours.
 
Eating carbs will raise your blood glucose levels, that's to be expected and not in question. The question is how long they stay elevated. High blood glucose is a symptom and consequence of the real issue for most T2s - insulin resistance. Insulin resistance often seems to be a response to a relatively high carb (not fat) intake for prolonged periods of time. What's classed as "high" may well be different for each of us.

Excess glucose is stored as bodyfat - which is where your "fat causes T2" advice is coming from, I think. Visceral bodyfat stored round organs can inhibit both the pancreas and the liver from working correctly. But the bodyfat is a result of eating starches and sugars, not eating fat. For me, it was the case that weight gain followed, rather than preceded, the rise in BG, and accelerated as my BGs rose. Lowering my BG has been followed by weight loss.

However quite a lot of things will affect glucose levels - illness, stress, exercise, etc, and this is mainly because your liver will add glucose from stores when it thinks you need additional fuel. Sometimes livers get things wrong, particularly when they've been used to us running with much higher BG levels. They do learn eventually, but they're not the quickest.

You need to be able to differentiate normal blood glucose variation (such as non-diabetics experience) from variation that's problematic. You should expect your blood glucose to vary depending on circumstances, just as your heart rate does. It might be worth, to get a comparison, googling a few images of non-diabetics use of CGMs.
 
As Dr Unwin says For many people with Tyoe 2 diabetes, eating starchy carbs and sugar moderately is to be moderately poisoned…
 
As others have said, saturated fat isn’t the problem here.

I have a home made granola with berries or kiwi fruit and Greek yogurt most days. This, with other changes, has got my hba1c down from 77 last Nov to 35 now.
 
Lindsaypmilner said:
As others have said, saturated fat isn’t the problem here.

I have a home made granola with berries or kiwi fruit and Greek yogurt most days. This, with other changes, has got my hba1c down from 77 last Nov to 35 now.
Click to expand...
Let me know if you want the granola recipe
 
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