colin from spain

[ColinT]

Hi
Colin here
I was confirmed Diabetic August 2010 I assume type 2
And take half a tablet of metformin 850 mg twice a day
I average 6.5 to 8.5 mmol/L
I am nearly 70 and live in Spain but not good at talking Spanish so this gives me a bit of a problem
I check sugar myself about 3 times a month and get it checked by nurse at my doctors clinic
Also I control by trying to cut out foods containing carbs
Just reading Dr.Bernstein’s Diabetes solution and found one of my favourite foods Tomato is not good for me have to admit I normally consume about 4 a day and I pint of juice a day
Any advice would be good
cheers

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Hi Colin and welcome to the forum.

I do not agree with Dr B's diet for diabetics as it is so strict that very few people in opinion are able to stick to it in the long term and it is much too restrictive as in the case of tomatoes.

Fresh raw tomatoes have around 3 or 4g of carbs per 100g and an average tom might be 80 to 90g so one tomato is unlikely to contain more than 2 or 3g of carbs and is unlikely to move most peoples sugar levels too much at all.

Sun dried tomatoes though, like most dried fruits are much higher in carbs as is juiced fruit, the best way to see if tomato juice is OK for you is to test your blood sugar then drink your usual amount of tomato juice and then measure your blood sugar again after 2 hours, if your levels are more than 1 mmol/L higher after 2 hours then perhaps reduce the amount of juice and test again. Do this between meals so that your diet does not interfere with the results and it will show you if you are able to drink it or not and in what proportions. I dont personally like tomato juice but I wouldnt think the odd small glass would do you too much harm. But the only way to be sure is to test

I'm sure that Dr B's diet will work for anyone but who wants to live life that way, I mean only half a cup full of fresh salad per meal for goodness sake :roll: