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confused about diet and carbs

T

Therese

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Hi,

Please excuse the long context before my questions...

First off, I should maybe mention that I do not have an official diagnosis yet, I have a blood test scheduled on the 19/07, I'm hoping it will put my mind at rest, but I'm not optimistic.

I went to the doctors because for the past few months, I had been feeling incredibly tired; then about 10 days ago - and the change was really clear cut, I can pinpoint the exact day it happened - I started feeling EXTREMELY weak when walking around, even inside, and EXTREMELY foggy headed, especially after a few hours without eating, but after eating too, just pretty much all the time. My stomach started to hurt, like I was hungry, but if that was hunger, I was feeling hungry 15 minutes after eating.

So being over 40 and...yes...overweight, I immediately thought of diabetes (my mum was diagnosed with type 2 at some point), and I was worried enough that I went to buy a blood sugar monitor. At the same time, over the past few days, I drastically cut down carbohydrates from my diet, and increased the protein content, because I'd noticed before that having protein in a meal makes me (or used to make me...) feel full for longer. I don't really plan on eating a hugely high in protein diet for the rest of my life if I can avoid it (I gather that creates its own health problems?), but I wanted to try and get rid of the hunger like stomach pain and the muscle weakness, so that I could try and exercise again (used to exercise regularly until a couple of months ago, and I actually really miss it, but at the moment, I can barely walk around, which is massively frustrating, I've always been very good at walking a fair bit of I did nothing else!) I'm not sure it's working, but I have been feeling a little less foggy headed.

So I've been taking blood glucose reading first thing on waking and through the day, and the morning ones worry me on two levels. First because they are consistently within the pre-diabetic range; secondly, they have so far consistently been going up: the first one I took was 5.9, then 5.8, then 6.6, then this morning was 6.9. That last one, the previous meal was 11 hours previously, and getting a result that close to 7 (which is the treshold, right?) after 11 hours of not eating - as I say, I'm scared. (The highest level during the day so far has been 10.4, 2.5 hours after a meal...not good, right?)

So I'm REALLY confused....yesterday's food was mostly protein and some vegetables, and probably too high in fat too (not a good thing I know, and I'm definitely going to make sure that I eat a LOT more vegetables, and just east "better" generally speaking...but I find it really hard, on a practical level, daft as that sounds....)

Can eating a diet high in protein raise your blood sugar to that level? I would have thought that reducing the carbonhydrates in my diet would make fasting blood sugar go down overall, but I'm obviously missing something...

Also, I've been doing some quick research to see if there's a recommended diet for diabetics (at this point whether I'm going to test positive for diabetes or just for pre-diabetes -or even if the test comes back clear!- doesn't make much of a difference to me as far needing to overhaul my diet, it's something that needs to be done, and pretty urgently at that), and that's where I get REALLY confused; there just seems to be a lot of contradictory information out there, as to how much carbs a diabetic can/should eat. Is there some kind of generally accepted guidelines out there? I've read somewhere that ALL starches should be avoided, is that true? Is it even possible? Is there no difference, ultimately, between white bread and, say, wholegrain rice, from a diabetics point of view? I'm not one for unrefined carbs, but my normal diet is/was certainly carbs rich - brown rice, wholegrain pasta, sometimes quinoa, with vegetables and probably too much cheese (love cheese); eggs and salmon for animal protein, not much meat etc... Can that still be the case, and if not, what should/can I eat?

I'm incredibly grateful to have found this board...I'm definitely going to invest some time reading up as much as I can, I'm sure there's a wealth of good advice in here, but if anybody has pointers to resources that are a good starting point (on this board or somewhere else), I would be incredibly grateful!

Thank you in advance if you managed to read this far. I have a real talent for rambling on. :-)
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

Once you gat a diagnosis then we will be able to help more. There are many things that this could be. It cannot be much fun feeling like you do. :(

As regard to protein, some here say to eat as much as you like. Others keep it to a moderate amount as there is the possibility of it affecting the kidneys. My advice would be to stay away from processed meats and don't overdo the protein. There is a slower response to blood sugars with protein than with carbs.. Try testing 3-4 hours after a meal.

There is a good guide here if you are starting out.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088

You will need to keep a food diary and test regularly to see exactly how certain foods affect your blood glucose. Even if you have not got diabetes it may well help with weight issues.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and please post again if you are diagnosed. :)

C.C.
 
Hi Therese and welcome to the forum :) In spite of the fact that you haven't been diagnosed diabetic, it might be a good idea to be very vigilant. If you are pre-diabetic it would be a good idea to look after yourself to possibly avoid full diabetes. This is some information which is written for diabetics, but might be useful to you. It was written by our friends Ken and Sue, former monitors, for new members. Try and follow what it says as it will help you although not all of it will apply to you at the moment. Good luck with your blood test.

Here is the advice that Ken and I, as Forum Monitors, usually give to newly diagnosed Diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

For more information on CARBOHYDRATE see here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20306

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

For TIPS FOR STRIPS see here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19002#p173253

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2011 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking and before meals).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l...(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals........................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals......................... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do at least 30 minutes moderate exercise a day, it can be split into 10 min sessions to start with. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Finally a few QUESTIONS TO ASK AT DIABETES CLINIC.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091



Sue/Ken.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Therese, and welcome

Many people on this forum find that the NHS recommended diet contains far more carbohydrate than we can tolerate - we vary from very low carb (I'm one - under 30g per day) to around 150g per day at least.

For some people, however, the NHS diet works. Others eat low GI and keep good control.

Have a good look around this forum and see what you think. My diet (Viv's Modified Atkins Diet) is on the Low-carb Forum. It's too extreme, and too much fat, for some people, but it suits me, I'm losing weight, and all my blood test results are fine. Other people eat more carb or less fat; we also have vegetarians who keep good control.

The motto of this forum should be 'We are all different' - we say it so much, and it's true! What one person can eat, another can't tolerate. The only way you can learn what suits you is to keep testing, as in Daisy's advice.

Let's hope your diagnosis comes back as not diabetic. But in all honesty, if you start eating now as if you are, maybe you never will be!

As for high morning readings - look up the 'Dawn Phenomenon'. I get that too!

Good luck and please let us know how you go on.

Viv 8)
 
Hi, therese, it is indeedy confusing with all the info , do's n dont's , BS levels , feels a lot to take on board n grasp ... eh? You have got things in place already with your appt 19.7 take a list of questions with you and ask them, also possibly take a list of your BS readings , then they can see and advise you accordingly. With the meals find out the things you enjoy n like and portion control them [small snack size] test 2-4hrs later and see what has spiked you up? with the diet thing what works for some dosent work for all, we are all individual with varying tastes n likes n dislikes. [I cant tollerate the beige foods white bread pasta rice etc... or spices n onions] take it all one step at a time , wander round and read n look at posts n links etc... its all here to help. Pop back and ask anything you wish or need to. We're all here for you. Anna.x :)
 
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