Confused.com.

Racket said:

Diagnosed type 2 a week ago and now completely confused. Do I go low carb or what? Low carb seems to include all kinds of fat that we were previously warned against; bacon for example. I'm too nervous to take a chance on it. There again, one says you must eat fruit, another says you shouldn't. I thought sourdough was a good substitute for bread. Now I'm not so sure. And what about porridge? Again, some say fine, others say no chance.

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I am moving your post so that you have your own thread @Racket.

I will also tag @daisy1 to give you some basic information that will help.
You could also join the LC programme that will give you more insight about suitable fats.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/

It's your decision, lots of people who low carb have found it reduced blood glucose levels to the extent that they have normal BG. To go LCHF doesn't mean you have to eat bacon or anything else you don't want. There are lots of vegetarians that follow a LCHF diet
Before insulin was found, the only treatment for type ones was a LCHF diet so there must be something in it that works

Fat is getting a far better press these days in nutritional circles. It's just that the medical profession hasn't caught up. The history behind it all is fascinating, but you need some practicalities.

1. As Shar67 says, it's your decision. No one here will bully you into a LCHF diet, but so many of us have found it works, both as a means of reducing blood glucose and making us feel better. At its most basic, LCHF means cutting down on fruit and loading up with green veg. If you want to eat fruit, go for berries - with cream! Cut out anything that has a grain in it. Eat nuts, cheese, meat, dairy if you like them. Enjoy olive oil, coconut oil, animal fat. One of the nicest things about LCHF is that you seldom feel deprived. Stop counting calories.

2. Get a blood glucose meter. Doubtless your GP didn't supply you with one, so buy, beg or borrow. Your meter will become your best friend. Try all sorts of foods. Test your glucose 1-2 hours after eating. Keep a food diary and write down your numbers. After a while you can work out what to avoid.

3. Read everything you can, both on here and everywhere else, and ask us loads of questions.

4. Don't let doctors, DSNs or dieticians bully you into eating or doing something you're not happy about.

5. The NHS Eatwell Plate is NOT gospel.

Good luck, and happy eating!

It is hard to 'unlearn' what has been drummed into you. Also you are an individual so how you can metabolise particular carbohydrate rich food is going to be different from someone else. The only way you can find that out is by testing your blood glucose before and after a meal (at least once 2 hours afterwards, maybe at other intervals too).

This is why you will see that some people can be fine on oatmeal biscuits and porridge and for others it creates a huge spike. I'm in the latter category but if I hadn't tested I wouldn't have known. Conversely I am OK on medium amounts of potato, although these days I rarely eat even that being out of the habit. With fruit the general advice is to stick with berries.

There are low carb versions of bread and rolls that you can find discussions of on this site.

For me worked the dietary advice given by the SSN (that is the NHS equivalent for Italy). Eat starchy foods only for breakfast and dinner, but not for supper thereby reducing the calories given by carbohydrates to 40%.

If you really like bacon is a thing, but personally I prefer breasaola, speck or raw ham and actually prefer way more cheeses, especially goat cheeses.

The important thing is going LCHF, from what I've understood, doesn't mean becoming a vacuum cleaner, but one has to control anyway the calorie intake, so instead of 100 g of bread one could eat 100 g of ham without problem.
OTOH if one eats 1 kg of ham it's another story.

MikeTurin said:

For me worked the dietary advice given by the SSN (that is the NHS equivalent for Italy). Eat starchy foods only for breakfast and dinner, but not for supper thereby reducing the calories given by carbohydrates to 40%.

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..... and I am just the opposite. I can't eat any carbs for breakfast. If I do I go up and stay up all morning. I have most of my carb allowance for evening meal as my insulin sensitivity is at its best at that time.This is why it is so important to have a meter and test your own reactions to foods, because they will be different from everyone else's.

Reducing to low carb does mean it is necessary to increase fats or energy sources will diminish. How far you reduce the carbs and by how much you increase the fats is entirely up to you, but you do need to find the right balance to maintain energy levels, and to either lose weight or maintain weight, whichever is appropriate.

Tabbyjoolz said:

Fat is getting a far better press these days in nutritional circles. It's just that the medical profession hasn't caught up. The history behind it all is fascinating, but you need some practicalities.

1. As Shar67 says, it's your decision. No one here will bully you into a LCHF diet, but so many of us have found it works, both as a means of reducing blood glucose and making us feel better. At its most basic, LCHF means cutting down on fruit and loading up with green veg. If you want to eat fruit, go for berries - with cream! Cut out anything that has a grain in it. Eat nuts, cheese, meat, dairy if you like them. Enjoy olive oil, coconut oil, animal fat. One of the nicest things about LCHF is that you seldom feel deprived. Stop counting calories.

2. Get a blood glucose meter. Doubtless your GP didn't supply you with one, so buy, beg or borrow. Your meter will become your best friend. Try all sorts of foods. Test your glucose 1-2 hours after eating. Keep a food diary and write down your numbers. After a while you can work out what to avoid.

3. Read everything you can, both on here and everywhere else, and ask us loads of questions.

4. Don't let doctors, DSNs or dieticians bully you into eating or doing something you're not happy about.

5. The NHS Eatwell Plate is NOT gospel.

Good luck, and happy eating!

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Ditto to all the above.

Do not be afraid of fat.. Just over 2 years ago I was nervous like you but went with the LCHF advice and have never felt better. My fatty liver reduced to normal within a year and I was discharged from the liver clinic at the hospital with the specialist saying it had remained consistently normal for a year My cholesterol and weight reduced and my blood sugar readings are in the normal range... all without medication.

@Racket

Hello and welcome to the forum As mentioned above, here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 220,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Having low-carbs is a given. Have enough protein and fat to help you feel full. You can always have 'good' fats such as oily fish to avoid too much saturated fat of which the latter can affect your good/bad cholesterol ratios.

Racket said:

Diagnosed type 2 a week ago and now completely confused. Do I go low carb or what? Low carb seems to include all kinds of fat that we were previously warned against; bacon for example. I'm too nervous to take a chance on it. There again, one says you must eat fruit, another says you shouldn't. I thought sourdough was a good substitute for bread. Now I'm not so sure. And what about porridge? Again, some say fine, others say no chance.

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I was just talking about this on another thread - low carb eating for diabetes. - Based on my personal experience it could take a while before you reach that happy medium of carb/fat/protein intake for the simple reason that we're not all the same and the recommended amounts are more of a guide - we all have different metabolic rates, different levels of activity etc
I've pretty well been eating the same amount of carbs/protein/fat for the past 10 years based on a lifetime of figuring out what my body liked and what it didn't like. This is further complicated by the fact that our bodies are aging and this in turn causes further dietary adjustments as you go.
So it's tricky - don;t be afraid to experiment a little bit until your mind and body feels much better. And like me - it may take a while but that's the way it goes .,...

welcome here Racket

I spent 40 odd year avoiding fats and having made the switch I'm very happy with the results including what is now 21Kg weight loss in four months and improved cholesterol and blood sugars. I am trying to stick to a 1000 calorie a day deficit compared to what I consume, which has translated into just over a kilo a week weight loss every single week. The figures below show the improvements so far .

I love my bacon and eggs, fatty steak, lamb, chicken skin, pork rinds - practically everything I thought would kill me seems to do the opposite! it is quite hard to overcome the " fear of fat" that has been drummed into us all, but once you have done its very liberating !

CherryAA said:

I spent 40 odd year avoiding fats and having made the switch I'm very happy with the results including what is now 21Kg weight loss in four months and improved cholesterol and blood sugars. I am trying to stick to a 1000 calorie a day deficit compared to what I consume, which has translated into just over a kilo a week weight loss every single week. The figures below show the improvements so far .

I love my bacon and eggs, fatty steak, lamb, chicken skin, pork rinds - practically everything I thought would kill me seems to do the opposite! it is quite hard to overcome the " fear of fat" that has been drummed into us all, but once you have done its very liberating !

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very fine results CherryAA , very impresive indeed ! by the way what is ESR ?

Freema said:

very fine results CherryAA , very impressive indeed ! by the way what is ESR ?

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Thanks, I am still making some progress - home hba1C 50.8 yesterday, weight 94.5 kg - two weeks to go before my next formal medical fingers crossed - it would be lovely to get into the pre-diabetic range by then - I suspect my accident might have slowed down the improvements a little - given the stress and continuing pain, but one can hope.

There are two tests for " inflammation" .

Until recently I had not appreciated the clinical significance of " inflammation" - i.e. it being a marker for all sorts of things going wrong in the body across multiple diseases. Thus if either of the two markers improve - you know that your health in general is improving. If your blood tests show a marked deterioration in either then one should try and find out what is causing it if possible instead of finding it was an undetected cancer or other disease further down the line.

There are two tests -Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate "ESR" and Creative Reactive Protein "CRP " both should be low. ESR is more long term and CSR more immediately reactive. ( by way of example when I had sepsis a few years ago my CRP went from 5 to 400 for a few days and I was hospitalised .

I have attached the links to the two tests below.
https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/crp/tab/test/
https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/esr/tab/test/

if you are having blood tests done, it makes sense to include these in the list if you can and then follow up as necessary. .