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Confused,Confused,Confused

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Elland

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Newly diagnosed 1 week ago with type 2 and am finding it really hard to come to terms with it.Have joined a gym to get my exercise not a problem the bit i am struggerling with is what to eat i find that every meal is meat and veg or meat and salad.i know that i can not have like potatoes,rice,white bread,pasta,cakes,biscuits,pasteries.i have looked on the internet and am struggerling to find what else i should eat i find that i spend all my time looking at sugar in products and anything above 1% goes back on the shelf,help anyone
 
Hi Elland and welcome to the forum :) You will find there are so many things to eat - have a look at the Food and Nutrition forum which can be accessed from the Board Index. In addition, there are recipes posted on here daily so just keep reading.... Here is some information which we give to new members and I hope you will find this helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is always someone here 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 30,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

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

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.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Elland,

it does seem a bit daunting at first - I got very depressed wandering around a supermarket, realising that all my 'treats' were now off limits.

But I went out for sunday lunch today and had beef, onions, green beans, brocolli, a few carrots and 1 roast spud with thin gravy and it was excellent - and didn't affect my levels at all.

I have found that pasta and rice are impossible and I have to be very careful with potatoes - but the top of the fridge is packed with all sorts of veg and salad and I'm enjoying discovering how to mix stuff without affecting my sugars.

Oh and my treat is very dark chocolate.
 
Elland said:
i know that i can not have like potatoes,rice,white bread,pasta,cakes,biscuits,pasteries.
Click to expand...

Who has told you that? many diabetics eat some or most if not all of those foods just in smaller portions than perhaps they used to, just test before and after eating such items of food and if your 2 hours after eating reading is more than 1.5 mmol/L more than your pre meal reading reduce the amount of carbs, keep doing this until you are happy with the portion of carbs, there is no reason to remove those foods completely unless you want to. Only a very few diabetics eat a very low carb diet although reading this forum recently you might think differently.

Everything in moderation :thumbup:
 
Hi. You don't have to completely forget the carbs. Go for low-GI stuff such as Burgen bread, wholemeal or mutli-grain pastries and so on. Keep the portions small and have little and often to keep the spikes down. Taking some fat with the carbs also slows absorption. Most fruit is OK in sensible quantities. Yes, it's not easy but keep looking and you'll gradually find things to add including 85% dark chocolate!
 
Hi Elland. I agree with Sid, you don't have to cut out all those foods. I still eat them, but in small portions, and as time goes on and you test to see which foods spike your sugar more than others, you'll be able to work your own diet out that suits you. We can all react differently to carbs in foods, and you just have to find out what is ok or bad for you. :)

Helena
 
Yes like others are saying you don't need to cut out all carbs just enough so that your blood sugar levels keep at a healthy level for most of the time.

You will need to reduce your carbs somewhat, we all have but after that there is a balance you can find between the amount of carbs you want to eat, the amount of medication you're prepared to take, the amount of weight you actually lose and the amount of exercise you do. You should base that balance on what your blood sugars are telling you so imo getting a meter and testing yourself so that you can begin to understand what foods you can and can't eat is the most important thing.

What you are trying to find is a long term life style plan that you can stick to and maintain.
 
Have appointment with the doc next week because i have stopped taking the Metformin after 4 days of one 500 tab in the morning to see if i could bring my Blood Sugar level down with diet and exercise after looking up information on the internet .So after 3 weeks of a total diet change and joining the gym my readings have come down from a fasting reading of 10.7 three weeks ago to 5.4 this morning when i got up,reading before meals of about 5.8 to 6.2 and upto 7.8 after meals.
 
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