Type 2 Confused

Welcome to the forum, @KMcRae . I'll start by tagging @daisy1 , who will put a very useful introductory post on this thread as soon as she comes on line. Meanwhile, it is very good that you are testing what you eat and you may have discovered that quaker oats aren't the greatest choice of breakfast, in general, cereals are not good for blood sugar levels.
The best place to go for dietary advice, all simply laid out, with pictures you can stick on the fridge, if you wish, is the Diet Doctor site, https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb Scroll down the page to section 2, for summaries of what is good to eat and not so good. Then come back here and ask as many questions as you like.
Sally

Hello and welcome to the forum,

I agree with everything @sally and james said. Perhaps swap your breakfast for something low in carbs. Eggs cooked any which way is a good idea, either alone or with bacon, mushrooms, a tomato, a cheese omelette, or similar. Or if time is important, a full fat Greek yogurt with just a few berries added to it, or even just a coffee with cream.

You can fast if you wish, but it isn't necessary. Some do and some don't. If you want to give it a try, the best meal to skip initially is breakfast as that just extends the overnight fast and makes it easier for you.

Have a good read round the forum, and ask as many questions as you like.

KMcRae said:

Hi I am 43 and the Dr has been keeping an eye on my protein in my urine for a while which they have put in on ramipri, at the same time they took bloods and my Hb1c has gone upto 56 from 42 so they have started me on Metabet Sr and asked me to try to lose a couple of kg, but I am not sure what I should cut out and do I need to fast, by bg was 6.1 before breakfast and 2 hours later 8.9 I had quaker oats and tea no sugar

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Hi @KMcRae ,

Yeah, oats aren't such a great idea... Carbs usually turn to glucose once ingested, and that isn't just sugars, but starches too. You might want to ditch cereals/muesli, potatoes, bread, rice, corn, pasta, and most fruit. (Berries, tomatoes, avocado and tomatoes are okay though.). You could stick with eggs, meat, fish, poultry, above-ground veggies/leafy greens, cheeses, full fat greek yoghurt, butter, extra dark chocolate (Lindt 85% is great), that sort of thing... If you do that I doubt there's need to fast, though you might want to... I know I just have some tea in the morning, but it's not for everyone. Start off keeping things simple for yourself, keep testing, and find out what works for you. Cutting the carbs will most likely mean shedding weight and getting your bloodsugars down.

Good luck, and welcome!!!
Jo

KMcRae said:

As this is all new to me is a bg of 4.7 two hrs after lunch ok? And how low is safe

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Yes 4.7 is great.. highly unlikely you'll go too low if you are only taking metformin so keep up the good work. What was lunch out of interest?

KMcRae said:

Just tuna and a boiled egg and lillte hard cheese, as didn't have much in so will stock up later for better options

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but those are the better options - all low carb foods which will supply energy and 'spare parts' for the essential organs.
You could have made a bit of a stir fry or salad stuff for colour and variety, but they are not essential.

KMcRae said:

Just tuna and a boiled egg and lillte hard cheese, as didn't have much in so will stock up later for better options

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Sounds good to me and your blood sugar obviously enjoyed it too..

KMcRae said:

I didn't think of it like that, the hard bit for me is after my evening meal I tend to find real hunger around 9 - 11

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Up the fat content of the evening meal for satiety.. best not to snack but eat more less often.

KMcRae said:

Ok I will try that tonight thanks for the advice.. I think joining here will really help me to focus

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The great thing about the forum is unlike HCP's we've been there and done it so have personal experience.

@KMcRae
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

KMcRae said:

Just a quick question I started low carb diet on Monday and have stuck to it very strict, I know it's early days and I have lost nearly 2kg this week! but before lunch my bg was 5.2 and I did have a Costa beef roll and a piece of cheese and 2 hrs later bg was 5.4 is that ok? It's not goi ng to be habit so is OK to have a little carbs if I don't spike to high...

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Well done - a rise of 0.2 over 2 hours is very good particularly as it contained bread. At least by testing you can learn how different foods affect you so that you know what to avoid or eat in moderation. I can eat bread and tend to average between 100 - 130 carbs per day and have maintained my Hba1c in the 30s for approx 5 years.

KMcRae said:

Just a quick question I started low carb diet on Monday and have stuck to it very strict, I know it's early days and I have lost nearly 2kg this week! but before lunch my bg was 5.2 and I did have a Costa beef roll and a piece of cheese and 2 hrs later bg was 5.4 is that ok? It's not goi ng to be habit so is OK to have a little carbs if I don't spike to high...

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Is is great that you are testing and as you say it is early days in finding a sustainable healthy way of eating for life. You have to decide what works for you. We all are strict or not for a variety of reasons and finding the balance is down to your own personal factors.

I couldn't find the beef roll on the nutrition data for Costa but have a look

https://www.costa.co.uk/nutrition/Costa-ANI-data-November-2018.pdf