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cyclopse180

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Having only been diagnosed less than 2 weeks and trying to get my head round what i need to eat and what not to eat. i am findingf it hard with should it be carbs or nort because the same book can say yes or no please can any bodyhelp with either infro or a good scorce for me to read :oops:
 
Hi Cyclopse,

I have been diagnosed barely any longer than you (three weeks tomorrow!), but I have spent a lot of time this last three weeks reading. I know that understanding the condition is the key to controlling it, and it is crucial that you control it rather than let it control you. Unfortunately this means giving yourself a bit of a crash course in diabetes medicine - which is a tall order. I'm better off than most people, because I have a background in the biomedical sciences, but I still find it a real morass of conflicting experiences and advice.

Fortunately there is lots of help out there - so far I have discovered the following that are really useful.

Understanding Diabetes: your key to better health. This is a booklet produced by Diabetes UK - I was given a copy by my Diabetes Nurse, but you can download it from the Diabetes UK site. It is a very brief overview - easy to read, and a good place to start.

You didn't say whether you had Type 1 or 2 diabetes (they are extremely different diseases, and although there is some similarities of treatment they are sufficiently different that you should probably look for information specific to your type). I have Type 2 - and I have found the following two books very helpful:

Gretchen Becker (2001) Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year, Robinson Publishing. (written by a diabetic medical journalist)
and
Charles Fox & Anne Kilvert (2007) Type 2 Diabetes: Answers at your fingertips (6th edition) Class Publishing. (written by two diabetes specialist medics).

As for the advice you have been given (low fat, low sugar but complex carbohydrate with every meal) that seems to be the standard line that British GPs are trained to give. However, as you have gathered it is not the only approach to diabetes control and some people successfully follow very different diets. The key thing to remember is that biological systems (such as people) are not only very complex, but they vary wildly. What works for one person isn't necessarily suitable for another - what you need to do is find out what works for you.

I am certainly following my GPs advice on diet for the time being - and I strongly suggest that you do the same thing. I intend to see what effect this diet has on me, but I am keeping an open mind. If I have problems getting the diabetes under control then I might well take a different approach, and once I do get it under control I will probably start to experiment to see if I can find a "better" one.

So far, it is looking as though I am going to be able to control my BG levels through diet and the symptoms have abated (although they were pretty mild).

The only other thing that I can add is don't forget exercise - I don't think anyone on here would disagree on that! I have started cycling to and from work every day, and given the weather the last few days I am seriously considering investing in a treadmill.
 
Welcome, Cyclops. With this condition you need to both eyes open :roll: (I hope thats not in bad taste.)

10 years ago, I came out of the Dr's surgery in a state of shock which lasted several months. 10 years on, at 69, I am only beginning to see complications. I still play tennis at club standard. As a result I am seeing the need to reduce my blood sugar levels. I'm type 2.

Over those years I have followed the standard diet recommendations - low sugar, low fat, low salt & complex carbohydrates (medium to low GI (Glycaemic Index) - and have maintained an HbA1c around 6.5. That's the Drs blood test, not the finger prick. For me, the overnight fasting BS has averaged just below 7 which the Drs have been happy with. When it drifts above 7, I get muscle pain. Two months ago this was crippling, & I seriously thought I was becoming disabled. Reducing the BS solved the problem.

Now I am reducing the carbs to get the BS nearer 6.

One more thing - ignore all emails from Jullia Hanf. Her expensive "natural" drug cocktail "Melabit" has only bad reports on this forum.
 
Complications from diabetes will "inevitably occur" unless you do your best to keep your blood sugars as normal as you can.

Unfortunately the "sugar is bad/starch is good/ fat is bad" advice will take you further away from normal blood sugar control.

There is an educational course at http://www.dsolve.com that you may be interested in taking. It is free. The range of dietary options that can support normal blood sugars is gone into in some depth.

For a type two who is relying on your own pancreatic insulin production you may need to cut carbs quite a bit to stay within the normal blood sugar range.

I don't think that its worth blindly doing what you are told and waiting till it goes wrong before changing things. I think learning about what options are possible and then making a considered decision is a better option. It's what you think that matters though.
 
Cyclopse, digest as much as you want - all our advice is guaranteed carb-free!!!
 
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