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Confused!

H

henrysgran

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi

I have just been diagnosed with diabetes - I assume Type 2 as I have been told that I don't need any medication. It came as a bit of a shock as I have no symptoms and originally went to see the doctor to get my blood pressure checked!

My confusion arises because the doctor has told me that I can eat brown bread, pasta, potato, rice etc and as much fruit and veg as I like - but no dairy products including cheese. Having read many of the posts here and doing my own research, it seems that the advice I have been given conflicts with what I was told! Now I don't know what to eat!

I would really appreciate some advice!

Thanks
 
Hi Henrysgran

Could you explain for us whether the diet you have been given is for blood pressure, diabetes or both?

Regards
Orchid
 
Hi henrysgran and welcome to the forum,
I'm not surprised that you are confused. We expect to receive from our medics advice that (a) is sensible and (b) is good for our health. Unfortunately your doctor has failed you on both counts!

You have been told that you should control your diabetes with diet, and then told to eat all the things that will cause your blood sugar to rocket and will make it impossible for you to get the control that you need. Bread, cereals, pasta, rice and potatoes all contain starch and very little else. They are the worst possible things for anyone who is not being prescribed medication. In fact if your doctor had even bothered to read the British National Formulary (the doctor's "bible"), it tells him that before being prescribed oral medication, type-2s should be encouraged to reduce their blood sugars by a combination of reduced carbs and increased exercise.

If your doctor had said to you "you are allergic to nuts, they will make you very ill", and then added "so I want to to eat plenty of nuts with every meal", you would think he must have lost a few screws on the way to the surgery. Well, the diet he has suggested for you just proves that there are some screws missing!

Please have a read round the forum, particularly in the low carb and success stories threads, then ask away if you have any questions. We will do all we can to protect you from your doctor!
 
Thanks for your replies!

Orchid - the diet is for the diabetes, my blood pressure is fine now since I retired from my stressful job at Christmas! The doctor wasn't worried about my blood pressure.

I think I need to get hold of the books and get better clued up on carbohydrates!

Also - would you expect me to be testing at this stage - I feel as though I am working in the dark a bit at the moment.
 
I know how you feel, you seem to have got the same treatment I did. Don't worry about it too much for now or your blood pressure will go rocketing back up! :lol: The testing is a good thing to do, but some people don't feel they need to. Depends on how "serious" your case is. I don't test myself, I just attend quarterly hba1c tests. If things get worse over time I might start though. I did buy a blood glucose monitor and used the 10 test strips, about 3 weeks after I started low-carbing. My initial fasting results before low carbing was 6.7 and in those three weeks it had dropped to 5.4 or below. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, you can get your condition under control in a relatively short space of time if you are determined. Did the Dr tell you what your blood sugar reading was?
For a bit of a clue as to how Drs can keep you in the dark - my Dr told me that my initial reading said I was diabetic (it is actually a pre-diabetic level) but that if I was careful with my diet (I got the same starchy diet sheet as you by the sounds of it) I wouldn't be diabetic anymore. :roll: I mean how confusing is that?
This site has so many clued-up people on it who can help you. I found the bloodsugar101 site and book a great help by the way so I would add that to the reading list if I were you.
 
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