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Diabetes type 2-living with

Squire Fulwood

Squire Fulwood

Expert
Messages
6,111
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have just been reading an NHS Choices document about living with type 2 diabetes and it said this:-

"Healthy eating

It is not true that if you have diabetes you will need to eat a special diet. You should eat a healthy diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in fat, salt and sugar.

Different foods will affect you in different ways, so it is important to know what to eat and when to get the right amount of glucose for the insulin you are taking. A diabetes dietitian can help you work out a dietary plan that can be adapted to your specific needs. Read more about healthy eating"

There seems to no awareness of T2's who are not on insulin which is possibly the majority of them.

It explains a lot about the NHS attitude.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-t ... -with.aspx

That's the link to the page where I read it.
 
So much of this stuff is just PR . if you are not diabetic and read these hings you could be forgiven for thinking that once diagnosed your individual needs will be assessed and you will have immediate access to HCPs from every discipline.

Its like the erm "diabetes eam". Some may be fortunate enough to have such a "team" - a word which infers hey are working togeher but for many of us i is meaningless.

I imagine the thinking behind menioning insulin users only is something which is also seen in the wider populaion. Only the "real" diabetics use insulin. The rest only have the condition because of their lifestyle -so its a choice. Even those who have to ake a couple of pills a day are not real diabetics..

I hear hat all the time. Oh but so and so is on INSULIN so he/she is worse than you!I amd many others would lso be on insulin if we didn't make a real effort to control the condition ourselves.

The Choices information about hospitals is very similar to the abve. I suppose they are describing their aspiraions rather than he system as it exists!
 
If that document had been entitled Diabetes - Living With I would still find their comments odd. The number of people in the UK with diabetes is about 3 million rising to 5 million by 2025 the majority of whom are Type 2. Most of the Type 2's are not on insulin so there is a fair chance that the majority of diabetics are not on insulin.

I could go on .......and maybe I will later.
 
Squire Fulwood said:
I have just been reading an NHS Choices document about living with type 2 diabetes and it said this:-

"Healthy eating

It is not true that if you have diabetes you will need to eat a special diet. You should eat a healthy diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in fat, salt and sugar.
Click to expand...

The "low fat" craze appears to correlate quite well with the obesity and diabetes "epidemic".
The salt thing is nonsensical since diabetes does not correlate with "sodium sensitivity".
With a high carbohydrate, but low "sugar" diet, equates to a high glucose diet. Hardly likely to be "healthy" to anyone who already has problems avoiding glucose hyperglycemia .

Different foods will affect you in different ways, so it is important to know what to eat and when to get the right amount of glucose for the insulin you are taking. A diabetes dietitian can help you work out a dietary plan that can be adapted to your specific needs. Read more about healthy eating"
Click to expand...
In practice it would appear to be more common for people to adjust their insulin dosage to their glucose intake.

There seems to no awareness of T2's who are not on insulin which is possibly the majority of them.
Click to expand...
Also there are more T2s than T1s...
 
Perhaps I am naive I thinking that once diagnosed I could get such a 'team' to sort me out. Not so unlikely that most of you categorized people at least see a nurse that specialises in diabetes here and there?

Kind of disappointing, the information posted up by the NHS. Shouldn't they have consultancy from a range of diabetics, just like a commercial company would have a focus group or conduct market research. You know, considering they are talking to diabetics and about diabetics, then they'd see what the case actually is regarding care, diet etc from you know... Talking to diabetics @_@

As its been pointed out the majority of diabetics are T2 and the majority of T2s are not on insulin, so why the 'you don't need a different diet/it's ok if you match food with insulin' talk?


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
My experience with the practice nurse who runs the diabetic clinic at my surgery did not inspire confidence. She told me they like to see readings under 10 at +2 hours, but the NICE guidelines say 8.5 for T2 and <7.8 for a nondiabetic. Apparently it's OK for me to be in the 9s and 10s because I'm normal. The GPs are no better, they say the same thing. I'm going back to see a third GP about my neuropathies and although I've now got a referral to Neurology, I'm not going to just let it drift. Prediabetes can and does cause complications before progression to T2 but even a diagnosis of pre-d is just lifestyle advice and come back for a fasting test next year ie no support whatsoever. From what I've experienced of what's on offer, it's useless! We're on our own, LW. At least for now. They're only interested once we're an open and shut case ie too late to reverse our condition.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I followed the NHS dietary advice to the letter when I was diagnosed as having impaired Glucose tolerance... I went all low-fat & heart healthy wholegrains... Little wondering that the low-fat hot chocolate night cap was worse for me than the full fat hot chocolate... and that that wholegrain bread was just as bad for me as ordinary white bread... I went all heart healthy low fat margarine spreads and low fat yoghurt's etc. little knowing that the low-fat yoghurts had added sugar and other chemical nasties in them to hide the rubbish taste and mouth feel.

Basically, I didn't come around until after being diagnosed as a full blown T2 diabetic having followed the "natural" progression... It wasn't until I got hold of my own meter and strips that I discovered just how bad the NHS dietary advice really was for me.
 
I like you always thought I had a healthy diet until I was diagnosed T2 and started reading all the labels on foods
All these low fat and diet foods may be slightly only slightly lower in calories than the full fat version but they have a third if not more sugar obviously for the taste
But it sure makes you think :-)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Never realised that the "good for you" foods promoted by the large brands compensated with so much other rubbish, I spend more time reading labels than ever, its is interesting that most times the standard product is cheaper and better for me than the low "xyz" stuff they promote :D
 
Just lately, I have been feeling so angry at being left in a sort of no man's land with Type 2. There was a post on here a few weeks ago from a newly diagnosed diabetic, basically saying quite forcefully - JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO AND I'LL DO IT! I have hit this wall a couple of times in my year since diagnosis. I feel as if I just ping backwards and forwards, trying to make what are after all, a lay person's decisions about how I should treat my diabetes, because as far as I can see, there's been no decision from the NHS regarding how I should proceed..... Apart from the inevitable, urine strip - useless testing advice and the unbelievable dietary information.

It is all so generalised and, in my opinion so laissez-faire.

On diagnosis, my doctor's inspirational words were "you'll end up on Metformin, eventually".

Cheers .......
 
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