Hi I am new to this group. I have been type two for a few years but have recently become lactose intolerant and have a vitamin B12 deficiency, I need some help with a few ideas and recipes for a healthy diet please.
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Diabetic with B12 deficiency and dairy intolerant
- Thread starter GillieM
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Liam1955
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daisy1
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@GillieM
Hello Gillie and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It will help you with your food choices and includes a lot of advice about carbs. Have a look at the Low Carb Program too. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.
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 over 150,000 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 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-and-whole-grains.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
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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 bloodglucose 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.
Hello Gillie and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It will help you with your food choices and includes a lot of advice about carbs. Have a look at the Low Carb Program too. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.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 over 150,000 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-and-whole-grains.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
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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 bloodglucose 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.
K
Kat100
Guest
Hello @GillieM
Welcome I can't make enough iron or B12 .. Gosh those injection sting .. But they are over quickly ...
I eat all I can and want to .. But as you know it's an absorption problem in most cases...
So for me the injections keep my levels up ... Not as high as I like , but there we go ..
And tiredness is a great symptom ......As it is of many problems and shortness of breath if you get to low for some ..
I don't often take milk either .. Almond milk for me .the no added sugar one . Not sure about recepies I just adapt often from google land
and great ideas here on the site ..I keep my diet healthly for me , with a few treats .. But that's what I have always done ..
I think it's impossible to give a B12 diet , you can google foods with B12 in it , if you can absorb ..
Hope you enjoy the forum ... Kat
Last edited:
Thank you for your input Kat, I'm afraid just lately because of the tiredness I have strayed from the path and slipped a few naughties in. However I shall have to google as you recommend and restructure my diet as far as I can. Thanks againHello @GillieM
Welcome I can't make enough iron or B12 .. Gosh those injection sting .. But they are over quickly ...
I eat all I can and want to .. But as you know it's an absorption problem in most cases...
So for me the injections keep my levels up ... Not as high as I like , but there we go ..
And tiredness is a great symptom ......As it is of many problems and shortness of breath if you get to low for some ..
I don't often take milk either .. Almond milk for me .the no added sugar one . Not sure about recepies I just adapt often from google land
I keep my diet healthly for me , with a few treats .. But that's what I have always done ..
I think it's impossible to give a B12 diet , you can google foods with B12 in it , if you can absorb ..
Hope you enjoy the forum ... Kat
K
Kat100
Guest
Not much I can offer , but I can share my understanding .. I am veggie , so you may not like my diet ..but it means I eat lots of veggies , but they don't increase my levels ...
Yes the tiredness ... It's easy to take a quicker way to have a meal rather than all the cooking ...
I am a medium carb person type 2 if I went to low carb for me I would have no engery at all ...
I get some for about 4 weeks out of 8 of the B12 slot ... But I am never jumping up and down all day ..
I go through phases of great cooking , new ideas etc , then engery goes and well you know the feeling ..
I do try and cook though .. I freeze food as well ...
Do you have to cook for others .. Let me know .. Kat X
I am looking at super foods at the moment .. Not sure on the supplements for me , but I remain open minded ...
FAO @GillieM
KevinPotts
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- Diet only
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Clams, beef, turkey, oysters, chicken, crab, salmon all have B12 via animal products. Do you eat plenty of some of these?
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Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum
donnellysdogs
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People that can't say sorry.
Are you getting B12 injections GillieM? I paid for B12 and vitamin infusions in Wales. An anaesthetist did them privately...then I thought why bother when the Welsh GP stopped them? Came back to England and thought would let levels drop to get the injections that I had for 3 years. Nope... Levels went so high they thought I had leukaemia... In fact it was breast cancer.. Soon as they sliced me levels dropped again. 6 months on levels have started to rise past the highest target level. Got to get them rechecked in August.
B12 diet foods is hard but Dr Google has a lot of advice...agree that it's best to try and optimise with food..
B12 diet foods is hard but Dr Google has a lot of advice...agree that it's best to try and optimise with food..
I have a husband, a daughter and four granddaughters and one son and daughter in law who love to come and enjoy a meal, although recently this has had to stop because my energy levels go from 50% to zero very quickly, must admit I love potatoes, bread and a biscuit now and again, my blood levels were stable but recently they go up and down, not really sure why as my diet has become more diabetic friendly due to my dairy problem, will have to do a lot more searching for recipes, thank you x
Thank you for your suggestion, will do a bit of exploring x
No I've been put on tablets and told it will be sometime before I get any result, I've had ovarian cancer and kidney cancer and kicked its butt but this has floored me, anyway will keep looking for that perfect diet lol x
Hi, yes I do eat beef, chicken and salmon but none of the others, will have to try and alternate with crab and turkey, thank you for your help
Have you tried lactase supplements? Being lactose intolerant myself, I need the supplements to eat cottage cheese or ice cream. The curdling process consumes lactose, so yoghurt and ordinary cheeses are free of it.
K
Kat100
Guest
Sorry you have been through all of this @donnellysdogs ... Kat
K
Kat100
Guest
Sorry to hear this @GillieM I feel if you received the B12 injections , it would be so much better as it gets absorbed into the blood stream quicker .. The tablets take ages and ages .. Unless you mean iron tables
Yes sadly there is always something nasty that you have to go through , then get left with other long term problems to balance out ..
Take care .. X
K
Kat100
Guest
It's not easy is it , always happy to support .. Kat X
hi, I'm not the only one who has problems, I am sure everyone battling their own health issues would say there are people worse off than me, we just keep going, every day I wake is a God sent day xxx
K
Kat100
Guest
Sure we all have problems .. It's just great finding support ..
Having a bit of a laugh keeps me going
Xdesidiabulum
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I know We Are All Different etc, but re B12 deficiency I will give a slight warning based on my own experiences. Severe B12 deficiency can do very bad things to you - especially nerve damage (as I know to my cost). But once it's recognised and being treated it is not a problem. If you are on injections it is easy to convince yourself that you are feeling exhausted because your 3-month injection is due so you must be running on empty but this is not the case - you will still be well in the safe zone. If they only have you on tablets then your B12 deficiency is not too severe. I write this not to sound unsympathetic, but to warn you that if you are really suffering from tiredness, dizziness, breathlessness it is really important not to let HCPs brush it off by telling you that it is just your B12 deficiency -- it is very likely to be something else (blocked coronary arteries in my case) and it is important to get it checked out.
Oh god, thanks for that, will have to take your advice I don't need any further complications xx
