Diagnosed yesterday.

Tes78 said:

Hello, I'm Tes.

Yesterday I was diagnosed type 2. Or kind of.
A couple of months ago I had some blood test because I have been unwell. It showed that my sugars and insulin levels were elevated. The doctor said it was at a level that was classed as pre diabetes. I had another test a little over a week ago. I went to see the doctor for results yesterday. I was told I was "technically" type 2. That two things (don't know what things) have to be over a certain level and both mine were, but I was right on the cusp. Even the system said possible diabetic. I am going to have another blood test in 12 weeks. If my levels have not lowered I will be put on medication.

Not sure how I feel, I am obese and didn't look after my body for a long time. I started the year with a goal of losing 4 stone this year... And currently I have lost over 1 1/2 stone. My diet has been so much better over the last few months, but the test show my I have gone from pre diabetes to type 2. I'm just concerned they will continue going up even though I have changed my diet.

I have been reading about what to and not to eat since yesterday, but I'm still a bit lost with that. There seems to be so many contradicting opinions about what to eat/ avoid. Its common sense not to eat bags of sweets to bars of chocolate, the confusion comes in with what fruits and veg are ok? Pasta, rice and bread, brown/ white/ none? Nuts? Potatoes? Sweetener?
#Confused!

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Hi and welcome to the forums @Tes78 ,

Firstly Don't Panic. You now need to be on the lookout for all carbohydrates. The brown, wholemeal versions of rice and pasta have roughly the same amount of carbs as the wite stuff, but some people find that when eaten, they turn into glucose less quickly and thus reduce the size of the glucose spike. It's important to test yourself after eating though.

Fruit contains Fructose, stuff that ends in 'ose' is generally not good for us. You might find that berries are less bad. Bananas have a lot of carbs in them, as do some root vegetables such as potato.

Does that help at all?

My only advice is to get a balanced diet whilst trying to reduce carbs from bread, pasta and rice and cereals...
Eat from a small plate and small bowls....
Ie sauteed spinach and scrambled egg for breakfast is nutritionally better balanced than scrambled egg on toast....
A roast dinner with a rainbow of coloured veg us better than having a roast with potatoes and yorkie pud.
A pudding of 2 sq dark choc. And some cheese and unsalted/roasted nuts is better than an icecream sundae.

Balance of nutrition is important... You can make improvements no matter what culinary skills or time or tastes you have.

Very sad that you are now joining our club, so to speak but it is a chance to grab a new positive lifestyle and to gain better health.

Meds are 2nd to diet...good luck to you...xx

Hi. Rather than looking at how many carbs per 100gm there are in foods, set yourself a daily carb total of at least 200gm/day max and possibly 100gm/day max. You choose how you make up that total using the meter as a guide. When looking at packaging, work out the portion size you intend to take and you can then work out the carbs in that portion size from the carbs per 100 listed.

Hi @Tes78,
Welcome to the forum, and I'm sure you'll find lots of good info & advice here, some already given in the posts above here. I'm still learning, just like you, and have found great help here. You asked about numbers to aim for and testing, so I've tagged @daisy1 who provides loads of good info for newbies, with links to other sites that can answer some of your questions. Have a read around this and the main Diabetes.co.uk site (via the Home tab at the top of the page). Probably too much info to take in all at once, but good sources of reference to keep going back to.

Good luck and best wishes with the new diet.

@Tes78

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It will get you started on your diabetes care, tests, diet etc. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
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

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 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.

Tes78 said:

Thank you,

I have ordered a glucose meter and strips, should be with me tomorrow as I got then next day. From what I have read I test before eating and 1.5-2 hours after? Is that right. Below 7 before and below 8.5 after is ok?
So I guess it's a case of seeing which foods make it go up too high and to stop having them.

How many carbs per 100g is ok to have? I don't know what is low or high carb.

Time to change my life, and look at this as a blessing in disguise. I now have no choice but to eat healthy, or get all sorts of illnesses related to diabetes. My dad is blind because of his diabetes, I'm not having that as my future.

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Hi Tes78, firstly welcome to the forum believe me you are in the best place to be. I was diagnosed in Jan this year with a BG reading of 19..3, now after following all the advice on this site I am now in single figures. The support you will get off here is incredible as we are all fighting the same battle and we are all winners. I lot of us have the high protein lidl rolls or Burgen and Soya Bread in moderation, no rice no pasta, as for fruit we are all different this is were the testing 2hr after meals comes in. I can tolerate a couple of pears in the week red water melon I eat daily, raspberries I eat daily, dates a few a week coconut yogurt or Turkish greek yogurt daily, the list is endless try and test for yourself.

Please go onto the forum " What Have You Eaten Today " this is what I did and still do we all put our daily menus on there and you can see what others eat, it is one of the best forums on here, I find I am never bored or depressed any more in what to eat and try. I wish you well please keep us updated.