Diet browsing

[AnnieC]

I think the best way being prediabetic is to use your meter to determine the foods that have the biggest impact on blood glucose, aim for non diabetic numbers you may not always hit the target but it will give you an idea how things are progressing.

At the end of the day if you do end up joining the club at least you will have the support and help from this

Well done Annie for doing the right thing when you are pre-diabetic. I never ever knew I was diabetic and had probably been so for years but even if I had known I was pre-diabetic I am not sure I would have taken it seriously, I think it takes strength of character to take the problem by the horns and find a way that works for you. By doing this you may prevent onset for some time and even then, you may prevent upping drugs or whatever for a while.

We can all try which ever diet we choose, our own choice, it's awful to feel that you are getting it wrong....
I am not a low carb person, but that's what I read about most of the time...
Not everyone is on a low carb diet.....
Not all research is accurate either, so many types of research, so many fores and against.....
Do what is right for you ......go for it

We can all try which ever diet we choose, our own choice, it's awful to feel that you are getting it wrong....
I am not a low carb person, but that's what I read about most of the time...
Not everyone is on a low carb diet.....
Not all research is accurate either, so many types of research, so many fores and against.....
Do what is right for you ......go for it AnnieC

We can all try which ever diet we choose, our own choice, it's awful to feel that you are getting it wrong....
I am not a low carb person, but that's what I read about most of the time...
Not everyone is on a low carb diet.....
Not all research is accurate either, so many types of research, so many fores and against.....
Do what is right for you ......go for it AnnieC

 

[Daibell]

Hi Annie. I followed and commented in your previous thread. A few points. First, the current Western diet we all have (or had) is very bad for us so the 'professionals' who say that the low-carb diet is not proven to be harmless are ignoring the fact that the current diet IS proven to be harmful; think about it. A low-carb diet can be anything from a slight reduction in carbs to serious less than 30gm/day low-carbing. You only need to reduce the carbs to the extent that your meter says provides a good blood sugar level. As a pre-diabetic you can probably eat fairly freely. Carbs are the key, and effectively the only key, to blood sugar control. That's why those of us on insulin carb-count for meal-time injections. Fats have only a small effect on blood sugar; exercise is always good. A Mediterranean diet with less bread and pasta sounds ideal for you at this time. As a pre-diabetic T2 then that's all you may ever need to do. If you are a hidden late onset T1 which probably you aren't then diet becomes more critical as time progresses.

 

[smidge]

As a pre-diabetic T2 then that's all you may ever need to do. If you are a hidden late onset T1 which probably you aren't then diet becomes more critical as time progresses.

Good point Daibell! Annie - I think you said in another post that you are skinny? As that is not the usual profile of a Type 2, just keep a close eye that your BG responds to your new diet and doesn't start creeping up in spite of it. Many of us LADA's were slim at diagnosis and were actually misdiagnosed as Type 2. My consultant told me up to 20% of those diagnosed as Type 2 are actually LADA. Just something to be aware of.

Smidge

 

[Daibell]

Good point as well, Smidge. I had always been thin and had lost weight at diagnosis. My db GP diagnosed me as T2 and that's still my official diagnosis. I struggled on thru three a tablet regime and finally my new db GP saw the light and moved me to insulin. BTW Annie even if your db does progress in the long term to insulin have no fear as it really is much easier than I expected.

 

[AnnieC]

What bothers me most on this forum is not about which diet is right wrong good or bad but it is how many people say that the GP's and diabetic teams are wrong in the advice they give about diet simply because it does not suit those who do it differently
I am sure that some people have had a bad experience with their diabetic team but please don't condemn all diabetic health teams as giving wrong advice because that is not so.

 

[Daibell]

Hi Annie. I agree not all NHS teams are poor. My DN is superb and I'm really grateful that I now have her to support me with my insulin. There are various problem areas of diabetes advice that have become obvious to me both personally and thru this forum over the last few years. Diet advice is the biggest problem and is not so much due to poor nurses but due to their training. If you track this back you find the poor advice goes beyond this country even and originates from some very weak and scientifically suspect research data coming from a small number of published papers. The food industry as always lurks around in the background. Have you read today's papers regarding sugar? The National Geographic, a well respected Mag, had an article on sugar late last year describing it as a poison. Although DUK remains backward ref carbs, the American Diabetes Association has changed it's diet advice over the last year or so to be more negative about carbs and the trend continues. So my criticism of NHS db advice is that it is centrally driven and GPs/DNs are obliged to follow that advice. What has been nice over recent months is that more posters are saying their DNs have recommended a more balanced approach to the food plate. If you go back a few years the 'Eat plenty of starchy cabs' advice was very common.

 

[Beachbag]

What bothers me most on this forum is not about which diet is right wrong good or bad but it is how many people say that the GP's and diabetic teams are wrong in the advice they give about diet simply because it does not suit those who do it differently
I am sure that some people have had a bad experience with their diabetic team but please don't condemn all diabetic health teams as giving wrong advice because that is not so.

Surely it's our prerogative to post as we see fit!
Personally I've had two bad experiences with my GPs concerning diabetic care, which has damaged my faith in them! No doubt there are many decent teams out there, but conversely there are bad ones too. You are a prolific poster, have picked a lot of brains and received very helpful, insightful information. Sorry, but I don't understand why you are now being critical of those who feel they have little support or a poor rapport with their HCT and choose to voice it here.

 

[Yorksman]

I am really leaning more towards the mediterranean type diet but cutting out pasta and rice which I don't like much anyway but having small amounts of starchy food like wholemeal bread and small new potatoes which I love and eating more oily fish and plenty of tomatoes

I have two fish days per week and I often have things like feta cheese and olive salads mixed with tomatoes, red onions, salad greens, oil and vinegar and I always record my lowest BG levels after these meals. Tinned fish, mackerel in tomato sauce, sardines, tuna, salmon and pcikled fish, rollmop or bismark herring go well with wholegrain rye breads but, most wholegrain or wholemeal breads contain relatively small amounts, so you need to be careful. If you look at Table 1 in this paper, wholegrain breads still fall into low, medium and high GI categories. Testing is the only way to be certain.

Glycemic index, postprandial glycemia, and the shape of the curve in healthy subjects: analysis of a database of more than 1000 foods

Pastas are often low GI and I often eat wholewheat pasta. It goes very well with sardines, tomato and fennel and makes for a lovely Scicilian Pasta con le Sarde, just omit the sultanas.

 

[Yorksman]

you have to remember im just a dumb builder... oh and only a man of course

Sausage, bacon and egg muffin, three sugars in the tea and an ice bun for elevenses then

I suddenly feel somewhat nostalgic.

 

[douglas99]

Sausage, bacon and egg muffin, three sugars in the tea and an ice bun for elevenses then

I suddenly feel somewhat nostalgic.

Only three? And a muffin?

Four sugars, and that would have to be two slices of thick white bread to soak up the fried egg in the sandwich.

 

[smidge]

What bothers me most on this forum is not about which diet is right wrong good or bad but it is how many people say that the GP's and diabetic teams are wrong in the advice they give about diet simply because it does not suit those who do it differently
I am sure that some people have had a bad experience with their diabetic team but please don't condemn all diabetic health teams as giving wrong advice because that is not so.

I'm a bit confused by your attitude Annie. This is a public internet forum. People will have different points of view from you. Some will be highly intelligent, some will be plain stupid, some will be well-meaning, some will be dishonest. That's life. If you choose to use a forum of this kind, it is best to ask for advice, expect to receive differing opinions, be grateful for any advice you are given, be courteous in your responses, apply your own research, common sense and intelligence to the responses and make up your own mind.

If you believe your diabetes team is 100% right in their advice all the time, take their advice. Why on earth would you be asking questions on an internet forum of complete strangers if you have such a great diabetes team - I certainly wouldn't.

Smidge

 

[paul-1976]

I'm a bit confused by your attitude Annie. This is a public internet forum. People will have different points of view from you. Some will be highly intelligent, some will be plain stupid, some will be well-meaning, some will be dishonest. That's life. If you choose to use a forum of this kind, it is best to ask for advice, expect to receive differing opinions, be grateful for any advice you are given, be courteous in your responses, apply your own research, common sense and intelligence to the responses and make up your own mind.

If you believe your diabetes team is 100% right in their advice all the time, take their advice. Why on earth would you be asking questions on an internet forum of complete strangers if you have such a great diabetes team - I certainly wouldn't.

Smidge

Agreed and this thread reminds me a lot of one from the beginning of December posted by another member that was picking holes in low carb diets and forum advice that upset a lot of good,helpful posters who were only sharing what worked for them.

 

[Andy12345]

Sausage, bacon and egg muffin, three sugars in the tea and an ice bun for elevenses then

I suddenly feel somewhat nostalgic.

what i used to eat would make your average builder shudder lol,

get this..... the kebab shop rang me a month into my diagnosis to ask me if i was ok lmao, they had my number because i used to ring my order in advance so i wouldnt have to wait

 

[Yorksman]

the kebab shop rang me a month into my diagnosis to ask me if i was ok

You missed an opportunity to extort some readies out of them

Actually, a good mixed kebab is not too bad at all if you can trust the pita, which is the big source of carbs. I have found that most shop bought flatbreads spike me despite what it says on the label and you never know what your local kebab shop uses. However, a good bag of wholewheat chappati flour and Majulas Kitchen on Youtube means that you can make your own while you are waiting for the delivery. I like the lacha parathas and roll them like a tortilla wrap. They taste so much better than anything preserved for a long life in a plastic bag.

 

[lizzief]

Agreed and this thread reminds me a lot of one from the beginning of December posted by another member that was picking holes in low carb diets and forum advice that upset a lot of good,helpful posters who were only sharing what worked for them.

As a lurker for a few months and someone who joined a couple of days ago, I just want to add that this thread and the other one you refer to have made me very wary of posting on this forum.

My story is that when I was diagnosed - after following the 'normal' recommended diet of complex carbs, low fat and moderate protein for many years and watching my weight go up and up - I tried to follow the diet sheet my GP gave me, which seemed to almost double my carb intake, my BG was climbing ever higher that my diagnosis FBG level of 19. When I contacted my doctor and told him I was worried, he shouted at me for testing and said I should leave it to him and if my lab results were worse in 6 months, he'd increase my medication. After spending the rest of that day crying because I thought I would be blind or dead before my next review, I went onto another forum where I learned about low carb diets and thought I'd give it a try because anything that helped was worth it.

Within days I was feeling better - thirst gone, BG levels coming down and feeling confident that I could eat stuff I liked without it killing me. I had a review with my GP not quite 3 months into being diagnosed and the results were amazing - Hba1c down from 12% to 6.3%, cholesterol only a tiny bit above normal levels and proteinuria gone. I'd lost 16 kgs and my mobility has improved dramatically so I can exercise more (I have fairly severe osteoarthritis). My doctor is talking about halving my medication at the next review, with a view to stopping it altogether if I can maintain my good levels. He had to grudgingly admit that I've got it right.

The attitude of some posters on here seems to be that if your GP hasn't told you to do it, you should leave well alone and that all NHS advice is gospel truth. But increasingly NHS staff are getting to distrust their own advice. When I went for an introductory session for new Type2s, we were handed the same old 'carbs good, fat kills' advice. I was talking to the nurse afterwards and told her I was low carb-ing. She actually said she thinks I made the right choice and that the high carb advice is seriously flawed but she has to carry on teaching it because it's the NHS line.

I know there are posters who will criticise my choice - it worked for me and it deserves to be offered as a possible solution to others who it MAY help. And if I hadn't followed the advice when it was offered to me, I'd be a lot sicker by now than I was in later summer.

 

[Thommothebear]

As a lurker for a few months and someone who joined a couple of days ago, I just want to add that this thread and the other one you refer to have made me very wary of posting on this forum.

My story is that when I was diagnosed - after following the 'normal' recommended diet of complex carbs, low fat and moderate protein for many years and watching my weight go up and up - I tried to follow the diet sheet my GP gave me, which seemed to almost double my carb intake, my BG was climbing ever higher that my diagnosis FBG level of 19. When I contacted my doctor and told him I was worried, he shouted at me for testing and said I should leave it to him and if my lab results were worse in 6 months, he'd increase my medication. After spending the rest of that day crying because I thought I would be blind or dead before my next review, I went onto another forum where I learned about low carb diets and thought I'd give it a try because anything that helped was worth it.

Within days I was feeling better - thirst gone, BG levels coming down and feeling confident that I could eat stuff I liked without it killing me. I had a review with my GP not quite 3 months into being diagnosed and the results were amazing - Hba1c down from 12% to 6.3%, cholesterol only a tiny bit above normal levels and proteinuria gone. I'd lost 16 kgs and my mobility has improved dramatically so I can exercise more (I have fairly severe osteoarthritis). My doctor is talking about halving my medication at the next review, with a view to stopping it altogether if I can maintain my good levels. He had to grudgingly admit that I've got it right.

My experience almost exactly, i wasnt over weight when I was diagnosed as prediabetic, was given the diet sheet and changed to the recommended diet (i was on a mediterenean/fish diet up till then, being married to an italian made that kind of compulsory), and thats when everything started to go wrong, cholestrol going up, weight going up, joint inflamation problems and no improvement in BG in my fasting and OGTT results. By the time I was fully diagnosed I was up to 15stone, had very high cholesterol despite avoiding pretty much all red meats and sat fats, andhad problems with knees, wrists, elbows and shoulders. Since dumping the one size fits all dietary advice cholesterol is down with good ratios, BG is excellent, imflamation gone from everywhere but my left knee which has some old climbing injuries and I have lost loads of weight through a mix of low carb, dalorie defecit and lots of exercise. My doctor is happy and so am I. i find the diet to be perfectly sustainable for me as its not really that different to what i was doing before the nice guidelines were placed in my hand, I just cut out the starchy stuff, and generally the only thing I miss is my own home made bread.

All any of us can do is tell our own stories, i have come to the conclusion that pushing any diet as the only way forward is as insane as saying that only the nice guidelines offer the one true path. We are all different and we have to find our own paths based on own experiences and tolerences.

 

[douglas99]

I'd be interested to see what diet advice others received in truth.

Myself, usual healthy diet, the eat well plate, that we all appear to love to demonise.

So, in reality, at the time, the nhs are seeing someone 4 stone overweight, eating fried bacon on white bread, jam donuts, considered the grapes in a bottle of wine as the five a day, sugar in gallons of coffee a day, lucozade, chips, crisps, sweets, mars bars, pork pies, pasties, sausage rolls....

And you seriously think the diet sheet they gave me wasn't an improvement?

I know I can't be alone here, as even Andy appears to have been in the same place.

So, yes, it was the correct advise at the time, and if you take the effort to work it out, a portion controlled, "healthy" diet of about 2000 calories, with 1/3 made up of fairly low GI foods is 700 calories, or 175 g of carbs.
But then, it's not even that, as a lot of the carbs they suggest are fibre, so I don't see the demons force feeding sugar into us here.

Then as some of us do, we can move on and fine tune that diet, remove the carbs, eat more fat, test and eat selected carbs that don't spike us. Whatever we decide works for us personally.

Either way, I still wouldn't choose to go back to my previous diet, if it was that or the nhs's..

 

[Daibell]

The last two posters add weight to the many other posters including me on the forum. What makes me so incensed is that there are some, but not all, NHS staff who are actively making their patients worse through non-evidence based medicine. This is inexcusable. Whilst we must all make our own diet choices I would be interested to hear of anyone who has improved or controlled their diabetes thru a high-carb diet without stacks of tablets or insulin

 

[douglas99]

The last two posters add weight to the many other posters including me on the forum. What makes me so incensed is that there are some, but not all, NHS staff who are actively making their patients worse through non-evidence based medicine. This is inexcusable. Whilst we must all make our own diet choices I would be interested to hear of anyone who has improved or controlled their diabetes thru a high-carb diet without stacks of tablets or insulin

What's your figure for high carb?

 

[equipoise]

Hi douglas99.
'the eat well plate that we all appear to love to demonise', as you call it, includes 'PLENTY of potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods '.

On another thread today you advised a poster to 'Avoid classic bad foods first. ... potatoes, white rice, white pasta, white bread, anything like that.
Personally, I avoid all root veg, most rice apart from a bit of basmati occasionally, all pasta, as I test myself and know they spike me'.

So you clearly believe that the eat well plate is wrong. WHY do you find it so distressing to say this, or to suggest that the NHS is giving bad advice?