Hi tezza,
The diabetics with the best control all test their blood. Doctors and diabetic nurses are often reluctant to prescribe test strips to T2 diabetics, but I have a feeling this is due more to cost-saving than anything else. If you can persuade them to prescribe you some strips, get them!
There's a lot to the whole diet thing, but to put it briefly - carbohydrate is the KEY to T2 diabetic control. When you eat carbohydrate it gets digested and broken down into glucose; that glucose gets carried around the body in the bloodstream. The more carbohydrate you eat, the more glucose there is to put into the blood.
Insulin is the hormone that lets all the cells in your body take that glucose out of the blood and use it. Normally, the body produces the right amount of insulin depending on how much glucose there is in the blood, and things stay nicely balanced. In T2 diabetes, your body has become insulin resistant; despite there being plenty of insulin around (in fact, probably too much!) the body can't use it properly. The result is that too much of the glucose stays in your blood. This is a Bad Thing, as it's what leads to all the long-term problems diabetics can face.
The answer to all of this is to eat less carbohydrate! If you don't put as much carbohydrate into the system, your blood doesn't get as swamped with glucose. The body's limited ability to use insulin isn't overloaded, and it deals with the glucose that is there far more effectively. The result is that your blood glucose stays more even and at a nice lower level, avoiding the damage that high blood glucose causes.
What foods contain carbohydrates? The biggies are bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweets, full-sugar fizzy drinks, fruit juices, smoothies etc. There's more to it than that, and it's well worth buying a "calorie counter" book or looking at the packaging on food. But by limiting these foods or cutting them out altogether, you will improve your control no end.
There are plenty of people on here who've had great success with this approach. If all of this is a bit over your head don't worry, but do try to read through some of the posts here (particularly on the "low carb" forum - there's a good starting guide on there). Post questions, read up, and you'll learn the ropes quickly.
Hope that helps, and good luck with your control - do post back with any more specifics though!
.i was told to join slim/world and follow the green diet as this was the best one for diabetics,on it a week now but reading some of the posts i find what ive been eating such as pasta,wholemeal bread is wrong i do try and eat healthy,fruite,veg ect,also the nurse said they no longer ask you to check youre b/g levels now i thought this would of been important .any advice please.do i go back to nurse and demand a meter.
