Dietician's advice - help please

[Grazer]

On diagnosis, the "specialist dietician" told me testing was useless as I wasn't on medication so what could I do anyway? I was told to eat more potatos and starchy food than I did. I got a meter anyway, and What I could do was test and avoid all the things that gave me high BS readings! This was mainly the starchy food she told me to eat more of! I enjoy my low GI carbs but limit them and avoid two lots at one meal. So, for example, fish in batter has to go with salad, but plain fish with chips or hash browns O.K. No pastry if I have potatos. My blood sugars have dropped from peaks of 13 to less than 8, fasting blood from 7+ to about 6, Can't understand the dieticians attitude or the recommendations. I'm fairly new at this, so perhaps someone can explain!

 

[sugarless sue]

On diagnosis, the "specialist dietician" told me testing was useless as I wasn't on medication so what could I do anyway?

Only by testing before and two hours after a meal will you find out how the foods you are eating affects your blood sugar levels. This is the whole point of someone on diet only testing ! The 'dietician' obviously is not that specialised then !


I was told to eat more potatoes and starchy food than I did.

This advice originates from advice for Type 1's on Insulin it was so that they had a regular amount of carbs in their blood stream to stop them hypoing. It is NOT good advice for someone on diet only! You have no way of bringing down high blood sugar levels once they do go up with this sort of diet !


I got a meter anyway, and What I could do was test and avoid all the things that gave me high BS readings! This was mainly the starchy food she told me to eat more of! I enjoy my low GI carbs but limit them and avoid two lots at one meal. So, for example, fish in batter has to go with salad, but plain fish with chips or hash browns O.K. No pastry if I have potatoes. My blood sugars have dropped from peaks of 13 to less than 8, fasting blood from 7+ to about 6, Can't understand the dieticians attitude or the recommendations. I'm fairly new at this, so perhaps someone can explain!

They seem to have a one size fits all view on how to treat Diabetes.

If it were that simple then there would be a simple list of foods you can and can't eat and all would have control and there would be no need for Forums like ours !

We are all individuals and although we share the same basic Biological make-up it is how we process the foods that we eat that make controlling Diabetes difficult until you find out just what YOUR body is doing with the foods.

A Diabetic on diet only needs to be able to test because they have no other way of controlling their intake of food and how it affects them. Reducing Carbohydrate is a must for diet only.

A Diabetic on medication may be able to eat foods that someone of diet only cannot tolerate but even they must be careful so as not to 'spike' to high.

When you first joined I gave you our' Basic Guide to New Diabetics '

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088&start=0

If you read this it goes some way to explaining how we, as experienced Diabetics, have managed to control our Diabetes by our own trial and error and not just slavishly following the generic NHS advice.

 

[viviennem]

Hi Sue!

Welcome back - we've missed you!

Viv

 

[sugarless sue]

Thanks

 

[HLW]

Both the nurse 'dietician' and the real dietician told me to avoid too much carbs, so there are some more enlightened ones out there.

Interesting to read your reply about why they used to say to eat carbs Sue, I had always wondered why they had ever thought that was a good idea.