Diets

[Francis faulkner]

Hello I have type 2 diabetes I have all way shuggeld whith diet now I have been diagnosed whith a eye condition where I will loos my eye sight. It cannot be cured. So I need to get my diabetes under control to slow it down .can someone pleas help whith food list and recapis I have tried to understand about the food I should eat I know about carbs but that's about it pleas can someone help a very desperate man. God bless

 

[Pipp]

Hello @Francis faulkner , and welcome.

Would you mind giving a bit more information , please, so that our members can offer appropriate advice?
It would be helpful to know what medication you are on, as although lo carb way of eating is used by many with great success, it can contribute to hypos if you are on medication that can cause very low blood glucose, too.

How long have you had T2 diabetes? What sort of food do you eat now?

There is some good advice and info in the dietdoctor website. Also information for new members in the links below my signature. Though do bear in mind that you need to be cautious if you are on medication that can cause hypos.


**Important edit

The OP's profile states that they are on insulin and metformin, so though plenty of insulin users successfully adopt a low carb approach dietary changes really need to be done under discussion with their medical team, as adopting a low carb approach might change the amount of insulin needed.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hello I have type 2 diabetes I have all way shuggeld whith diet now I have been diagnosed whith a eye condition where I will loos my eye sight. It cannot be cured. So I need to get my diabetes under control to slow it down .can someone pleas help whith food list and recapis I have tried to understand about the food I should eat I know about carbs but that's about it pleas can someone help a very desperate man. God bless

It would be helpful if we had a little more to go on, as advice we give can indeed take a wrong turn if you're medicated with things that make your blood sugars drop like a stone on a low carb diet.

Here's my "The Nutritional Thingy" https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html , which gives the basics on low carb eating some, but according to your profile you're on insulin... If you go low carb without adjusting your meds accordingly, you likely can and will go hypo. So if you make any changes, do be extremely careful and try to make them together with your nurse or doctor. Just read up about the low carb eating some, so you know what it is and how to do it, but don't make any changes without professional help, eh. Again, it can be very dangerous indeed.

Good luck,
Jo

 

[There is no Spoon]

I have tried to understand about the food I should eat

Hi @Francis faulkner as others have already said you need to take into account any medication you are on, but perhaps I can help you navigate how food effects you.

Your body runs of sugar, every thing you eat it will try to turn in to glycose to power the body.
There are 3 basic food groups, proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates: these are easy for you to turn into sugar.
Proteins: not so easy to turn into sugar.
Healthy Fats: can't turn into sugar.

As a diabetic you want lower the sugar in your system. Which is why many people on here use a LCHF low carb & high fat diet to help lower blood sugar. Low carb is easy if you know what a carb is eat less healthy fats you man not be familiar with here is a helpful link to get you started. Healthy Fats

IF you reduce blood sugar levels you should see a reduction in weight as excess sugar (converted in to Glycose) in your blood is turned in to fat and stored as energy for a time when it is needed, the body needs it now and turns it back in to New Glycose to power the body.

There is a lot to understand and get your head round at the beginning of trying to take control you your condition and it can get a little confusing. I hope this helps simplified it for you.

 

[AloeSvea]

Just to add to above - we run on both glucose, and ketones, and our bodies can shift between 'sugar burning' and 'fats burning' depending on our diet/food environment.

 

[Melgar]

Yes that's so interesting @AloeSvea . Even though I'm not on a low carb diet I'm constantly burning ketones. 0.5 - 1.5. I'm thinking, as I do so much exercise, my body switches over to fat burn when needed. Our bodies are remarkable.

 

[AloeSvea]

Yes indeed, @Melgar, I agree.

 

[There is no Spoon]

Just to add to above - we run on both glucose, and ketones,

@AloeSvea you are absolutely correct, my answer is over simplification to ease Francis into understanding the LCHF mindset. Ketones and Ketosis can be a complicated subject for anyone new.

Just as I described Gluconeogenesis at the same time as the body breaks down the fat cells called Ketogenesis.
A quick summery for anyone new to this perhaps it can help.

Low Carb reduces sugar to the brain which it doesn't like, it feels like having a flue, it triggers the release of energy store in the liver, glycogen. We are going to stick a pin in this and come back to it.

The energy stores in the liver are not enough to keep the brain happy, only about 12 hours worth of stored reserves, so it will then trigger the breaking down of Adipose fate cells in to Glycogen and Fatty Acids which are turned into Glucose and Ketones.

The brain prefers Glycogen but when it is in short supply, LCHF, it will switch to Ketones. (again an over simplification)

Low carb triggers the release of fat stored in the liver, for many who have reversed there condition, this was true in my case, understanding this was the key to everything.
For some of us: type 2 Diabetes is linked / caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Excess fat stored blocking up the liver reducing its ability to function effectively leading to insulin resistance and thus diabetes.

Adopting a diet which drains the liver of fat, can lead to reversing type 2 Diabetes.
This takes about 2 - 3 months (anecdotal from my experience )

This is not a cure, I have always thought of it akin to an alcoholic just because they stop drinking doesn't mean they are no longer an alcoholic.

 

[Melgar]

If I understand your post @There is no Spoon , I believe your brain will always prefer glucose and will struggle at first to adapt to a very low carb diet due to much lower sugar availability. Whilst your brain adapts you feel dreadful, like you've got flu symptoms. People call this ' Keto flu' . In short keto flu is often described as how you feel whilst your body is adapting to the new very low carb diet.

Yes, glycogen stores only last between 12-24 hours. I often use up all my glycogen stores as I am into fitness and exercise, hence I produce ketones, but I am not on a very low carb diet. So once these glycogen stores are depleted the body will turn to fat breakdown or lipolysis for its energy. This comes from the breakdown of Adipose fat. Adipose fat is found around your abdomen and organs. There is a biochemical process that takes place with this type of fat that has a negative impact on your metabolism. It is different from subcutaneous fat which often sits around your thighs , hips, and is harmless.
The liver will then break down this adipose fat into ketones. Ketones can be used as an alternative to glucose , my understanding is the brain cannot function on ketones alone it will need some glucose to function properly. I'm happy to be corrected on that. The body is remarkable and will adapt.

Adipose fat I believe is converted to Fatty acids and ketones , not directly back to glycogen.

Edited grammar

 

[KennyA]

If I understand your post @There is no Spoon , I believe your brain will always prefer glucose and will struggle at first to adapt to a very low carb diet due to much lower sugar availability. Whilst your brain adapts you feel dreadful, like you've got flu symptoms. People call this ' Keto flu' . In short keto flu is often described as how you feel whilst your body is adapting to the new very low carb diet.

Yes, glycogen stores only last between 12-24 hours. I often use up all my glycogen stores as I am into fitness and exercise, hence I produce ketones, but I am not on a very low carb diet. So once these glycogen stores are depleted the body will turn to fat breakdown or lipolysis for its energy. This comes from the breakdown of Adipose fat. Adipose fat is found around your abdomen and organs. There is a biochemical process that takes place with this type of fat that has a negative impact on your metabolism. It is different from subcutaneous fat which often sits around your thighs , hips, and is harmless.
The liver will then break down this adipose fat into ketones. Ketones can be used as an alternative to glucose , my understanding is the brain cannot function on ketones alone it will need some glucose to function properly. I'm happy to be corrected on that. The body is remarkable and will adapt.

Adipose fat I believe is converted to Fatty acids and ketones , not directly back to glycogen.

Edited grammar

I think that's correct. It's actually more confusing trying to simplify a very complex system. There is about a day's worth of energy in muscle and liver stores. Obviously that depends on how much energy you use. The liver is constantly adjusting glucose levels in the blood stream in response to various stimuli and has probably most influence most of the time over BG levels. One of the issues is livers working hard to maintain higher than ideal BG levels because over time those have come to represent "normal" levels. Livers will adjust to maintaining lower levels eventually.

Fat as such is not normally stored in the liver. Livers (and other organs) can be surrounded by visceral fat which stops them working properly - this happens to some T2 people and not others.

I produce ketones all the time to compensate for my glucose deficit caused by eating only 20g carb/day: but our livers also create glucose as needed via both gluconeogenesis and glcogenolysis. It's a complex system, and the attached graphic (from Bilous and Donnelly) shows how it works.

 

[There is no Spoon]

If I understand your post

Hi @Melgar I thing you have picked me up wrong the "Low Carb reduces sugar to the brain which it doesn't like" this is my fault I followed this up with a reference to the effect of "keto flue" with out going into any detail. As this is for a new member and i didn't want to bog them down with information overload.

Which it doesn't like - just my way of saying:
The brain brain will always prefer glucose if this is in short supply it will use ketones as an alternate energy source to supress glucose consumption. As you said the brain does not switch over completely but supplements the glucose consumption by making up the short fall by generating Ketones.

Again information overload, I remember what it was like first discovering all this. There are a lot of things you don't need to know on your first day.

My very first question after joining these boards was "can't wrap my head around insulin resistance, am I supposed to be lowering or raising my insulin levels?" That was after reading dozens of articles online.

The OP " I have tried to understand about the food I should eat"

I think it is a little to easy to forget that some members on here know a hell of a lot about this subject and some responses need to be "dumbed down" to get information across to those who need it.

Speaking of dumbing down I didn't remember the part about adipose fat smothering organs, that's the thing I love about these boards you learn so much when helping others.


P.s its late please excuse any typo's.

 

[There is no Spoon]

Fat as such is not normally stored in the liver.

Again this is my fault not expressing it clearly "Excess fat stored blocking up the liver " there should have been a "/" between stored "/" blocking. Just trying to use a turn of phrase which conveyed the idea of draining the liver of fat and the health benefits behind doing so.

 

[KennyA]

Unfortunately one of the problems seen on these forums time and time again is people newly diagnosed and very confused having read someone's "simplified" version, usually picked up from the media or a random facebook post. It's bad enough having to learn a lot of new stuff without having to unlearn a lot first.

Explaining/simplifying extremely complex matters is a real skill, and I would rather direct people to someone like Jason Fung, Michael Eades or Malcolm Kendrick than attempt it myself.

 

[There is no Spoon]

Explaining/simplifying extremely complex matters is a real skill, and I would rather direct people to someone like Jason Fung, Michael Eades or Malcolm Kendrick than attempt it myself.

I'll check them out thanks for that.

 

[AloeSvea]

Something I have really noticed with myself, and other folks, when taking on a new way of eating, and lower carb, and cutting the sugar, is sugar withdrawal.

I've had otherwise quite cheerful folks come stay with me in the country (ie limited access to ultra processed food and sweet treats unless they bring it with them, and they have not heeded my warnings about making sure they do that), eat my low-carb fare, and be irritable and what looks like diet-shocked in a few days. (I'm pretty sure it isn't my cooking! I promise!) It's too quick to be keto flu, which I have experienced way way back, but it sure looks like withdrawal from an addictive substance that gives pleasure. I have put it down to sugar withdrawal.