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Do I eat to my meter or my HBA1C?

jim1951

Well-Known Member
Messages
562
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I am trying to limit my carbs compared with the past and I will stay this way until I reduce my weight down.

Going forward in the future I would hate to think that I couldn't, on occasions, eat some of the things that aren't on the diabetic good list.

If I adhere to the meter I will never have any of these items and that would be sad. If I eventually include some of these items, but keep my HBA1C in the 30's range presumably I am not storing up problems for myself?

I guess my question is what is the view on short term spikes that don't push up HBA1C?

JIM
 
I can't see that a few spikes is going to impact that much on a 2-3 month average represented by an HbA1c. How often you 'indulge' is up to you, but I would be wary of complacency.
 
sanguine said:
I can't see that a few spikes is going to impact that much on a 2-3 month average represented by an HbA1c. How often you 'indulge' is up to you, but I would be wary of complacency.
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I am more interested on the effects of the spikes on long term health if they are balanced out by lower readings that keep the average looking good?

Jim
 
As far as complications are concerned it is the length of time your BS is above recommended levels more often than not and over a period of years. Your normal or low levels and HbA1c averages are irrelevant in this. A few spikes here and there aren't likely to have much effect on long term health.
 
It's a very bold statement to say you "..... will never have any of these items". I have found, having got skinny and reduced by A1c, I can now tolerate some things. I seem fine with tropical fruit, rice, potato and bread - albeit in modest portions. Just wait a while, and when you have reached your other objectives, try and test. Testing in an honest way is the answer.
 
I personally would always eat to my meter, as HbA1c results are just averages - they don't tell you whether those averages are made up of fairly steady BG or dramatic and harmful highs and lows cancelling each other out - or somewhere in between...

You meter is (just!) a tool not your ruler, so if you want to "eat naughty" occasionally, there's nothing really to stop you. It's your decision, not the meter's, whether you indulge or not, and it's just there a guide to the harm or otherwise your choice of food may be doing you.

Robbity
 
Hi Jim, since losing weight and getting my A1c reduced I have also found that I can tolerate the odd treat without too much of a spike. If I am naughty I go for a quick brisk 10/15 minute walk with the dog and I am back to normal in no time. We all get the odd spike for whatever reason, being ill or having an infection can raise blood glucose, it is the prolonged high bg that is a problem. I like McDonalds McFlurry, so I will have one when I'm out shopping because I know that I will walk it off in no time.

Marilyn
 


AndBreathe

that is good to hear.

I probably want the best of both worlds, don't we all! I would like to think that I will be able to tolerate what I would consider healthy but carby foods again in the future.

jim
 
Mazzer said:
If I am naughty I go for a quick brisk 10/15 minute walk with the dog

Marilyn
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so the next question to ask is whether the risk of diabetes is lower with dog owners!!
 
jim1951 said:
so the next question to ask is whether the risk of diabetes is lower with dog owners!!
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Hi Jim, no I'm afraid not, I have had my dog for 5 years and walk her for an hour in the morning and and hour in in the evening whatever the weather 365 day a year, I still got diabetes lol. I did have a couple of borderline tests over the last couple of years, so I guess by walking the dog actually delayed diagnosis for a while.

Marilyn
 
jim1951 said:
so the next question to ask is whether the risk of diabetes is lower with dog owners!!
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Not necessarily, but they can be a great help with diabetes management! Cuddling up with them when your diabetes gets you down is a great comfort, and they can be life savers for the type one people warning them about potential problems and even fetching their kit for them.

Robbity
 
I guess the next part of my question is whether a 1 hour spike is okay if 2 hour reading is below 7.5?

jim
 
jim1951 said:
.......I guess my question is what is the view on short term spikes that don't push up HBA1C?

JIM
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My view - the HBA1C is my most important measure and that will demonstrate if my new regime is working as I want. If I can get it consistently down into an acceptable range then, and only then, may I consider reintrodicing the occasional treat, but I expect by that time to have lost any craving for them as its already happening.

I have no meter because I am working on a longer term plan, so I have enough to concentrate on (after recent diagnosis) than daily spikes. In all likelihood I have been diabetic for years, so have had many spikes in the past without knowing, but the aim now is healthy living and following the excellent 'Desmond' course advice. My overall hope is that I never have to worry about a meter but I know that makes me odd in many people's eyes.

Do whatever is right for you Jim, but don't get fixated on what the meter says.....
 
Like Robbity, I see my meter as a tool so I test if I feel funny or I'm introducing something new. I like to use my meter daily just to keep a check on what I'm doing. The reality of diabetes is that if you want to manage it you can only eat some of these bad things occasionally and will not be able to go back to a choccie bar, couple of glasses of wine or a packet of crisps or dessert or all of the above on a daily basis. I had a packet of crisps which I shared with the kids 2 weeks ago so last night I really fancied a pack. I forgot to test beforehand but at that time of the day I'm about 5.5. Within 20 mins I was up to 7.6 and after 40 mins 9 after an hour 6.2. My friend (non diabetic ) had full fat coke and a packet of crisps and peaked at 6 so I guess that's just the way it is.
I have a couple of glasses of wine at the weekend, dessert but LCHF twice a week and a couple of squares of dark choccie every night except for if I have dessert. I really like the food I eat. I do miss my daily glass of wine but do like my slimmer figure!
Good luck
 
jim1951 said:
I guess the next part of my question is whether a 1 hour spike is okay if 2 hour reading is below 7.5?

jim
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this is recommended, you can aim for less if you like

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
•Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
•2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
 
Thinking about spikes, I tend not to look so much at the actual figure, but the rise against my pre meal (or to be posh - my pre prandial!) reading. Often an apparently high one doesn't appear so bad in this light - it may mean I haven't sinned too much food wise, but I do also worry about my sometimes highish before meal readings, which tend to be my main problem.

Robbity
 
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