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Do you believe the diet advice from dietician for type 2

S

SilverAndEbony

Well-Known Member
Messages
139
Hi all,

That's a long winded way of saying...

When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I saw a dietitian who told me that, basically, the 'diabetic diet' is no more. We should be having the same healthy balanced diet that everyone else should be eating.
That's the basic advice I have been what I should be eating.

My question is:
Does anyone posting on this forum believe that advice? It seems like most people don't believe it - or have I misunderstood? I have been trying to follow the advice I was given.

I think that obsessing about diet is counterproductive for most people - assuming your glucose levels are well controlled and you're not susceptible to hypos. It certainly makes me very stressed, which isn't good for glucose levels! And it has added to my depression. I think of what I eat as a balance. Orange juice has lots of easily absorbed sugar, but if you drink it with something that has slowly released sugar it's OK. Though I have to admit I don't eat properly all the time - especially when I'm depressed. So then I worry about what I'm eating, feel guilty and 'bad', get more depressed, eat more chocolate and say 'yes! to toast and peanut butter.

I feel I have enough to worry about without obsessing about what I eat and testing my blood all the time. My diabetes nurse isn't worried as my HB1Ac is always 6.5 ish. I check my blood twice a week to check there isn't a problem emerging. I know I can go and see her if I'm worried or my glucose levels go significantly higher or lower than normal for me.
 
S&E if your diabetes is well controlled by what you are doing then keep doing it! Don't feel guilty because you are reading what other people do or don't do.The key is finding what is right for you,not blindly following what everyone else says or does.You are obviously controlling your diabetes and that is the most important thing for you.
 
If your bs are ok then u are doing what is right for you.

The truth is that non diabetics need to follow similar guidelines - and get rid of the junk.

The diet i suppose is similar but diabetics do need to be aware that some foods may effect their levels in a different way - i am not diabetic and i have looked at the effect of sat chocolate on my BS and it hardly moves! Def ditch the orange juice!
 
I think Sue is absolutely right. If you are controlling your diabetes well, then stick with whatever you are doing.
I so understand where you are coming from with your question though. Having tried for over a week to follow low-carb, I got to a point this morning when I actually felt I'd rather not have woken up this morning at all. Seriously.
I was so happy when my readings plummeted, initially but I have felt a failure and total guilt at not being able to stick to it. I am convinced low-carbing does reduce blood sugars...the evidence was there but I have always been a comfort eater. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I have so many family issues that make me stressed that I "need" the comfort of food. I am not talking Kit-Kat Chunkies here. I'm talking "normal" food, a few potatoes, rice, pasta. The staple foods know I shouldn't have.
I have reached a point of total confusion these past few days. I had a late breakfast today...a small bowl of Weetaflakes with semi-skimmed milk. In the past I've had no problems with Weetaflakes but 2 hours after eating them I had a reading today of 14.9.!!! This just makes no sense to me.
For lunch I was scared to eat anything for fear of putting it up even higher.(I only take insulin twice a day, morning and evening). I knew I had to eat something so had two rashers of grilled bacon, some sugar-free jelly and fresh blueberries.Come this evening, I took a reading and was down in the low 3's.
I have been in tears of total frustration and confusion today. I tried to phone the diabetes nurse to get an appointment, in the hopes she could get me back on an even keel but was told both diabetes nurses are on holiday.Most helpful.
The point is, all I want now is to get my readings on the level. If you have succeeded in doing that, then I applaud you. It must be the main thing all us diabetics strive for.
I am so lucky in having a supportive husband but theguilt I feel today at having failed over this low-carb thing is all-consuming.
 
omg - please do not feel a failure. We all have good days and bad days.

Why don't u try keeping a food diary for a few days - I sometimes find it helps you focus .

I know some find low carbing easy but in mt expereince it is not always so .

You have to do what you can cope with.
 
Thanks for the support, ally.I'm glad we have you onboard here. It's good to have varying viewpoints and I think it was you who mentioned about portion control being a good idea recently.
Having failed at low-carbing, I think portion control sounds much more suited to me. If I can have a little of most things and not feel I'm missing out, I'll still be reducing carbs. and hopefully have more chance of sticking with it.
I had a home-made stir-fry this evening with not too many noodles and yet got another reading in the 3's just now. I had upped my insulin by 2 units before the stir-fry, as I thought I'd need it as I'm changing back to include "some" carbs with my main meal.You can see why I'm so bloomin' confused at the mo'. What worries me is that these past few days I seem to have lost the ability to notice when my sugars have gone too low or too high. Anything under 5 I'd have previously started to feel wobbly but it's only because I'm checking regularly at present that I know if I'm high or low. Why should I suddenly lose my ability to recognise this?
My mother has told me today to check my blood sugars less because "if you feel okay, why worry". Its BECAUSE I want to stabilise my levels that I am checking several times a day, whilst I'm adjusting. She just doesn't understand.I think, like any mother, she is just concerned to see me so distressed over all this.
 
Choccie,

I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time with the changes to your diet. If it helps at all, we have all felt what you're feeling, at different times and to different degrees.

If I can suggest anything to help, it would be just to take it much more slowly. Any dramatic change in the diet can have an unpredictable impact, and you will probably find it really hard to maintain if the transition is sudden.

The changes I made were small, gradual, and actually carried out over a number of years. If you had told my previous incarnation to suddenly give up pasta and cheescake, I'd have used very harsh language indeed. But small changes will still have a beneicial effect and might in time become larger, more permanent changes with more chance of success.

You have already made great strides, I think. Now you can clearly see the benefits, perhaps you should just take it at whatever pace you feel comfortable with. Please don't beat yourself up!

All the best,

fergus
 
Thank you, Fergus. I have an enormous amount of respect for you and your knowledge about this bloomin' condition.It is good to feel that I am not alone in feeling as I do right now and that others have felt this way at some point.
I kept holding you up as a shining example of what can be done, to my husband last week. I think he got sick of hearing your name and wondered when you got your "sainthood".He'll be relieved to know about the cheesecake and pasta longings in your previous life!! :lol:
I had my earliest ever "before breakfast reading" today. I have gone down to 2's and 3's mid-morning but never ever had a good reading first thing. It was 6.5. this morning and I've always been about 9 first thing. Interestingly 'cause I was down to 3 something before bed,I had one slice of seeded bread with a tiny sliver of cheese last night. I don't usually eat bread before bed but that has confused me even more to have a good reading this morning.
When I could not get help yesterday from the surgery I honestly felt like screaming with frustration. I just don't understand the varying readings I am getting and your point about taking my time is a valid one. I will certainly take that onboard.
Thank you.
 
maybe u should push the surgery to refer to a diabetes centre - gps are generalists unless they maybe have an input into a diabetes centre - push them really !
I work with a fab bunch of gps but a couple still work on a sessional basis at a diabetes unit - makes a big diference. It may be worth checking if one of your gps does this.
 
The diabetes team are based at my G.P's, ally.We don't have a diabetes section at my local hospital. It just happens that BOTH of the women are on holiday at the same time...which seems totally daft to me. I WAS offered an apointment with the G.P. but refused as I have no confidence in them dealing with diabetic problems. I am, however, lucky in having diabetes nurses I have confidence in, so will just have to await their return.
 
blimey that was stupid letting both go!

Do you have a bigger district general nearer you - I would have thought all trusts have a diabetes centre somewhere.
 
I did a bit of digging after your suggestion, ally and am amazed to find there IS an out-patients clinic held weekly at our local hospital.I had no idea. I didn't know there was a diabetologist and his team at the bigger general 17 miles away either.
What I am also now thinking is that the two "diabetes nurses" I have seen at my GP's, although seemingly very knowledgable and helpful, might be doing a diabetes clinic as a "part" of their normal surgery duties. I am lucky in that I have not had cause to see a doctor for some years but on initial diagnosis, should I have at least seen a specialist doctor for any tests or anything? I was just told over the phone I had diabetes and then it was straight into the diabetes nurse, whom I see now. I did see a dietician, who treated me like a naughty two-year-old and told me I was overweight.I promptly refused to see her again. I then saw one privately, who told me I was not overweight at all and that she knew the other woman and had had complaints about her advice and attitude before. :roll:
Mentally, I seem to be coping better today, so as Fergus suggests, I think I need to give myself more time to adjust to things.
Thank you for your input. It is much appreciated.
 
One of the bits of advice both my diabetes nurse and dietitian gave me was to look into low glycemic index foods. Which I'd never heard of, but is all over the diet pages now.
I am probably telling you something you already know here :wink:
Basically, some food is digested quicker in the sense that glucose gets into your blood stream quicker. That includes different types of the same food. So the advice was eat baby new potatoes instead of baked potatoes, for example.

The good thing is chocolate is very good for keeping low and steady blood glucose levels :lol:
- but bad because that's because it's got tons of fat. Which is not recommended for diabetics. Or, as in my case, people which a strong family history of heart disease. The advice I was given was to have one bar a week max, but make it really nice chocolate and I enjoy it :D
We're on Green and Blacks at the moment and loving it!
 
I have followed the diet advice for 10 years, with apparently good control. Now, with the onset of diabetic complications, I have in the last 2 weeks followed a reduced carb diet. The complications (muscle pain) have gone away.

I was diagnosed T2 10 years ago (age 60) HbA1c=11. I immediately cut out sugar, & the confirmatory test=8. the GP told me all the complications so I went out in a state of shock. I was sent for diabetes education at the local hospital, & the team explained the care I could expect, & principles of diet.

I followed all recommendations & my HbA1C has stayed around 6.5. I have however noted an increase in fasting bs, & when it has gone above 7 - started on Metformin (2 / day) & then increased to 3. Then 3 years ago the dr started me on Simvastatin to get my cholesterol down from 5 to 4, but this caused acute leg muscle pain. Discontinuing stopped the pain within a week, but it recurred when he prescribed Niacin - the trial of 3 weeks was enough. It put the fasting bs up above 7.

The pain recurred 2 months ago, & I feared it was the end of my active life. (I play tennis at club standard.) I'm playing again.
 
It has been found that if people have lost their hypoawareness symptoms that if they strictly keep above bs of 4.0 for about two weeks the awareness symptoms go back to normal.

With twice daily insulin you can't be as flexible over your eating as with separate basal and meal injections. It sounds to me that if you prefer to stick to two jags you will need to experiment with your carb intake at breakfast and lunch to find the amount that keeps you steady. A low carb lunch could work really well as you have less injected insulin covering at this point.

Experimenting till you get it right and being consistent when you have got it right is the way to normal blood sugars.
 
The only decent piece of advice I got from the dietician was that GI of foods vary drastically between different people. Therefore, the consensus of us end users is that you have to figure out what foods send you high. You can only do that by post prandial BGM. There has been a lot on this in our forum.

Remember that your fasting levels link to microvascular complications (nerve, eye , kidney damage). Post prandial levels are more linked to cardiovasculat risks (heart attacks and strokes). Since 70% of diabetics die from meart attacks/ strokes, the post prandial levels are important to control.
 
Admittedly this was a Diabetes nurse, and not a dietician, but the advice that I was given was low fat, low sugar and low salt. My GP told me that I wouldn't go far wrong following the GI diet. I was also told to eat regularly, and to make sure that there is fiber-rich complex carbohydrate with each meal. Both the GP and the nurse were adamant that newly diagnosed T2s shouldn't test BG (they said that most people don't act upon test results so, at best, there is no point and at worst they cause stress and make things worse). I started off following this advice - porridge for breakfast, lots of brown rice, whole-meal bread, pasta and bananas.

I was initially skeptical about the "don't test" advice, and when I discovered this forum I rapidly became skeptical about the diet too. I have since ignored the advice on testing, and I found that the low fat/sugar/salt diet did seem to help a lot. My fasting BG was generally about 7, and two hours after eating it was usually in the 9-12 range (at diagnosis it was over 9 fasting and over 15 after a GTT). I have now bought Richard Bernstein's book and have been exerimenting with a low-ish carb diet. Without being really extreme (I don't go in for carb counting, I am just trying to avoid large quantities of overt carbohydrate), my fasting BG is usually just under 6, and during the day it rarely goes above 9 and never above 10.

In short, the "official" NHS diet helped me, but not as much as a moderate low carb diet. Metabolism is complex and everyone is different. Where I found the advice I was given really misleading is that it tried to force me into a "one size fits all" solution. What I found really infuriating is the very strong advice not to test. It is still very early days for me (I was only diagnosed a few weeks ago), but I am already quite a long way down the road to finding a diet that fits me - and it is testing that has allowed me to do this.
 
Katherine is absolutely right about twice-a-day insulin being less flexible, I was put on Novomix 30 and kept finding that I HAD to eat to stop going hypo and consequently the weight went on and on. Since changing to basal-bolus and reducing carbs the excess weight has gone. And hey, for some no-carb meals no injection is needed anyway!
 
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