I will try to keep this as brief as possible . I’m 56 female overweight , dr says pre diabetic ( no number given ) both parents diabetic and amputees . Very frighten as to what to do , need advice re diet and and testing . Have made meal plan for myself of low carb ( 70g or less per day) is this enough , too low , where does Keto fit in ?
Desperately worried and want to make the right choices . Worried about conflict between Keto and diets with fat and losing weight .
Have bought a tasting monitor and this morning tested 16 - am so worried - don’t know what to do for the best and worried I’ll end up doing nothing because I can’t decide ?! Need good advice re diet and when to test . Please any advice gratefully received
Hi
@debj56 , and welcome,
Where does Keto fit in? Let's see... Basically, all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. Usually, a body would use glucose for fuel, but as a prediabetic/T2 there's a problem there: It doesn't get burned off, it get stored in fat cells instead, and when those are full the sugar shows up in your bloodstream, urine, tears, saliva etc, and then you'd be a T2... When you go low carb, which you're doing right now, your body doesn't have much to store or get rid of otherwise... So your blood glucose will most likely drop (usually depends a little on how bad things have gotten though, how low one must go is a personal thing, not a one-size-fits-all.), as will your weight. Now, with keto, the objective is to switch entirely from glucose burning to fat burning. Hence the name: When you burn fat, you release
ketones, meaning you hit ketosis. It'll drop blood sugars even further, and promote more weight loss. Mind you, the rule for getting into fat-burning mode is 20 grams a day of carbs or less, usually working best when combined with Intermittent Fasting. (For me, that means skipping breakfast. I stick with some Earl Grey, instead). Some reach ketosis at 30, some maintain it at 40, but it's absolutely certain to happen at 20 grams or less. So what now? You try your 70 grams a day for a while. See what they gets you. (Yay for a meter! Check before a meal and 2 hours after. You don't want to go up more than 2.0 mmol/l). If results aren't satisfactory after another week or so, lower your carbs again; keep trying.
I know you feel like indecision'll get you to be inactive, but see it as a running experiment... If one thing doesn't (sufficiently) work, go a step further. Increments YOU decide for yourself. You don't have to get it 100% right overnight you know. And your body needs time to adjust too. As you take in fewer carbs, your liver gets confused a little, thinking it should dump more glucose into your bloodstream as it thinks your levels should be higher, because that's what it's used to. It takes a short while for your liver to get with the program. So do give yourself a moment eh...
You'll be fine.
Also, this might help,
https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html as well as dietdoctor.com and this forum's website, diabetes.co.uk (not .org!).
You're not doomed. And what you learn now may actually help your parents as well, avoid further complications and whatnot. You'll get there, no worries.
Jo