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From pre-diabetic to type 2

I stopped the porridge. And most of the fruit. I just chucked a load of porridge out. I thought it was the breakfast to eat but it’s full of carbs. So it had to go. I have a couple of apples a day or some berries. Many members won’t even touch apples.
 
Yeah the porridge, when they diagnosed me pre-diabetic the nurse told me jumbo oats, because it's slow release carb and good for breakfast. I've eaten it every morning for five years. I will struggle to give up fruit, again I was told fruit ok just avoid dates, banana, and pineapple.
 
Sadly, all carbs turn to sugar once digested, so whether slow or fast release, the same amount of glucose appears in the blood stream. Similar with the so called healthy wholegrain varieties of bread, rice and so on. They all have the same amount of carbs in them, and therefore the same amount of glucose.

Fruit is slightly different because it contains fructose, which is not digested in the stomach. The liver deals with it, and regards it as toxic, a bit like alcohol. It turns it into fat, which it stores round the liver. This does not help us at all as fatty livers go hand in hand with insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels.
 
Unfortunately many of the nurses aren’t fully “up to speed” with the dietary solution for diabetes. I am lucky as I have a low carb friendly GP so I just follow him and ignore my nurses advice. The forum guys and girls put me straight on carbs but not all of the health practioners have caught up with best practice.
 
Oats for breakfast with some fruit after I purchased a glucose meter was an eye opener. Like you, I thought I was eating healthily...little did I know. It is sad to keep reading how many in the medical field are providing us with plain unhealthy, make-it-worse, advice regarding nutrition. Luckily there are many people on this forum that are willing to help and are experienced. Please have a look at Primal / Paleo / Keto information for a different view on nutrition.
 
I've been to see the diabetic nurse again today, she wanted to check my feet. I said looks like I have to give up porridge, she showed me a graph of my cholesterol I was 6.3 in Decemer, 4.8 in Feb when I joined this practice. They checked it again when they took blood this time it's now 3.9. She said don't give up porridge yet see how it goes for three months. I am going on DESMOND, I've been booked in for a retina scan. I knew what to ask about because of this forum.
The Doctor has changed his mind about me testing my blood as 48 is just over pre-diabetic, trying diet controlled first.
 

Now you have a T2 diagnosis, it would be helpful if you could complete your profile settings to show the type of diabetes you have, the treatment, and the medication (none in your case). This helps when members are trying to help you, and saves people forever asking.

Your cholesterol is a bit low, in my opinion. Are you taking statins? Do you know what the breakdown is - HDL/LDL and triglycerides? The total cholesterol is quite meaningless without the breakdown. Did you ask the nurse for a print out of your test results? You could do with one. It is important for us to know our numbers. Not just glucose and cholesterol but also liver and kidney functions. You are entitled to these print outs, and the receptionist should be able to sort it out for you.

Whether you eat porridge or not is up to you, not your nurse. She doesn't have your glucose problems, and eating it will not help those. So are you going to buy a meter and test strips? You ought to and then you can see for yourself what the porridge is likely to do.
 
No she just said good cholesterol was up, and showed me a graph of bad cholesterol coming down. I have peripheral vascular disease so need to keep bad down. I've had one femural bypass which failed, so only got one dodgy artery in my right leg.
 
dpoet said:
No she just said good cholesterol was up, and showed me a graph of bad cholesterol coming down. I have peripheral vascular disease so need to keep bad down. I've had one femural bypass which failed, so only got one dodgy artery in my right leg.
Click to expand...

I am sorry to hear about your PVD and the failed bypass. It must be worrying.

You really need to know those numbers. So that 3.9 is your bad cholesterol and not the total? Please ask for a print out so you have the numbers in black and white. Its for your benefit.
 
Yeah I just usually ask bad figure. They changed my statin to Atorvastatin a few months ago which made numbers drop. Trouble is they cause raised blood sugar in 1 in 10 people.
I think this why my numbers went up.
It's a bit worrying 'cause I've got two diseases which cause poor circulation.
 
Sorry that doesn't make sense. Atorvastatin caused my bad cholesterol to drop a lot. But side effect is my blood sugar shot up, it says in leaflet Statin causes blood sugar rise in 1 in 10 people.
 
Sorry that's not very clear, and I just lost a post.
New statin they put me on made my bad cholesterol levels drop a lot. My blood sugar went up after not moving for five years.
 
Your post was perfectly clear. Statins do raise blood sugar levels. This is a common side effect and a well known one. They also reduce the LDL (what you call the bad cholesterol). My suggestion still stands - find out what the other cholesterol components are.
 
dpoet said:
Sorry that's not very clear, and I just lost a post.
New statin they put me on made my bad cholesterol levels drop a lot. My blood sugar went up after not moving for five years.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, high blood sugars are way more damaging than high cholesterol and I'd rather change my diet to do that then take tablets for it. Luckily, I did so now I have an awesome lipid profile and non diabetic numbers.
 
wiflib said:
In my opinion, high blood sugars are way more damaging than high cholesterol and I'd rather change my diet to do that then take tablets for it. Luckily, I did so now I have an awesome lipid profile and non diabetic numbers.
Click to expand...
Yeah I am going to try by cutting a lot of carbs and see how it is in 12 weeks when I'm tested again. I am only just over test came back 48. I hope excercise and losing weight will drop me again. I have the problem I was expected to lose a leg after femural bypass failed. So for me cholesterol is a big worry too.
 
Hi. You've had a lot of good advice so far. Eating beans and pulses together with wholemeal flour products is for most people a very healthy way to eat carbs but we just need to keep the daily total down. So, these are the better ones but just keep the quantity down and balance with fats and proteins. I wouldn't worry about the fats and associated cholesterol as most of the cholesterol in the blood comes from the liver and not the fat you eat. A low-carb diet usually helps the cholesterol ratios as well.
 
I had slightly high LDL and high triglycerides when I was diagnosed as type 2 - I went low carb instead of extra drugs (I have other conditions) and in spite of eating more fats than before, including cheese and cream, my blood fat profile improved as well at the three month check up. Six months later they were still good.

I avoided the Desmond programme as it is based on old views - low carb is supported by recent research that they ignored/didn't adopt.

I have a mix of milled flaxseed, chia seeds and oatbran for breakfast, made with coconut milk and water and served with cream. Over time as I got used to eating chia seeds the amount of oatbran has decreased.
The only fruits I eat are berries and I have cauliflower rice and mash instead of potatoes and rice.
 
Today was the first time I've ever eaten avocado.
Trying cauliflower rice on Sunday this week.
I've just ordered a meter, couldn't get back to forum the app stuck and just kept going to shop, had to clear memory cache on tablet. I will get a better idea what's happening when I'm testing next week. Cutting out most carbs but leaving jumbo oats for the time being.
 
I used to really enjoy porridge. Alas I eat it no more.
 
As some of the others posted already, understanding the detailed breakdown of the lipids panel is key. The size of the HDL and LDL particles is important, as is apoliporotein B and lipoprotein (a). Total cholesterol is pretty meaningless except as a way to sell more statin drugs. View that more as a warning light on your car that indicates your body is trying to repair something and needs more cholesterol. LDL and HDL are not cholesterol but the transport mechanisms for cholesterol.

My cholesterol values increase was most likely caused by excess carbs/sugar over time. Vitamin D and hormone production (for example testosterone, adrenaline, cortisol) in your body requires cholesterol so I would watch those too when on statins. Also, taking statins will reduce your body's ability to make the crucial CoQ10, so I would look into supplementing that.

So, what you are doing to address your diet is great to read. Once you have a glucose meter and see how much of a spike your jumbo oats give, that might change too. Keep it up!
 
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