Greetings to all!

[Wandawoo]

I had a blood test to check for blood sugar levels due to having bad thirst....my score was 41...my GP was not concerned and told me it was not pre diabetes as I was under the 42 mark!!! Yet three months ago it was 39...so it has jumped up....I am well within my BMI, exercise every day and am very aware of my diet and only eat a plant based diet, no processed sugar, sweets. Do not understand why the score has risen....I understand there is genetic connection to diabetes...sadly my parents died when I was so young, so do not know if they could have had it or not....any advice....am I worrying too much....I was shocked to see the score of 41.......any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Wandawoo and welcome to the forum.

Your doctor is correct, in the UK the HbA1C starting level to signify 'pre-diabetes' is 42. Neither has you HbA1C reading 'jumped up' an increase of 2 is only just outside the accuracy of the measure - so there is no need to be concerned!


You appear to have some misconceptions about diabetes:
Firstly, all carbohydrates when digested turn into glucose (a sugar). This includes starches found in grains, potato and starchy root veg like parsnips and carrots.

Secondly, 'natural sugars' have exactly the same effect as processed ones, though natural sugars in fruit are contained within a structure which slows down absorption compared with processed ones, so soothies and fruit juice would count as processed sugars.

Finally, there is no benefit for Diabetes prevention/management of a plant based diet over the opposite extreme (a carnivore one). What most of us do to gain remission from Type 2 Diabetes is to eat fewer carbohydrates, which requires eating more protein and more fat, and when you look at which foods make that easiest to do, they are nearly all animal based.

 

[Melgar]

Hello and welcome to the forum Wandawoo. You’ve landed on a great site with many knowledgeable members here. It’s a great community.

When your blood sugar is higher than you expect it is worrying. I’m assuming the blood tests you had done are what they call a HbA1c test. Is a standard diabetes test that measures what your average blood sugar was over the last three months. Basically glucose sticks to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells. The higher your blood sugar/glucose is in your blood the more hemoglobin sticks to those cells. HbA1c measures the amount of glucose sticking to those cells. The test tends to be weighted towards the end of this 3 months. In the UK this is measured in mmol/mol. Your tests shows two readings 3 months apart - 39 & 41 mmols. Realistically, even though it shows a small rise, this rise is negligible. You could have had a few carby meals in the last couple of weeks or so and that could possibly account for the rise, nothing to worry about. In the UK 42 is the figure that is used to differentiate blood sugar that are considered normal from blood sugars that are called pre-diabetic. Your blood sugars are in the normal range. It is only to be expected that one’s blood sugars fluctuate slightly. Most none diabetics blood sugar ranges between 33. - 39.

Your diet has the biggest impact on your blood sugars , especially foods that are heavier in carbs, like pasta, rise, potatoes, bread, root vegetables, deserts, pastries and beer. A small reduction in meals that contain higher amounts of these carbs may well reduce your HbA1c numbers, that said your blood sugars are still in the normal range.

 

[Wandawoo]

Hello and welcome to the forum Wandawoo. You’ve landed on a great site with many knowledgeable members here. It’s a great community.

When your blood sugar is higher than you expect it is worrying. I’m assuming the blood tests you had done are what they call a HbA1c test. Is a standard diabetes test that measures what your average blood sugar was over the last three months. Basically glucose sticks to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells. The higher your blood sugar/glucose is in your blood the more hemoglobin sticks to those cells. HbA1c measures the amount of glucose sticking to those cells. The test tends to be weighted towards the end of this 3 months. In the UK this is measured in mmol/mol. Your tests shows two readings 3 months apart - 39 & 41 mmols. Realistically, even though it shows a small rise, this rise is negligible. You could have had a few carby meals in the last couple of weeks or so and that could possibly account for the rise, nothing to worry about. In the UK 42 is the figure that is used to differentiate blood sugar that are considered normal from blood sugars that are called pre-diabetic. Your blood sugars are in the normal range. It is only to be expected that one’s blood sugars fluctuate slightly. Most none diabetics blood sugar ranges between 33. - 39.

Your diet has the biggest impact on your blood sugars , especially foods that are heavier in carbs, like pasta, rise, potatoes, bread, root vegetables, deserts, pastries and beer. A small reduction in meals that contain higher amounts of these carbs may well reduce your HbA1c numbers, that said your blood sugars are still in the normal range.

Thank you so much for your advice.. wow non-diabetic blood sugar range between 33 and 39…. So mine does appear on the cusp even though still in the norm you are right the last couple of weeks prior to the blood test I had a cold and also was treating myself to what is referred to “healthy‘ berry bowl In Pret…. Only to discover it had 31 g of sugar in it I was having those maybe two or three times a week so I definitely!! I have cut out potatoes and will only have pasta 50 g wholemeal twice a week…. my Issue is having parents that died when I was a child. I have no idea if they actually had diabetes themselves and did not realise the connection with the family history of a close member who may have it. I am well within my BMI, in fact I’m the low end of it and have never eaten processed foods, cakes, pastries, processed foods, my diet has been pretty clean, so I was very upset to see 41 I must ….. without the carbs I do feel hungry. I’ve even limited myself to just one slice of wholemeal bread a day and I hope that that is not too much.!c any further advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Melgar]

@Wandawoo there are so many factors that can influence blood sugars, a cold would very likely raise your blood sugar. I’ll give you a personal example. I had a heavy cold, it was a nasty one and I felt grim. My blood sugars did not drop below 9 mmol/ls (75) the entire time I had the cold. Everyone is different, but that’s what a heavy cold did to my blood sugars. I’m on blood sugar lowering meds so I have my blood sugars under control, and holding in the prediabetic range, but not when I had a cold.

Another point you may wish to consider, all carbs and starches turn to sugar/glucose. That’s how your body converts what you eat into energy. No matter if you turn to those ‘ healthy ‘ options like whole grains or some other ‘healthy’ option cereal or fruits (berries can be great, but one has to be careful. Sugary sweet strawberries send my sugars up as well) It all turns into sugar. You may find this link below to a blog by one of our member’s @JoKalsbeek called Nutritional Thingy.

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...

josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

If you swap your carbs for Fats and proteins, then you will likely feel less hungry, however, I am not that knowledgeable on diet but if you check out the link, or go into any of the sub- forums here and look for low carb diets you may find it helpful.

 

[Wandawoo]

Thank you so much. It is a minefield of information out there and so much of it is contradictory. I always used to eat a banana every night before bed which obviously I have now stopped. Are they off the menu? I have noticed that the diabetes association has recipes including them and yet if you google it says that they are a no go fruit.