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J

jonwom

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Location
Clacton. Essex
I was told that I have diabetes last week, after a fasting blood test. The number was 13, whatever that means. I am to try a low sugar diet and have to see the nurse again next Tuesday (17th), where apparantly more will be told to me. My problem is that some food labels mention sugar and lots mention carbohydrates that sugar . My initial problem is should I look this deep and worry, or just stick to the sugar reading only.
 
Hi Jon, and welcome to the forum.

errrm, low sugar, what a great piece of advice to have received. Firstly, I think what they mean by that is when sugar is included as an ingredient - the higher up the ingredients list the more there is - my thoughts, cut out the obvious sugars - sweets, non-diet fizzy drinks and so on.

There is an excellent thread in the Food Forum called Carbs 101 & 102 which goes into carbohydrates in more detail. As I understand it, the sugar component of the carbohydrates section of the nutrition info label quantifies how many mono and disaccharides are included in the carbohydrate content.

You obviously need better dietary advice than that which has already been given you. Ask for, nay demand, a referral to the dietetics department. The British Dietetics Association have a good set of leaflets which can be found here including a brief introduction to carbohydrates and their recommendations for a diet for people with diabetes. I would add, at this point, that there isn't a one-size-fits-all diet for diabetes and that we are unique - you need to devise a diet that works for you in helping meet your requirements - having said that, some of us do well on the Low GI diet recommended by the BDA, others find that further reducing carbohydrate intake has helped them.

Stick around, this is a friendly place, feel free to ask away and contribute.

Regards, Tubs.
 
Thanks tubolard.

I have an appointment to see a dietitian, but she is so busy it won't be for another four weeks.
So I am trying to follow the nurses intstructions and cut down on the sugar intake, and as I said before I don't know how how deep I should look at the information box.
I am 54 yrs old and a bit overweight and never had to look at these things in the past, it is a whole new world and a steep learning curve.
 
hya jon and welcome,
keep asking the questions and you will find your answers here :D
 
jonwom said:
Thanks tubolard.

I have an appointment to see a dietitian, but she is so busy it won't be for another four weeks.
So I am trying to follow the nurses intstructions and cut down on the sugar intake, and as I said before I don't know how how deep I should look at the information box.
I am 54 yrs old and a bit overweight and never had to look at these things in the past, it is a whole new world and a steep learning curve.
Click to expand...

As a very rough rule of thumb, most unmedicated diabetics I know who do well do about 50 - 150g carbs, mostly around the lower end, but there's a lot of individual variation, many do less and a few do more.

There can also be a big difference between what you can handle at breakfast and in your evening meal.
 
Hi jonwom
I'm the onwe who wrote carbs101&102
And the most important bit of information for a newbie is that starch is a polymer(long chain) of a simple sugar,glucose. Both sugars and starches are carohydrates and all of them will end up as glucose in your blood.
Cut sugar out and reduce all other carbs and they can't enter your blood. Starches are sneaky. they are found in grains and all foods made from them such as breakfast cereal. pasta and bread. Those with rice and potatoes are the things you need to minimise.
Medics will often tell you to eat complex carbs, but there's no scientific evidence that justifies that and plenty that says not to. Artifical sweetenrs such as Saccharine, Hermesetas and Splenda are fine if you like sweetness.
You have a lot to learn, but keep coming back with questions, we'll try to answer honestly and remember if our advice conflicts with themedics, We live with this, they usually don't.
 
Hi there,

I've been diagnosed for a few weeks now, until I knew more I cut out all fast food, sweets and fizzy drinks etc, Tried to eat about 80g of carbs a day. I kept a record of all that I ate so I knew I wasn't going over. I'm not saying I was right or advising that you do what I did, but now that i've been testing, my numbers are good, so for me, I did the right thing :)

Good luck and welcome to the forum

Becca
 
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