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Hello My Name Is Angela,

Locke

Locke

Member
Messages
5
I am newly diagnosed with Type 2,And I'm feeling overwhelmed!!
I have seen the nurse and she said I have to start with diet changes,and gave me this website.
I will be tested again in 3 months,Does this mean I have to stop eating carbs?
Im confused???
 
Locke said:
I am newly diagnosed with Type 2,And I'm feeling overwhelmed!!
I have seen the nurse and she said I have to start with diet changes,and gave me this website.
I will be tested again in 3 months,Does this mean I have to stop eating carbs?
Im confused???
Click to expand...

It's a great start that she's signposted you to this website. What suggestions did she give you? Any literature or books?

You don't have to stop eating carbs but look for foods that are slow release and "better" carbs. As a guide - if you can, cut out white processed bread - try seeded wholemeal breads. Rice and pasta usually raises most people's blood sugar so try a brown rice. Jacket potatoes (which I love) are very carb laden so we have just have a few boiled potatoes cut quite small so we think we have more on our plate than we actually do! ;)

I'll see if I can tag Daisy who'll be able to give you some advice @daisy1
 
Locke said:
I am newly diagnosed with Type 2,And I'm feeling overwhelmed!!
I have seen the nurse and she said I have to start with diet changes,and gave me this website.
I will be tested again in 3 months,Does this mean I have to stop eating carbs?
Im confused???
Click to expand...

welcome here Angela :)

it takes some time to get to know about the foods you can eat... but it is wise to avoid sugars and to some extend also fruits and white bread and potatoes and rice ,untill you learn to get your blood glucose down...
@daisy1 will send you some information here and some good links where you can learn some of what is good to know now when being diabetic...
 
Hi and welcome,

We were all confused when we were first diagnosed, or when we first joined the forum. It will pass, I promise you. I will tag @daisy1 who has excellent and valuable information for newcomers. Do read her post and take note of the role of carbohydrates.

Carbs are not good because all of them convert to sugar once inside the system. The main culprits are bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals, and anything made with flour. In order to help yourself it is advisable to buy yourself a blood glucose meter. With this you can test yourself before you eat and 2 hours after your first bite. Look at the rise in levels - that is what that meal has done to you. From that you can learn which are your specific danger foods (we all have different ones) and tweak the portion sizes or cut things out completely. Without a meter you are working blind.

Whilst waiting for Daisy to reply, have a real good read round all the forums, try not to worry, and ask as many questions as you like.
 
Well daisy1 is going to have bruises from being tagged so much but it does speak to how good her info is. When she posts you should have a very good read of it. Follow all the links and read the information in them. At the bottom of her post will be a link to the low carb program here on the site and it is free. It is highly recommended. People on the site are at all levels of carb intake and you will need to figure out what works for you. It does not matter what anyone else can or cannot eat. The other very important thing you need to do is get a meter and learn to use it. This is your tool to learn what foods work for you. I am sure someone can give you a link for the sd codefree and strips that most in the UK seem to use. Welcome to the forum and please keep asking questions, you can do this :)
 
Why don't people just copy/paste her advice and store it on their computers? That way Daisy's workload will be lessoned and the new member doesn't have to wait for her!
 
I think @daisy1 often makes the info, targeted to the individual new member.
She probably is quite happy to have the 'workload', as I am sure she would have passed the baton by now, if she is not. I won't make assumptions though so perhaps @daisy1 can let us know her take on this?

Welcome from me, too, @Locke . Sorry you are feeling overwhelmed. I would recommend reading the info daisy1 provides, then taking your time, and coming back with questions. You generally find helpful members here will help.
 
Last edited:
@Locke

Hello Angela and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. You will find a lot of advice about carbs and a link to the Low Carb Program which you might like to try. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
asparagusp said:
Why don't people just copy/paste her advice and store it on their computers? That way Daisy's workload will be lessoned and the new member doesn't have to wait for her!
Click to expand...
Don't do this to me on a hangover day since it makes the headache worse. How is a newbie to know that the advice exists if it is not posted in their thread? Only then can they copy it.

Also, Daisy updates it when necessary with info and links etc. so the newbie always gets the latest.
 
The Basic Information is posted in the Greetings and Introductions, and Newly Diagnosed forums, but not many members see it's there. That is why I post it on newbies' threads to make sure they have the opportunity of seeing it to give them a good start.
 
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