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valeriejw

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Hello, my name is Valerie and I've just been diagnosed with diabetes today, with my HbA1c being confirmed as 50. I had a health check at work end of April which produced 50 which set alarm bells ringing at the surgery that's why I had one done yesterday. Thing is since 16th April I've been on the Daniel Plan, not having any carbohydrates, sugar, dairy, fat etc and lost 24lbs. I was quite surprised that the blood test this week hasn't changed at all. I will have a discussion with the Diabetic Nurse on 3rd July the first appointment I can get outside work hours. I was exercising till I twisted my osteo arthritic knee just over a week ago. Now hobbling around. Apart from sticking to the eating plan I'm on now I'm not sure what else to do. I'm only eating low GI fruit. Any advice would be great thanks x
 

Hi @valeriejw , and welcome to the forums.

Very well done on the weight loss, I don't know about the Daniel Plan, I've not heard of it before, what are you actually eating each day?

'Low GI' would reduce the speed at which your blood glucose levels rise after eating. Slightly better for diabetics but carbs is carbs for us I'm afraid.

I'll ask @daisy1 to give you some info. I assume there's no indication yet of your diabetes type? Have you been given medication?
 
Hello and welcome,

If all you were eating was fruit, this may well be why your HbA1c didn't come down. Fruit is full of sugar, and is not a wise idea when we have diabetes Type 2. It is a major contributor to a fatty liver and insulin resistance - which leads to T2 diabetes.
I haven't heard of this diet, but it doesn't sound very healthy to me.. No carbs (good), no fats (not good), no protein (awful). How do you feel?

An HbA1c of 50 is not at all drastic though, and all that weight loss will help.

Have a good read round the forums and ask as many questions as you like. Meanwhile, I will tag @daisy1 who has a very useful post for newly diagnosed.
 
Welcome Valerie, and well done so far! I'd need a bit more info about your health situation to be sure of this but I'm a little concerned about you having low fat foods, as this can cause some problems.

50 is only slightly over the threshold for diabetes - I was in the mid 50s when diagnosed 9 years ago - so it should be fairly easy to get your numbers down under 48 and even under 42. This would mean your diabetes is in remission and as long as you keep up the good work and get regular blood tests you may well be able to stay in remission long term. Most people can, but I wasn't able to, for various reasons.

I wouldn't worry too much about a short break from exercising while your knee heals. Aquajogging is great for when you have a leg injury but your knee may well have healed by the time it takes to organise that.

There is now a better alternative to crutches, in the form of a sort of modified bike/scooter/walking frame contraption you can get on loan. You kneel the injured leg on the thing, hold the handle bars and walk along. I will do this next time because my wrists and arms get very sore from using crutches.

If you have any other medical conditions or are on any non-diabetes medications and feel comfortable disclosing some or all of them, that may help us help you better.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. A lot of the low fat food options either have more added sugar or they have artificial sweeteners in them. There are a lot of misconceptions about dietary fats. Healthy fats do not make you fat, it is the high carbohydrate high unhealthy fats which (alongside other things) make you gain weight and keep you from losing it.
Fruit that is not kept to very small, occasional portions and eaten with a healthy fat will raise bg in most people with T2/Pre D.
 
I'm afraid that low GI doesn't impress diabetes at all - it is still carbohydrate, still sits in your bloodstream for too long - to lower your Hba1c you need to cut out sugar and starches, use a BG meter to check your levels doesn't rise more than two whole number between before starting to eat and two hours after - that seems to be what will do the trick. It seems to be what allows the metabolism to get back to coping, at least to some extent.
The amount of carbs you can eat, and at what time of day is something personal and finding out what suits you best is an important part of controlling diabetes.
 
Well said. I find I can eat berries without much a problem but I steer clear of all other fruits. I think if someone really loved those other fruits they could still eat them occasionally as a "sometimes food," because in my experience, too much restriction has always led to burnout, denial, and making things much worse.

Frozen berries are convenient, relatively cheap and super delicious with double cream.
 
Hi Valerie. Well done on your weight loss so far. However I’m not surprised if you are following what I’ve found that your HbA1c hasn’t improved. I just Googled Daniel Plan and if this is what you’ve been following it is far from carb free:
https://saddlebackmediawest.s3.amaz...808123&Signature=VVWsm7c1kEjrLedmm4JRGtRDnkM=
At a quick look it suggests bananas, water melon, rice and lentils, to name a few, they are high carb, not low carb and definitely not carb free. Please correct me if this isn’t the Daniel Plan you follow.
If this isn’t what you’re following maybe you can tell us a typical days menu so we can help you.
 

Of course, we are all different. What is worth bearing in mind, too, is that the majority of fruit available today has been bred to be sweeter therefore higher in fructose and as has been said already upthread the fructose affects on the liver do no favours for those pw Diabetes. So, a choice must be made. Luckily I was never a big fruit lover so have found avoiding it very easy.
 
I could live without berries as well as all the other fruits but I eat them to add a bit of variety and interest, and they have some micro nutrients and fiber that's useful too.

I have found that in my case, being too extreme with food choices leads to me giving up completely and getting dangerous results like you can see in my signature. I suspect there are many others out there like me. I want to reassure them that there is hope.
 

While freedom of choice is important it must come (or it would be wiser to come) in an informed way. Personally, I find my choices are made that much easier when I have the facts put in front of me.
As to being too extreme, my choices do not fall into that category.

Just as an fyi, there are no vitamins, minerals, micronutrients in fruit that are not present in veggies, including fibre.
 
valeriejw said:
Any advice would be great thanks x
Click to expand...
Hi Valariejw,
I had to look up the Daniel Plan diet it seems to be Vegan, even though the 3 day diet guide @Rachox linked to has beef stew on the menu.

It looks like it is tricking you into becoming vegan by cutting out many things in the hope you wont notice, and then some where down the line you get the hard sell. https://www.peta.org/living/food/the-daniel-plan/

The Daniel Plan a scripture-based health and fitness program biased around a passage from the bible about people being punished and forced to eat vegetables.
"The plan involves eating 75 percent vegetables and whole grains, avoiding dairy “products”, and having fruits for dessert, and it promotes vegetables as a great source of lean, healthy protein."
It claims when people followed the program Just like Daniel, when they followed God’s plan, they were rewarded.

IF its your choice to go vegan that's great, if you are being hood winked into thinking this "plan" is the way to cure diabetes it isn't.
valeriejw said:
since 16th April I've been on the Daniel Plan, not having any carbohydrates, sugar, dairy, fat etc and lost 24lbs. I was quite surprised that the blood test this week hasn't changed at all.
Click to expand...

3 Things to look at
first as everybody has mentioned fruit contains sugar, fructose, this is one of the worst sugars there is as it puts extra strain on your liver.

Second and sorry to have to be the one to break it to you but vegetables are carbohydrates, they will be turned into sugar in your blood stream. That's why we usually of set them, with healthy Fats and proteins which are not vegetables to achieve some balance.

The Daniel Plan eat well plate suggests a quarter of your meal should be starchy vegetables.
This is BAD advice for a diabetic.

@valeriejw I want to make it clear I don't have an axe to grind about veganism,
If its your choice and it works for you that's great but if your going to go down that route look into to it properly, this looks like as good a place as any to start. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/meal-plans-/vegan

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
We are all different. In this thread I am focusing on trying to be helpful to valeriejw so I will leave it at that.
 
@valeriejw

Hello Valerie and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting. Ask as many questions as you need to 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 235,000 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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
Thank you for your replies that's all interesting and hard to take in really. I'm not a vegetarian, I eat chicken. but not really much of a meat eater though do have lamb or beef (mince sometimes), I love tuna, cod and haddock. I've mostly been eating salads, some vegetables and chicken stirfry with cauliflower rice. Tend to have 3fruits a day, apple, plum and pear or strawberries. Been keeping off bananas. Sort of went off the rails last week whilst it was half term. I'm not sure what type I am as the nurse on the phone didn't say but assume its Type 2. I haven't had any symptoms, so a total surprise. My knee is on the mend thank goodness so give it a little longer and I'll start the exercise. I'll have a good read of whats on here see what adjustments I can make, thanks for your support x
 
@valeriejw
With just over 1 month from the end of April to yesterday it is not likely that your HbA1c will shift by much.
Glenn
 
I would agree that at an HbA1c of 50 you likely have T2 diabetes. People normally don't get any symptoms unless they are over 65 A1c or sometimes if over 55 A1c.

In the first month some people's A1c drops by a few points but it's not a big problem that yours didn't. These tests really need to be done at least 8 weeks apart, ideally 12 weeks apart.

Home BG testing is relatively cheap and can help you monitor progress between lab tests.

Fruit is nice to eat but if you can cut out all fruit except small servings of berries, for say, 3 months, it will help. Fruit is high carb, and any nutrients we need from it can be found in above-ground veges instead.
 
No - but my Hba1c was 91 at diagnosis and 47 after 80 days - a drop of 44 in 80 days - Oh -that is more than one point every two days. I really should go to bed - I only had a few hours sleep last night, I was up until the wee small hours making costumes for the folk festival on Saturday. Final rehearsal this afternoon.
 
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