Help confused !

Hi saraKember welcome to the forum I am sure when the UK wakes up you will get lots of helpful advice. Firstly you must realize that doctors are not Gods and the advice about meters is firstly out of date and based on a treatment regime set up probably by committee and back in the 1950/60s . On this forum Most people use meters and test before and 2hrs after meals and also keep a record of what you have eaten. this way you will begin to see what spikes your Blood Sugar and therefor what to avoid and more importantly what you can eat. Now as to porridge the reason you are confused is when testing some find it spikes their Blood Sugar and say NO and some find it does not and say YES in moderation. which is why we test.

When considering a meter you should look at the cost of the strips because that is the ongoing expense the meter you should be able to get free once you decide which one contact the company and explain you are newly diagnosed and want to test they will probably send you one free. so you have to use their strips.. I am sure it all sound very daunting now but it will get easier. This is a friendly forum not of doctors but of diabetics like you so keep postin and reading and you will soon get the hang of it with all the help and advice you get here

As @bangkokdiabetic said, you'll need a meter to test what works and what doesn't work for you so set aside some time because you'll be testing quite a bit. Personally I found that I'm good with berries, strawberries, blueberries and etc but in moderation. Like I've been doing these low carb breakfast smoothies in the mornings and they've been working for me but I found that Apples and banana's and oranges upset my stomach and etc.

Theirs this website called dietdoctor, it has a great deal of information on low carb foods and etc plus it's free.

Have you read this? https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/ because it helped me out a great deal when I was diagnosed last month

sarahkember said:

Same with oatsosimple porridge. Some say yes . Some say no..

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Hi Sarah,
Porridge is simple, no pun intended.
The steel cut or course oatmeal is better, the stuff you have to cook in a pot, than the microwave porridge. Because it takes our body longer to break it down so less of a spike in sugar and you feel full for longer.
(just like whole meal bread vs white bread "Breads Better With Nowt Taken Out" )

It's not that porridge isn't good, its much better than cornflakes etc.. , it's that there are better choices you can make if you want to. It boils down to making the choice that is good for you.
Full fat milk is better than skinny milk

Milk is a carbohydrate when you're trying to avoid/ cut down on carbs your choice of breakfast has,

• carbs from the porridge+ carbs from the milk = sugar + sugar.
• This is why many people go for bacon & eggs because its protein + protein.

Not a carbohydrate in sight.

And this is exactly the same with fruit.
Depending on how well you handle eating carbohydrates fruit is carbs packed with natural sugar. Grapes are on the high end of the scale and berry's are on the lowest end of the scale. So if you want to eat fruit, berry's are probably the best choice you can make.

Your and individual Sarah find the foods you already like to eat, that are good for you and eat more of them.
And that's about as complicated as it get when you strip away all the confusion, what choice is the best choice for you.

@sarahkember

Morning,

Before Diagnosis I used to eat Porridge for breakfast - usually with honey/treacle. I also used to eat 7-8 pieces of fruit per day (if you include the berries), Rice, pasta (love Gnocchi).

After diagnosis, Most fruit causes a spike with me although I am OK with berries - blackberries, raspberries etc. "exotic fruits - bananas and oranges cause a spike, not a big one but a spike. Rice and pasta though...a spike and it takes forever for my blood glucose to revert back. Porridge = a small spike.

Upshot is I have porridge (with cinnamon and "lashing" of double cream) about once a week, normally on a weekend, I eat rice about once every 2-3 weeks when eating curry. I eat loads of berries - normally with Double cream or Full Fat Greek yoghurt and avoid other fruits.

You need to test to see what foods impact you. don’t test just once, I would suggest 2-3 times to confirm it is the food pushing your blood up. There is also some evidence that eating different foods together may slow the impact of the carbs on your body.

Every one of us reacts differently to the same food so while some may say avoid porridge, you may be fine.

Like you I am managing to control my special gift with diet. I was diagnosed with a HbA1C of 52 last year. 8 months later it was 44. This was achieved through diet only. To be honest there are a lot of success stories on here using food to control the gift we have been given but each of us has a slightly different approach as we have to find the one that works every day.