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Help please!

P

Philiphiggins42

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi, my name is Phil and I am new to this website.
Fantastic to get other people's views and see that I am not alone in this! I am type 2, diagnosed 7 years ago after heart bypass surgery, and I didn't really do very much at all about this except take tablets for 7 years, then suddenly 2 years ago the blood levels started to rise and now I am getting readings between 15 and 20 every morning, with hardly any improvement during the day either. The doctor started me on basal insulin six months ago, but they kept increasing the dose without much improvement, until finally I was getting fat and felt ill and tired all the time and still had high readings so I told her I wanted to come off it and try to manage the thing myself with diet and exercise. Have been trying to stick to a low gi diet for 2 months now and I have lost 9lbs in weight and my BMI has come down to 29.5 but my levels are still out of control.
Reading the threads, I see that people often talk about a low-carb, high fat diet and they say it works. This seems to run contrary to what I have been told, but makes sense because my levels often rise when I eat seeds and nuts and brown seeded bread. I feel a bit desperate because whatever I have tried has not succeeded, if I try a new supplement the levels may drop for 24 hours but they always seem to rise straight back up again, but reading your threads has made me see that there is perhaps a better way of eating that I haven't been told about.
Can anyone give me the low-down on what I should be eating to follow this low-carb, high fat diet please? I am more than interested. My last Hba1c was 10.8 but I am sure my next one will be higher. The consultant is threatening to put me back on insulin again in 3 months so I am keen to try anything which will help.
Current medication, Metformin 1 gram twice daily, sitaglyptin,
Supplements. Gymnema Sylvestre, Cinnulin, Vit d, K2, ALA and Benfotiamine.

Thanks to anyone who can help!
 
Hi Phil,
I'm a Type 1 low carber, so my experience of it will be different to a Type 2, but the basic philosophy behind low carbing is that you don't eat foods that raise your BGs. It's not quite a simple as this, but I won't overload you with the finer details yet. The best place to start is buying Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Diet. This book is written by a Type 1, who is also a doctor, from America and details the philosophy behind low carbing for diabetics. It contains a load of recipes too.

Another good book is Karen Barnaby's Low Carb Gourmet. It contains loads of great low carb recipes. Both books are available on Amazon.

The idea is to not eat the typical foods that you associate with carbs; such as bread, pasta, rice, potato, fruit etc. You replace the carbs with more veg, protein and fats.

Typical breakfasts that I have are: low carb porridge (recipe in Barnaby's book), omelette, bacon & eggs.
Snacks: Nuts, pork scratchings, pepperami
Lunch: Salads, soups or whatever is in the canteen with extra veg instead of carbs
Dinner: Cauliflower mash or roast squash (recipe in Barnaby's book) with meat & veg, curries, stews, stir fries with extra veg, shepherd's pie with cauli mash, mousaka, greek salad or meat with loads of veg.

Hope this helps!
 
Hi Sam,
Thanks so much for the prompt reply. I really appreciate it and will definitely look into getting the books!
 
Hi. I think you should be looking at a low-carb, normal fat diet. There is no need to go high fat unless you want to put on weight. Low-carbing will reduce your blood sugar. I would set a target of, perhaps, 150 gm/day max and a lot less if you can. Have low-GI carbs when you do have carbs. Make sure you read the labels of any purchased food. Once you can get your weight down further this should reduce insulin resistance which will then help guide you and the consultant on whether insulin is needed. Note that you normally only put on weight with insulin if you are eating too much or have insulin resistance. BTW what you have been told about high-carb, low-fat diets is part of today's nonsense dietary advice put forward by the NHS and dieticians; just politely ignore it unless you want to increase your BMI and blood sugar. Good luck.
 
Thanks Daibell
Useful information, I am now starting to get a picture. The last thing I want is to put on more weight, so I will definitely be looking into the low carb eating, but will keep it as healthy as possible. Seems a bit daft to me that the NHS is giving such misleading information to those of us who are relying on their advice in order to keep their levels down!

Thanks again
 
Seems a bit daft to me that the NHS is giving such misleading information to those of us who are relying on their advice in order to keep their levels down
Click to expand...

That's what most of us low carbers think!
 
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