hi all

[dazclays]

hi all
i'm 42 i was told a couple of weeks ago that i have type 2 diabetes and haemochromatosis,has come as a shock.diabetes is to be controlled by diet and exercise,haemochromatosis by having blood taken out to lower high levels of iron.the exercise is not a problem as i have always been a keen cyclist and mountain biker,but diet is confusing,food i have always eaten for energy pasta etc,seems so now be avoided.nurse as told me not to home test but every where i read on net i'm told to test what is best.

 

[carty]

Hi I am sure that most on this forum would say test to find out what food sends your bgs up .How can you diet if you dont know how your food affects you .You could ask for a meter and strips from your GP but if you dont get them there are some ads on forum for free meters but you may have to buy strips .Someone else may be more help but read other posts to get advice.

 

[Synonym]

Hi dazclays and welcome to the forum!

Unless you test you will not know what your food is doing to your BG levels. :roll: I suggest that you tell your doctor that you want to be proactive in managing your condition in order to avoid complications and ask for a meter and strips.

Have a good read of the diet threads, you are bound to find helpful ideas on there.

 

[cugila]

hi all
i'm 42 i was told a couple of weeks ago that i have type 2 diabetes and haemochromatosis,has come as a shock.diabetes is to be controlled by diet and exercise,haemochromatosis by having blood taken out to lower high levels of iron.the exercise is not a problem as i have always been a keen cyclist and mountain biker,but diet is confusing,food i have always eaten for energy pasta etc,seems so now be avoided.nurse as told me not to home test but every where i read on net i'm told to test what is best.

Here is the advice we hand out to newly diagnosed Type 2's. Have a read and see if it helps you understand things better.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different .

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.