Hey again Paul,
Good news: Fat's back on the menu. I just had some eggs with bacon, cheese and salami. My cholesterol is fine, my bloodsugars too. The problem for T2's really is the carbs. So bread, pasta, spuds, underground veggies, fruit, rice... That still leaves a whole lot of other stuff. Like eggs, cheese, butter, clotted cream, meat, fish, above-ground veggies, berries (any kind basically, as they're the lowest-carb fruits available, besides starfruit), nuts, mayo, olives, extra dark chocolate (85% and up).... If you miss rice, try replacing with cauliflower rice, it's remarcably versatile. For me, I mostly stick with salads (with tuna, capers, olives and mayo, sometimes as a treat some asparagus thrown in, or pickles), eggs (Boiled, scrambled, sunny side up, omelettes, with good stuff added.... So that could be cinnamon, erythritol sweetener, and a couple of berries and grated coconut, with a tiny little drizzle of heavy cream. Or make it into a sort of pizza with the toppings, or just plain scrambled with bacon, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese...?). And then of course in the evening veggies with, again, bacon and/or cheese to make it more filling, and meat or fish. These things will get your bloodsugars down. BUT, and this is a really, really big but, don't do this if you don't have a meter and continue with the gliclazide. Glic can make you hypo, and if you go low carb it WILL make you crash and burn. No maybe's. And especially since you're driving, that's not something you want to have happening. Don't just experiment if it could get yourself, a passenger or people on the street killed.
Just some stuff to mull over. Remember, white or brown carbs, wholeweat or processed, it doesn't really mater all that much: every carb has to be processed sooner or later, so whatever the colour, they're generally not good. I picked diet over gliclazide, and I never looked back. But that's not for everyone. My best friend swears he can't live without bread and rice and spuds, and keeps telling me he doesn't know how I do it. I shut him up with "I'd rather keep my feet". T2 runs in his family and I do believe it is only a matter of time before he'll have to pick a side, judging by his ever growing gut and man-boobs, indicating he's becoming insulin resistant. Will it be The Dark, Carby side, or the Low Carb Jedi's? I have a feeling he'll fall to the dark side, honestly. He loves food more than his health, and that's his choice. Like I said, it's not for everyone. Pills are a valid option. But when it comes to staving off progression and complications, diet seems more effective in the long run. You don't have to decide anything overnight. just read, learn, and see what works for you.
Good luck,
Jo
