Hi from diet coach

Hi and welcome. I do IT volunteer work for a well-known mental health charity and was a little surprised recently at the dated dietary information being provided, but not specifically for diabetes. So, great to see someone coming to seek information. There is so much one can say about diabetes but I'll summarise what I feel are some key points; I'm sure others will add their own views. Let's say that diabetics suffer from glucose intolerance and as the body can't easily deal with the glucose derived mainly from carbs the default approach is to control the amount of carbs eaten. Diabetes is a spectrum of conditions from T1 to T2 plus some other rarer types. As a generalisation T1s have little insulin production from the pancreas so the glucose in the blood from carbs and the liver rises as there is little insulin to enable it to be taken into muscle cells. A T1 will normally take insulin 4 to 5 times day to compensate. A T2 will typically have insulin resistance thru excess stored body fat and hence blood glucose will also build-up. A good diet, typically low-carb, will help control that blood glucose and also help reduce stored body fat. For some, control with diet will be adequate but for others various tablet types will be needed and some will need insulin as the pancreas will have been damaged thru excess blood glucose over a long period. In summary, a low-carb diet will help control blood glucose together with meds as needed. Exercise always helps and controlling weight always helps. All diabetics should have at least an annual check-up with the GP or diabetes nurse. Obviously some mental health service users will need close guidance to manage their condition and I'm sure others mange it very well. When reducing the carbs in the diet, proteins and fats should be increased to maintain nutrient input and veg and non-tropical fruits are always good for fibre and so on.

Diet_Coach said:

Hi Daibell,

Thanks for your reply - there's some stuff in there about diabetes I didn't know. Glad to see that the low carb idea is flourishing here. I am interested by the idea that 'metabolic syndrome' - i.e obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease are in many cases connected to the growth in mood problems and depression in our society. Many people with clinical depression are experiencing good results from switching to a real food diet free of processed foods, and this is naturally lower in carbs, as well as being higher in nutrients from the veg, fruit and meat/fish. Something like a paleo diet is what I recommend people to try. We know that the modern diet high in refined foods overloads the body with carbs and it is likely the cause of a lot of depression due to the unstable blood sugar. We also know that lots of refined carbs alter the types of bacteria in our gut which can greatly affect our mood and energy levels. Gut health is a crucial area and there needs to be more research.

I am an outlier in terms of the work I'm doing, but there was a great book published as far back as 2000 by MIND, written by Amanda Geary, called 'Food and Mood' which explored a lot of these ideas.

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Hi. I'm sure you will find a lot of support for your diet thinking on this forum. Mind is the charity I do work for and the diet stuff I came across locally talked about having carbs, low-fat and low-salt and Eat-well plate stuff. Sad that this dated info is still being promoted but it will take a long time to die. Disappointing in a charity which I know does so much good work. I talked to one of the T2 service users a couple of weeks back who couldn't believe the amount of weight she had lost having become a waitress and hence doing a lot of walking. She has been able to come off her T2 medication and was full of joy.

welcome to the forums

As a T2 with good control it is my nightmare to be admitted to any NHS institution for longer than a day

Hi and welcome to the forum. Its great to see you taking a particular interest in trying to gain an insight into what will be beneficial for your clients with diabetes.

Diet_Coach said:

Hi everyone, My Name's Owen, I work as a Diet Coach mainly with the mental health charities at the moment but I am keen to learn more about diabetes as many of the people I work with have the condition, especially type 2.

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Hi Owen (@Diet_Coach ) and welcome to the forum. I have been diagnosed as having recurrent periods of depression (cyclothymia). As well as medication (dosupelin first, then fluoxetine) I used to find it helped to exercise. Since retiring I didn't exercise, and instead ate more, especially sweet/sugary things when I went through my last episode of depression. Comfort eating I think. Anyway it probably contributed to my diagnosis as Type 2.

Hi Diet Coach, as a T1 carbs are carbs (potatoes, rice, oats, wheat are all the same) ands they generally all turn into glucose quickly. Which is fine for non-diabetics as the pancreas and liver respond fast too but not so good if you inject and it takes up to an hour for the insulin to kick in. Completely agree with your dopamine assessment and the addictive nature of carbs, having come off of carbs I am finding that the fat/protein substitution means you are not left hungry soon after eating,

Taking vegetables and fruits will keep you fit and healthy .

I have never been hungry since I started eating low carb high fat food

Hi Owen, I'm one of the rarer types of diabetes unfortunately type3c diabetics fall somewhere in the middle of carb and protein diets, generally we are low fat as lots of us have to take replacement digestive enzymes due to having no pancreatic function or have had a total pancreatomy. 50% of 3c are generally under weight and struggle to put weight on, others are overweight (me included) who struggle to lose weight, we also tend to be vitamin deficient.
Lots of us have bouts of depression mainly due to not being able to be "normal" in that eating tends to be a chore and for some drinking alcohol socially is now totally out of the question.