Type 2 High diabetes despite diet control

[jixb]

I am 85 years old and lead a careful life.

I start the day with 2 glasses of water in empty stomach. Then around 8 AM I have breakfast

which is usually brown bread in small quantity with lentil curry or/ and coconut curry


A cup of tea using fat free milk and without sugar at 10 AM.


Eat for lunch a small quantity of red rice, plenty of vegetables and fruit and a small piece of sugar free or dark chocolate daily. I have a short sleep in the afternoon for about 1 hour.


I have a cup of tea using fat free milk and without sugar at 4 PM.


Dinner is around 7 PM with small quantity of red rice and plenty of vegetables ( 2 days of the week we have pasta made of red rice and 2 days dosa an Indian flour based food). After dinner I take ½ a tablet (Dionil) for blood sugar. I sleep around 10.30 PM and wake up at 6 AM.

My sugar is tested every day around 6.30 AM on empty stomach. It is tested using Accuchek strips and blood is taken from my finger. Reading is usually between 85 and 95.


Last week I was out of Sri Lanka for a week and had to eat white rice, and curries where lot of oil was used, had ice cream (all in hotel). The fasting sugar test was 144.


Around this time I did the HbA1c test and the result was 7.6 ( Dec 2015 and Dec 2016 it was 8.1).


I am keen to know why my diabetes is showing high despite I being so careful and lifestyle.

I have been diabetics for the past 6 years. My mother also had diabetes.


Can you please tell me how I could cure my diabetes as I have to do a cataract operation on both my eyes shortly.

 

[Art Of Flowers]

You are eating a lot of high carb food ... Bread, rice, flour based food. Some fruit is also high carb. This is why your blood sugars are high.

Get a blood glucose monitor and check your blood glucose before and two hours after eating. You will then find which foods spike your blood sugar.

 

[4ratbags]

Even though your fasting level is good you really need to be testing before meals and 2 hours after meals then you will see what impact your meals are having on your BS as your HbA1c is based on your BS over a 3 month period so it gives you a better indication of your control instead of relying on your fasting tests as a guide. I will tag @daisy1 for you and she will post some great information for you to read through.

 

[Prem51]

Hi @JXB and welcome to the forum. If your usual 85-95 morning readings is in mg/dl range those are good.
The higher reading of 144 on holiday was probably due to different food you were eating, especially the white rice and ice cream.
The reduction in HbA1c readings from 8.1 the previous two years to 7.6 is also good, if that is mmol/L it would be in the pre-diabetic range.
If you want to lower your blood sugars you should cut out the fruits which are high in sugar, and reduce the rice, pasta and dosa.
They are starchy carbohydrates which will turn to sugars in your body.

 

[douglas99]

I am 85 years old and lead a careful life.

I start the day with 2 glasses of water in empty stomach. Then around 8 AM I have breakfast

which is usually brown bread in small quantity with lentil curry or/ and coconut curry


A cup of tea using fat free milk and without sugar at 10 AM.


Eat for lunch a small quantity of red rice, plenty of vegetables and fruit and a small piece of sugar free or dark chocolate daily. I have a short sleep in the afternoon for about 1 hour.


I have a cup of tea using fat free milk and without sugar at 4 PM.


Dinner is around 7 PM with small quantity of red rice and plenty of vegetables ( 2 days of the week we have pasta made of red rice and 2 days dosa an Indian flour based food). After dinner I take ½ a tablet (Dionil) for blood sugar. I sleep around 10.30 PM and wake up at 6 AM.

My sugar is tested every day around 6.30 AM on empty stomach. It is tested using Accuchek strips and blood is taken from my finger. Reading is usually between 85 and 95.


Last week I was out of Sri Lanka for a week and had to eat white rice, and curries where lot of oil was used, had ice cream (all in hotel). The fasting sugar test was 144.


Around this time I did the HbA1c test and the result was 7.6 ( Dec 2015 and Dec 2016 it was 8.1).


I am keen to know why my diabetes is showing high despite I being so careful and lifestyle.

I have been diabetics for the past 6 years. My mother also had diabetes.


Can you please tell me how I could cure my diabetes as I have to do a cataract operation on both my eyes shortly.

I notice you haven't mentioned any meat or fish?
I am afraid your diet is very carb heavy,
Fish curry, and coconut curry should be ok.
Lentils used to spike me, but not all, so it's worth checking for your reaction.
Under ripe jackfruit may be an alternative to rice at times, I'm good with cassava.
Eggplant should be fine, but not heavily caramelised.
Gotu kola sambol should be low on carbs.

But really, it's cutting down on the rice, (although brown and red are fairly low GI, and much better than white) the lentils, (try mung bean instead maybe, but test after), the bread, (although paratha or roti type is going to be better than western style white bread), and fill up on the vegetables instead.

If you have any more questions, come back and ask.

 

[barakiah]

i totally agree its the rice and food you are eating, you have to count the carbs everyday keep of the rice inpeticular, I have a blood glucose monitor and write down all my carbs and suger and caleries im eating each day, I was diagnosed in November last year and in 6 months lost over two stone in weight gone from 51 at diagnosis 3 months later down to 46 then another 3 months now down to 42 but I do not eat cakes biscuits currys rice chocolate pasta don't eat any ready meals always cook fresh so I think its the food your eating may have too many carbs in it, keep off the pasta and rice.

 

[daisy1]

@jixb

Hello jixb and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

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