How Low Can You Go?

VBee,

I think the first thing that should be given to every person diagnosed either with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance is a framed sampler with the words, (in large, friendly print) "Don't Panic!"

It is obvious that you have taken on board the advice given you by everyone and that you are making the right lifestyle changes. Only you can take credit for that.

The important thing is that your diet doesn't leave you feeling low or hungry. As you already know weight loss helps with insulin resistance. As long as you feel OK then you are doing fine.

Regards, Tubs.

Hi VBee,
You might need to look out your hard hat when asking THAT question.
An intersting piece of history, though: The Bellevue Hospital Experiment. The premier dietary experts in the USA in 1928 monitored 2 volunteers, Vilhamjur Stefansson and Kennet Andersen as the lived for 1 year on a zero carb diet. Dirpredictions from the experts of course, none of which came true. In fact both men reported their health was better after the experiment.
Duck and cover.......

fergus

A meter is the the second thing you should have been given

Don't forget that HbA1c reflects the previous 90 days or so. So you should see an improvement, maybe not as big as you would want it to be, but an improvement nevertheless.

Regards, Tubs.

I think the short answer to that is that there is no clearly agreed definition of what a non-diabetic HbA1c is. Bernstein suggests 4.2% to 4.6%, another suggestion has been 3.5% to 5.5%, I have seen 4.6% to 6.4%, and another study suggests a mean of 5.3%. The NHS target for diabetics is that 50% of people with diabetes should have an HbA1c of 7.4% or a safe lower value.

The longer answer is that the World Health Organisation (WHO) define impaired glucose tolerance as a fasting plasma blood glucose less than or equal to 7.0 mmol/L and a 2 hour GTT plasma BG reading between 7.8 and 11.1 mmol/L. Divide these figures by 1.12 to arrive at a whole blood glucose reading (which is what your meter will probably be calibrated to) to get 6.3 mmol/L and between 6.9 and 9.9 mmol/L.

Impaired fasting tolerance is defined by WHO as a fasting plasma blood glucose of between 6.1 and 6.9 mmol/L and a 2 hour GTT plasma BG reading < 7.8 mmol/L (or whole blood glucose between 5.4 and 6.1 mmol/L and < 6.9 mmol/L).

So, if you maintain BG levels below the ranges above then you have succeeded. The odd slip now and again should not overly affect your HbA1c.

Regards, Tubs.

Vbee,anything under 7 is a good thing.Yes the aim of a lot of us is to get down lower but below 7 there is less likelihood of complications in the future and that is an important thing for diabetics,keeping the complications down.

You have already made some big lifestyle changes which will help.Please don't stress about numbers,it will happen gradually and that is the important thing.Keep asking us questions so that we can keep reassuring you.Your numbers to start with are not as high as some so they can only get better!

VBee said:

Well I have nothing to compare it to really, I haven't been given alot of information. It would be good to know what the ranges are - for example, what is a "diabetic" level, and for diabetics what is "good" and "bad"?

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Have a read around here

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/d-day.html

and possibly here

http://www.bloodsugar101.com/

for some background

watch out for cottage cheese - classic *healthy* diet food - sends my readings too high for comfort - try a meal with cottage cheese and record results - then try same meal (same portion and cooking style) again the next day but replace the cottage cheese with (for instance) cheddar to the same calorific value (which will be a small chunk admittedly, but I'm trying to be scientific) .. and see the results .... you should be looking at difference between IMMEDIATELY BEFORE meal and 2 hour AFTER MEAL reading ... say you had 5 before and 8 after the difference is 3 (still with me, or gone to sleep lol?) and then you try with cheddar and you have 4.5 before and 6 after then the difference is only 1.5 - see where I'm going?? Anyhow, your body is different to everyone else's and you are in control of your life and diet - and therefore YOU must do your own experiments and record your data so that you can learn hope it makes sense J/x

VBee said:

Hi there! Currently I am trying to limit the amount of carbohydrates that I intake, on the advice of some of the people on this forum (I stress - some - it doesn't work for all I know )
I was just wondering, am I doing it right, is there anything I am missing out, am I going "too" low carb or could I cut back further? Here is an example of my diet:

Breakfast: 4 or 5 dried apricots, 1 pear and a handful of nuts
Lunch: Cottage cheese (150-250grams) and a small green salad with no dressing.
Dinner: Meat, usually fish or chicken, with vegetables such as carrots, spinach, aubergines, and some mushrooms.
Snacks are usually nuts

I drink tea with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, but only an average of 3 cups a day.

What are your thoughts on this?

I am having my first hba1c in 5 weeks and I think I might be panicking a little and overdoing it - so that my first result is as low as possible. I don't even know if I am diabetic yet, I have had 2 impaired fasting BG results. :?:

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How low can you go? if you really want to (I don't), zero is possible and safe if handled properly. But I don't think it would be either easy or wise in this modern world.

I wrote this last month, I think you'll find it's relevant: Are Carbs Really Necessary?

Just a note on your breakfast, those apricots and the pear would each exceed my breakfast carb allocation; added together my blood glucose levels would soar an hour after that. What do yours do at that time? No need to answer me - but I do suggest you read your meter an hour after meals to see what happens.